In an increasingly online society, digital resources are emerging as the primary information
medium of choice. I am an information specialist and aspiring UX Librarian, passionate
about designing effective solutions for you and your users, through thoughtfully designed
user research and information architecture design.
I strive to leverage information and communication technologies to design universal
and engaging user experiences. Particularly, I am an advocate in fostering a design-thinking approach and user-centric
growth mindset in academic libraries.
For this reason, I attained my Master of Information (Library & Information Science)
degree in April 2020, with a secondary focus in User Experience Design at the University
of Toronto, where I pursued my interest in digital information behaviours and ethnographic
research with seven
practical information architecture and user experience projects at four libraries in
Canada's largest academic library system — the University of Toronto Libraries.
Currently, I am the Technical Support Assistant for Online Courses at the Faculty of
Information, University of Toronto, where I specialize in providing administrative and
technical in-class support and consulting sessions for instructors, and oversee the design,
creation, and publishing of resources and guides on an online epedagogy knowledge base, curated
for the Faculty of Information community.
At Tyndale Intercultural Ministries (TIM) Centre, as the Content Developer & Website Support, I manage and administrate content of associated websites, mobile applications, and information databases for accessibility and navigational ease.
As an information specialist, I am passionate about ensuring that resources are stored and organized in a manner that promotes long-term access and findability. During my time with the Faculty of Information, I drove several projects to re-organize and transition internal information repositories in a manner that promoted long-term access and findability, including the Peer Mentoring @ iSchool program and iSchool ePedagogy team.
I maintain an online epedagogy knowledge base frequented by Faculty of Information course instructors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, I conducted two website usability studies for the University of Toronto Scarborough Library to improve library services, using Optimal Workshop, an online suiite of usability testing tools.
I have served in various administrative roles at the Faculty of Information, including as the Program Coordinator of Peer Mentoring @ iSchool, and as the Administrative Coordinator for the iSchool ePedagogy team. In these roles, I worked with colleagues, students, and administrative staff to pilot an initiative that integrated the inaugural cohort of Bachelor of Information (BI) students into the program.
In a community-based research project in consultation with The Innovation Hub, University of Toronto, my team and I designed and conducted a student-centred ethnographic research study to identify pain points during the information-seeking journey of mental health and wellness resources of students. We then conducted a series of design-thinking workshops to propose low and medium fidelity wireframe prototypes for Telempathy a personal mental health navigator app.
My roots in community engagement and ethnographic research began with East Toronto Chinese Baptist Church (ETCBC) as the Community Engagement Coordinator, where I partnered with local organizations to conduct user research for the purposes of developing community initiatives, such as the Victoria Village Extreme Weather Resilience Plan.
As part of an ongoing user experience usability study, I designed a digital tree-testing study for the website for The BRIDGE, a multi-purpose academic space for business, finance, and entrepreneurship.
The BRIDGE, UTSC — January—June 2020
During the winter 2020 term, my team and I partnered with one of UTL's central libraries to evaluate a user experience research study evaluating its existing space and services. At its conclusion, we identified 11 recommendations for the library.
Noranda Earth Sciences Library — January—April 2020
As Phase 3 of an ongoing user experience strategic program at University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) Library, I designed and conducted a digital hybrid card-sorting study in collaboration with the Web & UX Librarian with 73 participants.
Vincent W. Bladen (UTSC) Library — January—April 2020
In collaboration with the Web & UX Librarian, I co-developed and co-led a one hour workshop and design challenge with 6 participants at the UTSC Library Makerspace.
University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Week — 12 March 2020
Using floor plans, sharpie pens, and sticky notes, I organized a weekly UX Pop-Up Table to gather feedback and suggestions about UTSC Library.
Vincent W. Bladen (UTSC) Library — 5 March 2020
Redesigning the Centre of Learning & Development (CL&D) website's information architecture through an ethnographic user research study.
INF2170 (Information Architecture) Project — September—December 2019Current to 24 March 2021
