About me

Hi there. My name’s Patrick and I’m a Human Factors and User Experience Researcher. I investigate how people interact with complex technological systems and how to optimize those interactions.

I pride myself on being a creative problem-solver and love a good challenge. Common across my research is a distinct emphasis on applicability, always striving to generate tangible, real-world utility from my work.

I hold a PhD in Human Factors & Applied Cognition. While earning my doctorate my primary lines of academic research included:

• desirable difficulty and the optimization of declarative learning schedules
• email phishing susceptibility and the modeling of risk factors
• the use of eye-tracking data to model a system operator’s knowledge (Theory of Mind), in order to support increased Situational Awareness

On the industry side of things, where I am currently focusing my efforts, I conduct User Experience Research (UXR), primarily for tech companies or tech-heavy products. Below are two notable prior roles in this space, as well as my current role.

• Valassis (prior role- UX Researcher): UXR for a variety of products in the realm of ad tech, working closely with Product Managers and the Development team to increase the capabilities and efficiencies of internal teams.
• Lenovo, NextUX (prior role- UX Researcher): UXR around future-facing products a few years beyond current offerings. This involves proposing, validating, and refining a concept’s software and hardware elements, as well as anticipating market shifts.
• Think company (current role- Principal UX Researcher): in this fast-paced consulting role I help clients improve digital experiences through highly applied research. This involves managing project teams, developing tailor-made research strategies to achieve project goals, leveraging a range of qualitative and quantitative methods across the discovery and validation phases of work, extracting actionable findings, and delivering reports to stakeholders. I am also spearheading an internal effort to increase the scope and sophistication of our quantitative offerings, which involves developing a strategic roadmap and socializing these changes.

To study these relatively diverse topics I’ve had to develop a broad repertoire of Human Factors research methodologies and a strong statistical background, though I’m always looking to add new skills to the toolkit.

For a more in-depth look into some of my current and past projects, see my ‘Featured Works‘ page.

In my personal life I’m into outdoorsy activities like hiking, rock climbing, and traveling to cool places where I can get lost in some little adventures. I’m also a big soccer fan (visca el Barça!).