I’m Kirk, a UX researcher and human-centered designer. I care about how people experience the systems they rely on every day. My work has included helping taxpayers access IRS letters online and working with community members to design more accessible technologies. I spend time understanding where people get stuck and helping teams decide what to change. My design work includes sign-in prototypes for Social Security and HR tools and shared components at Johns Hopkins.
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Years leading research that shapes products and services
People served by platforms I’ve researched and shaped
Field research participants across 10 states
Papers, posters, and workshops at ACM CHI, ASSETS, and more, plus my dissertation
Honors for public-service impact
I’m an immigrant from Guyana. I grew up in the Bronx in an immigrant family, and I’ve spent most of my adult life in and around Baltimore. My own experiences, and my family’s, taught me early on what it’s like to navigate systems that weren’t originally designed with you in mind.
That’s a big part of why I care about community-based work, and why I believe government should work for the people it serves. It shows up in my research with disabled and neurodivergent communities, and in the volunteering I do in my own community.
When people share their stories with me, I want them to understand why I’m asking and how I’ll use what they tell me. I try to approach those conversations with care and honesty.
Making systems simpler, fairer, and more human: I start every project by asking how a system could work better for the people who depend on it most.
Designing with people: In my experience, the people closest to a problem are often the best people to help solve it. That includes users, front-line staff, and community members.
Building accessibility in from the start: I bring accessibility into research and design early, before it becomes a fix at the end. Working with people who are most often left out helps me find barriers that affect many others too.
Honesty and empathy: People who share their experiences with us deserve to know why we’re asking and what happens next. I try to treat participants, users, and colleagues with that same care.
Case studies from public-sector, health system, and Ph.D. research, plus the tools I’m building at et al Labs. The case studies cover research, design, and the decisions this work informed. Government projects are described at a high level and use only public information. Many results from this work are internal, so I describe them in general terms here, and I’m happy to go deeper in conversation.
This work reflects: