Research & Design
Enhancing the PC Experience for Doers and Innovators
UX Strategy, User Research, UX Design And Concept Testing For A Next-Generation PC Platform
Impact
Heavily influenced the direction of Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 products.
Optimized for Real-World Web Behaviors
Our platform teams incorporated observed user web browsing behavior into platform analysis, resulting in improved power efficiency and responsiveness in the latest generation of products.
Prepared for Gen-AI
Our hardware platform team was preparing for the rise of generative AI solutions a full year before Chat-GPT’s broad release, and two years before intelligent meeting summary features became mainstream.
Seamless Phone-to-PC Integration
The Windows ecosystem now offers a more seamless multi-device experience, bridging the gap between work and personal life.
Background
Pre-pandemic research with highly ambitious PC users led to optimizing our latest hardware platforms for AI-powered audio and video effects. When I joined the Experience Architecture team, the challenge was clear:
How do we push beyond AI audio and video effects to better support users' primary tasks?
My Role
Planned and interpreted generative research
Executed concept testing
Fostered cross-team collaboration
Led design workshops
Created prototypes and flow diagrams
Communicated user expectations to partners and stakeholders
Key Challenges
Managing Ambiguity
We had a wealth of generative research but lacked a clear path to product decisions—especially since we were dealing with a general-purpose PC hardware platform used in various scenarios, rather than a purpose-built software application.
Approach
I meticulously reviewed research from our User Research Team to create a comprehensive view of research insights. We then collaboratively ranked each insight’s criticality, focusing on what truly mattered to users.
Next, I organized a workshop with key business and technical team members to brainstorm solutions for the most critical user pain points. The workshop generated approximately 20 ideas to address the identified issues.
I then created simple mockups and prototypes to test the concepts with users. The most useful concepts, as identified by users, were reviewed with our technical team to identify those most relevant to our platform.
Outcome
The result was a focused set of priorities that we were confident would benefit users, and that our platform had to support.
Example workshop whiteboard used to ground team members in the research insights and identify a broad set of potential directions. Agency Partner: Stripe Partners
Overcoming Resistance to Real-User Behavior
A surprising insight revealed that many users never closed their browser tabs, leading to system slowdowns. This was initially dismissed by several stakeholders as irrelevant since it didn’t align with their personal behavior.
Approach
To challenge this bias, I compiled a compelling portfolio of evidence: images of participants’ tab-filled browsers, analytics showing the browser as the top application, YouTube videos of reviewers testing browser tab capacity, and new features from browser companies aimed at managing tabs.
Outcome
This data-driven approach convinced the team to incorporate heavier browser loads into the platform architecture analysis, ultimately improving performance under real-world conditions.
Example data used to illustrate the importance of browser tabs to the PC experience.
Users Suffer From Meeting Overload
User research revealed that professionals were overwhelmed by back-to-back meetings, often forcing them to multitask during calls and leaving little time to process information afterward.
Approach
I proposed the concept of capturing key audio/video snapshots during meetings to be integrated into summarized notes. I then storyboarded this concept and gathered user feedback.
Outcome
The storyboards helped secure buy-in from the technical team and guide proof-of-concept efforts, which led to platform enhancements that supported generative AI capabilities and encouraged ecosystem partnership.
Storyboard mockups showing conceptual meeting highlights used to guide POCs and partner engagements. Agency Partner: Stripe Partners
Bridging the Gap Between Phone and PC
Our research identified the central role of the phone in users’ lives, with the PC being more work-oriented. I saw an opportunity to create a seamless experience between these devices, strengthening the relationship between the user and the PC.
Approach
After gathering user feedback on various concepts, I used storyboards to illustrate the value of closer integration between the phone and PC. Scenarios ranged from using the phone as a secondary camera to advanced features like scanning whiteboard drawings directly to editable documents.
Outcome
This contributed to the acquisition of a third-party software provider to deliver a seamless multi-device experience on Windows PCs, bringing the PC closer to it’s user.
Clickable prototype used to illicit feedback from participants during concept testing.
Flow diagram and mockups illustrating how a professional would use a phone’s camera with their PC.