Artist, Anthropologist & Researcher
My name is Lida, and I study people. With a B.S. in Anthropology and minors in Design Thinking and Social Psychology, I have a passion for exploring the human experience. As an artist, my unique background allows me to see and better understand the connection between art, science, technology, and wellness.
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Explore the archives to see what I create & consume.
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Present day, I work as a Health & Wellness Consultant for functional medicine practitioners. As one of the few people at a private practice, I wear more hats than I can count.
This position has allowed me to merge my love for organization and user experience to maximize efficiency and automate processes. On a day to day basis, I could be managing customer relationships, overseeing billing, writing educational content, managing inventory, fostering relationships with current patients, chatting with prospective patients, or being the all-in-one project manager.
I am always looking for what will make practitioner’s lives easier, while keeping the needs of the patient as my priority. It’s always fast-paced, and ever changing.
Throughout my time working in functional medicine, I have launched several successful programs, worked closely with marketing & ad agencies, learned the ins and outs of the industry, and developed a deep love and appreciation for the human body (it’s impressive what we’re all capable of, given the right tools).
Not only has this position allowed me to explore every corner of Health and Wellness, but I’m also working for something I believe in. I’ve gotten to see lives dramatically improved at the hands of functional medicine, and it fulfills me to know I have played a role in that journey.
I help make health information more accessible and useful. I believe everyone deserves quality healthcare, education, and support, and I’m here to help deliver and improve that experience for as many people as possible.
Clinical Operations Consultant
—Current
Illustrator / Creative Consultant
—Current
Outside of my “day job,” I work with several producers and small businesses to create logos, album art, promotional content and develop brand identity. Making art for a client is rewarding – you get to watch a shared vision come to life.
I have learned the importance of open communication, collaboration, and enjoyment in the creative process. I love seeing a project come together, and I love creating something that I know other people can enjoy, too.
I carry with me the passion for art, creativity, and teamwork, no matter what project I’m working on. A bit of artistry can be helpful anywhere.
Nationwide Insurance
—Spring 2019
As a UX Intern, I worked on the Experience Strategy team to create an effortless experience for Nationwide product users. Our team laid the groundwork to map the ideal retirement process using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The project as a whole aimed to decrease the number of calls associated with retirement accounts and minimize the pain points for our users.
Some of our qualitative research methods included internal interviews, call recording analysis, opinion box response analysis, external surveys, external interviews (both in home and in office), and user personas. The quantitative research included data analysis of call volume and subject, internal surveys, clustering qualitative research, and questionaries.
Over the course of my three month internship, my team finalized a deliverable for our Phase One findings. This powerpoint helped drive decision making for future phases of the project, as well as future projects. Through our primary research, we were able to identify and outline the top five issues Nationwide users experienced while interacting with their retirement plan, any step of the journey.
By identifying these issues, Nationwide would not only be able to address and resolve the reoccurring calls faster, but hopefully eliminate them all together. Call Service Representatives would be redirected to new callers while the user would have a more pleasant experience.
During my internship, I was able to dive deep into a single project, work closely with a consistent team, and learn from some passionate UXers!
With a major in Anthropology and minor in Social Psychology, I have four years of experience conducting scientific research and synthesizing data into comprehensive bodies of work. This process usually involved utilizing various databases that contain peer-reviewed information. Some of this information may have included statistical models, case studies, data collections, graphs, papers, etc. Through this experience, I am confident that I can interpret and simplify information to be understood by others.
Outside of the scientific research, Design Thinking provided me with another useful skill set. The course work completed for my minor included sketching, user personas, creative problem solving, presenting lots of power points, and the book “Designing Your Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. These classes allowed me to express my creativity, learn about UX (and myself), and interact heavily with a diverse group of classmates.
Internet Based Research
& Education
CITI Program
—The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative
In Spring of 2020, I completed the CITI Human Subjects Protection (Social and Behavioral) Certification. This course addresses the ethical questions that researchers must consider when studying human subjects. This includes outlining the most ethical practices for informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, international research, conflicts of interest, legal regulations, etc. Participation in the CITI program is common among people who want to conduct research with human subjects in an academic setting. Although I don’t intend to conduct my own human research at this time, I found the training helpful and applicable to my UX work.