COEN
THORNTON

Designed and ran a three-method mixed-methods study (10 secret shoppers logging ~60 quantitative data points, ~30 contextual inquiry sessions, and 10 semi-structured neighborhood interviews) to diagnose service bottlenecks at a specialty coffee shop, reframing wait times from an operational issue into a consumer retention and reputational risk.

Identified a single overtasked register handling six task types simultaneously as the structural bottleneck driving an 8:13 weekday and 13:37 weekend average wait time, well outside the five-minute industry benchmark.

Applied Jobs-to-Be-Done framing to surface two distinct customer segments (quick to-go and dine-in) moving through one undifferentiated service flow, producing two-track workstation, staffing, and QR ordering recommendations that drove organizational role shifts before physical implementation began.

Designed and ran a self-initiated moderated usability study of the live NYC Ferry App, combining pre-task generative interviews with think-aloud sessions so every task failure traced back to a participant's own stated goal rather than researcher inference.

Surfaced a 1 out of 5 task completion on route mapping across five participants, with 4 of 5 saying they would abandon the ferry entirely, reframing a feature-level usability gap as a rider acquisition and conversion problem.

Delivered five research outputs from a two-week solo study (persona, unified emotional journey map, task completion data, severity-rated insight report, and a Figma prototype of a route-first home-screen redesign), covering the full arc from study design to redesign ideation.

Logged 3,500+ hours of structured and semi-structured 1:1 clinical interviews across a five-year caseload of 20 to 30 clients in a HIPAA-compliant EHR system, building expert-level fluency in non-directive questioning, longitudinal pattern recognition, and reading behavior beneath stated responses.

Assisted with a dual EHR system integration as an internal workflow consultant, gathering usability feedback from clinical staff (the provider side of the product), identifying friction points, and delivering recommendations to leadership.

Joined a cross-functional product team to develop and refine a mental health workshop training MVP for non-profit organizations, contributing audience contextualization, content design, and post-workshop survey analysis to iteratively improve delivery.

Conducted daily structured 1:1 interviews with a caseload of 30 adolescent students, capturing longitudinal qualitative data on developmental patterns and barriers to emotional well-being in compliance with FERPA and HIPAA.

Designed and distributed short-form surveys to identify group therapy topic preferences, using participant feedback to iteratively refine programming as an early applied example of feedback-loop research driving program design.

Conducted a competitive analysis benchmarking Kean's freshman support resources against other universities' support services.

Administered course-evaluation surveys and consolidated reporting for the Dean of Students.

Assisted ethnographic fieldwork and contextual inquiry leading to the development of new programs for the target population designed around the fieldwork insights.