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Awarded for Best use of AI
As the product and design lead, I conceptualized and pitched the idea for Language Lens, assembled the team, and conducted design research. I also prototyped the app using Figma while exploring 3D and AR tools such as Meshy and Unity. Throughout the process, I ensured the vision was clearly communicated to the developers to effectively execute the core functionality.
Language Lens is a mobile application designed to break the language barriers and transform them into an immersive, multilingual learning experience by using real-time AI-driven object recognition, XR, and language translation. The application enables users to simply point their phone camera at objects and instantly receive an on-screen image of the object along with its name and translation into the user-chosen language. The user interface is designed with accessibility in mind, featuring a color scheme optimized for individuals with visual impairments, including color blindness.
Key Features
- Real-Time Object Detection: Quickly and accurately identifies objects, regardless of their shape, color, or design variations.
- Immediate Translation: Provides the name of the object together with on-the-spot translations into user-selected language, facilitating seamless understanding.
- Accessible Design: Features a user interface with color schemes and design elements optimized for individuals with visual impairments, including color blindness, ensuring an inclusive experience for all users.
Awarded for Best Use of AI & ML 🚀
Creative Technologist 👀
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The assignment, what do you want to leave behind for those who will travel to the Black Metal Starship after you? Themes expressed within our discussion regarding the ‘Black Metal Starship’ were: Ancestral Technologies, Nature Intelligence, Identity/ Culture, Time Travel, and Equipment/ Tools.
Water became a key element in representing what I wanted to leave behind for future Black Metal Starship travelers. Thematically, water symbolized travel, flow, strength, and portals.
Drawing inspiration from The Deep by Rivers Solomon and Island Futures by Mimi Sheller, I delved into the science behind ancestral technology and natural intelligence to develop a transportation method. I looked into fields like neurology, physics, marine biology, the hydrologic cycle, and my fascination with childbirth.
In The Deep, Rivers Solomon described the womb as an “electrical force,” which made me reflect on the relationship between water's behaviors and childbirth. During this project, devastating hurricanes were impacting the Caribbean and southern U.S., and I came across research that found exposure to a hurricane during pregnancy increased the likelihood of abnormal conditions in newborns (Currie, J Health Econ, 2014).
To conclude my activation experience, I used HTML & CSS to visualize this data. On the right side, you’ll see how I extracted and analyzed key information through a scientific lens to create the journey experience for Black Metal Starship travelers. I needed to determine the right moment to share this embrace or hug, reminding them to keep going.
The event concluded with a live presentation following a Q&A. Looking back, I am now more motivated than ever to continue my work using sociological research to find present-day solutions within the natural sciences through technology. The ability to merge ideas and share experiences as a form of technology creates an opportunity to reshape our future by drawing insights from our current realities.
MA in Media 💜
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MA Distinguished Thesis Award for Sugar, a multimedia fictional universe in reference to sociological and cultural media analysis specific to the surveillance of intersectional social markers.
A science fiction and fantastical dystopian-present series titled Sugar takes place in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The everyday livelihood of locals are impacted socially, economically, and politically by a group called the Superiors, who represent the legacy of colonization in reference to the history of Trinidad. The story begins with Faith Garvey and Stokley Sparrow who are positioned to help Carlos in a merchant-trade dilemma. Sugar uncovers a story between two childhood friends that are given the opportunity to find their missing parents.
Sugar is inspired by a mixture of theoretical frameworks (by scholars such as Simone Browne, Marwan M. Kraidy, or Kamille Gentles-Peart and across disciplines like surveillance studies, postcolonial theory, and Black feminist scholarship) I learned across my educational career and my identity as a Caribbean person. I am energized by animation and comic books to create alternative worlds to form solutions for present realities. My goal is to allow viewers to engage, think, and converse with ideas that lead to self-reflection and self-affirmation.
Therefore, I created a multimedia fictional universe in reference to sociological and cultural media analysis specific to the surveillance of intersectional social markers. By implementing the tool of storytelling through screenwriting, sequential art, and gamification with visual treats inbetween, the thread of theoretical and methodological scholarship informs a summary of a story titled Sugar. The story occurs in a science fiction present day Trinidad whereas political and historical Caribbean experiences like cultural production, globalization, and postcolonial theory set the stage for the “fictional” world.
I conducted market research to determine the relationship between the most popular creative software platforms and the socioeconomic marker of software’s users: Adobe vs. Canva.
The present study seeks to determine the relationship between the most popular creative software platforms (Adobe and Canva) and the socioeconomic identity (Employment Status and Monthly Income) of software’s users.
H0. Designers prefer Canva over Adobe because it is free or more accessible.
H1. Designers prefer Adobe over Canva because it allows for more customization.
IV. The type of software or platform (Adobe or Canva)
DV. The community (Employment Status) that uses the software (Adobe or Canva)
How might we design a greeting card product that helps millennials feel more connected to loved ones when they can’t be with them in person?
We defined our problem statement, continued to collect data through interviews, surveys, and usability testing, and other research methods. We brainstormed using the Crazy 8s method during the process of ideating and sketching. We continuously went through a cycle of feedback, improvements, and iterations. Within each step, we conducted empathy check-ins to keep diversity and inclusion at the forefront of the project.
Throughout our user research, the millennial card buyers we were engaged with, expressed their love of the physical greeting card but also noted that the experience of buying cards in a physical space (not online) could be improved. As one of our interviews put it, “It’s hard to sort them [cards] easily (by any variable — price, sentiment, etc) when offline [in a physical store].”
After ensuring we were clear on the user needs we were building for, we constructed our first prototype in Figma. We focused on building a prototype of the digital interface of our idea. After we built our first prototype in Figma, we immediately conducted Usability testing of our first iteration to get feedback.
The main task we wanted people to accomplish was presented as the following scenario: It’s your mom’s birthday, you are looking for a card for her in the card aisle at your local CVS and come across an iPad in the aisle. Use the iPad to help you find a card for your mom that is in english. You’re specifically looking for a heartfelt birthday card that is blank on the inside.
Product & Partnerships 🌈 See Full Experience
I gathered past JIRA support tickets from artists who’ve expressed concerns, which prove to be an alternative to targeted user research with no cost. I identified patterns across teams and aligned a common goal to increase engagement with weekly check-ins either on call or Slack, furthering the need to connect with legal and financial teams for logistics. Beyond being recognized as a 2x Webby Honoree for Public Axis, the experience resulted in building a strong team to deliver a minimum viable product for other products in the near future.
At large during my time at GIPHY, I led strategic product initiatives, focusing on creator partnerships, content strategy, and product development based on data-driven insights from search queries and market research. Drove the growth of a 5K+ verified account directory, while spearheading cross-functional teams to launch high-impact creator products. Delivered a video content product that earned recognition as a 2x Webby Honoree. Enhanced user experience and drove business results on a platform with 10B+ daily active users through data-informed decision-making and ROI-focused strategies.
Design & Marketing 👻 Read About the Campaign Here
Collaborate cross-functionally with brand designers, production teams, and key stakeholders to deliver innovative, on-brand visuals. Designed engaging digital content for Snapchat’s official channels, including thumbnails, banners, and avatars, optimizing user interaction.
Led creative strategy presentations to C-suite executives, proposing strategic direction for the 2019 Real Friends campaign, blending vision with hands-on execution.