ux research philosophy

My UX Research Philosophy

My research focuses on utilizing user experience (UX) design, content strategy, artificial intelligence (AI), and other participatory research methods to help people improve their communities and organizations. This emphasis on digital technology, technical communication, and community engagement leads me to develop communication and design projects with non-profits, businesses, and community-based organizations, in addition to collaborating with university researchers, teachers, and students.

My current research projects include:

• AI in Technical Communication: Investigating how Generative AI (GenAI) impacts writing, editing, and content strategy within technical communication. My research explores the Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) model, ensuring AI tools function as writing assistants rather than replacements, allowing technical communicators to scale and automate tasks ethically.
• AI in Technical Communication: Emerging Technologies and Pedagogies: Currently under consideration at Routledge, explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on technical and professional communication (TPC) education and practice. This volume, co-edited with Bremen Vance, invites TPC scholars, educators, and practitioners to examine how AI reshapes the field by influencing content creation, workflow efficiency, and our understanding of authorship.
• Community Engagement and UX Research: Applying UX methodologies—such as user research and personas—to engineering and other technical fields to ensure human-centered, community-driven design. This includes exploring how AI tools can be integrated into UX research without reinforcing biases or excluding marginalized groups.

By putting these approaches in dialogue with situated investigations of individuals, organisations, communities, and institutions, I uncover meaningful insights into how people communicate, persuade, make meaning, and accomplish work.

Specific Research Interests

• User experience (UX) design methods and AI integration
• Content strategy and AI-assisted automation
• Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) approaches to AI in technical communication
• Participatory Action Research (PAR) and other participatory research methods
• Community engagement and AI for local impact
• Service-learning and AI literacy in technical fields

Professional Organization I’m Affiliated With

• IEEE Professional Communication Society
• UXPA International