Generative AI and Decision Making

Iowa State University, IA, USA

Reframed individual and group AI-supported decisions as distinct contexts with different outcomes, shifting the research toward peer pressure and purpose-built GenAI support for subjective group work. I lead experiments and surveys examining how social influence shapes users’ opinions, confidence, verification needs, and final decisions when working with GenAI.

Current Ph.D. researchExplore the research

VR Training for High-Stakes Decisions

Iowa State University, IA, USA

Evaluated whether virtual reality could better prepare veterinary students for high-pressure euthanasia procedures through a between-subjects study comparing VR training with instructor-led training. Students who trained in VR reported greater confidence and achieved higher performance scores, supporting VR as a complement to traditional training.

Generative AI for Customer Research

Rocket Mortgage, Detroit, MI, USA

Delivered product recommendations for the digital mortgage journey, created a reusable prompt framework for research workflows, and won Best Use of AI for Discovery & Research at a company-wide hackathon. I benchmarked Qualtrics Text iQ against ChatGPT, improving qualitative tagging accuracy and efficiency. I also identified patterns in client NPS shifts to inform product recommendations.

Sensory Cues in Virtual Reality

Iowa State University, IA, USA

Evaluated which sensory cue best supports visual search in virtual reality through a 71-participant mixed-method study comparing haptic, audio, visual, and control conditions. Haptic guidance performed strongest without adding distraction, while audio guidance was the second-most effective condition.

Related case studyExplore the project

VR for Cybersecurity Education

Iowa State University, IA, USA

Conducted user research, contributed to Unity prototyping, and tested a VR learning experience with rural students who may not otherwise consider applying to university. The experience introduced cybersecurity as one possible path and helped students recognize university opportunities that could fit their interests and lives.

Teaching and Mentoring

Iowa State University, IA, USA

Provide ongoing volunteer mentoring to students working on research, design, presentations, and interactive learning projects. Offer feedback on research decisions, prototypes, Blender production, and student publications, and have taught second-year architecture studios.