Our Staff
The Design and Usability Center employs usability specialists and faculty who are renowned in their field. The center's research interests include usability methods, design for low-literacy populations, design for older populations, universal accessibility, and mental workload issues.
Director, Bill Albert, PhD
Bill Albert is director of the Design and Usability Center at Bentley University. Bill brings more than 15 years of experience in human factors, usability, and user research to his role leading the center. Bill has expertise in user interface design, information architecture, qualitative and quantitative research techniques, and user experience strategy. Prior to joining Bentley, Bill was director of user experience at Fidelity Investments, senior user interface researcher at Lycos, and post-doctoral research scientist at Nissan Cambridge Basic Research. Bill is also a frequent instructor at the International Usability Professional’s Association Annual Conference and at Bentley University.
Bill has published and presented his research at more than thirty national and international conferences. He recently co-authored (with Tom Tullis) the first ever book on usability metrics, Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics, published by Elsevier/Morgan Kauffman in 2008. His second book (with Tom Tullis and Donna Tedesco), Beyond the Usability Lab: Conducting Large-Scale User Experience Studies, will be published in January 2010 (Elsevier/Morgan Kauffman). He has been on the International Usability Professional’s Association Annual Conference (UPA) Committee since 2003 and on the editorial board for the Journal of Usability Studies since 2009.
Bill has been awarded prestigious fellowships through the University of California Santa Barbara and the Japanese Government for his research in human factors and spatial cognition. He received his BA and MA degrees from the University of Washington (Geographic Information Systems) and his PhD from Boston University (Spatial Cognition). He completed a post-doc at Nissan Cambridge Basic Research.
phone: 781.891.2608
e-mail: walbert@bentley.edu
Usability Consultant, Rich Buttiglieri
Rich Buttiglieri is a usability consultant at the Design and Usability Center. Rich brings more than 20 years of experience in software product design and evaluation to his role at the center. He has considerable experience conducting user-centered design studies of software, consumer electronics and medical products for both mass markets and highly specialized verticals.
For the past several years, Rich has been a judge for two prestigious product design competitions; Innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and User-Centered Product Design Award sponsored by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). He has judged a wide range of products including digital imaging, mobile and vehicle electronics, home networking, medical devices, and home theater.
Before joining Bentley in 2003, Rich has designed and evaluated both web-based applications as well as desktop applications working for companies such as Digital, BBN, HP, Lotus, Concord Communications and MarketSoft.
Rich holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Lowell and a Graduate Certificate in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from UMass Lowell. He is a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association, HFES Product Design Technical Group, the UPA Boston and BostonCHI.
phone: 781.891.2893
e-mail: rbuttiglieri@bentley.edu
Usability Consultant, Lena Dmitrieva
Lena Dmitrieva is a usability consultant at the Design and Usability Center. Lena brings more than eight years of experience in writing and technology to her role in the center. Lena has considerable experience managing usability projects and has worked with a diverse range of clients in software and web design. Lena holds a BS in Economics from UMass/Boston and an MS in Human Factors from Bentley University. She is a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Greater Boston SIGCHI. Before joining the staff at the center, Lena worked as a technical writer for an Information Technology consulting group. Her background includes technical writing, QA testing, data analysis, survey design, as well as web design.
phone: 781.891.2609
e-mail: ldmitrieva@bentley.edu
Usability Consultant, Kris Engdahl
Kris Engdahl is a usability consultant at the DUC. She has over 17 years of experience addressing users’ needs as a usability specialist and as a technical writer. She has worked on a variety of products ranging from solutions for very technical users, such as database administrators, to products for business users and consumers. Prior to joining Bentley, Kris spent 12 years at Oracle Corporation, where she was involved in the design and testing of enterprise-level business applications. At the DUC, Kris has worked with a range of products, from technical products to consumer web sites, and has conducted research with a wide range of users, from teens to seniors.
Kris’s areas of interest include field research and user profiles, testing and field research with seniors, and usability in education. She holds an MS in Human Factors from Bentley University. She is active in the Usability Professionals’ Association, for which she designed a special exhibit that illustrated usability principles to children on World Usability Day at Boston’s Museum of Science.
phone: 781.891.2678
e-mail: kengdahl@bentley.edu
Senior Consultant, William Gribbons, PhD
Professor Gribbons is director of the Human Factors and Information Design programs at Bentley, where he teaches courses in human factors and information design on the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Information Design Programs at Bentley are among the largest and most respected programs of this type in the country. Professor Gribbons was also founder of the Design and Usability Center. In 2002, he was awarded the position of Distinguished Professor of Human Factors in recognition of his contributions to the college and the profession.
He received his PhD from the University of Maryland. He is an associate fellow of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and a member of the Technical Communication Editorial Board. He is also a member of the IEEE, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Usability Professional Association, and the ACM SIGCHI. He is a popular speaker at local and national conferences addressing issues of information design, human factors, and the user interface. His long-term research interests center on the building of a unified theory defining the user experience.
phone: 781.891.2926
e-mail: wgribbons@bentley.edu
Research Associates
The center employs research associates who have an average of five years of experience in commercial environments and have come to Bentley to complete their Master's degrees in Human Factors in Information Design. In addition to their coursework, each of our associates receives extensive training on conducting user research, running usability test sessions, preparing research materials, analyzing data, and writing reports.
Research Associate, Sara Douglas
Sara Douglas is a research associate in the Design and Usability Center. She has over 12 years of experience improving the usability of web content sites, employee portals, and applications. Sara is well versed in a variety of usability methods and techniques, with a special concentration in formative usability testing. Before joining the Center, Sara led a user experience (UX) team at Fireman's Fund, a company of Allianz SE, a leading global services provider in insurance, banking, and asset management. Sara has also taught as adjunct faculty at the Santa Rosa Junior college.
Sara is a Human Factors International (HFI) certified usability analyst and holds a BS in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics from Sonoma State University, Calif. She is currently pursuing a MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.
Research Associate, Whitney Gordon
Whitney Gordon is a research associate at the Design and Usability Center. Before joining the center, she worked in Integrated Marketing and CRM for David Yurman in New York, focusing on database analysis, multi-channel program coordination, direct mail circulation, and web site enhancement. Her experience also includes eCommerce merchandising and email marketing at Bloomingdale’s, and broadcast media activation at MediaVest Worldwide. Whitney is especially skilled at data analysis and web content management. She currently handles user experience and web development for the Afghanistan World Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to meeting critical humanitarian needs in Afghanistan.
Whitney holds a BA in Sociology and Information Analysis from Roanoke College in Virginia. She also studied Search Engine Optimization methods at New York University, earning certificates in Google AdWords and Google Analytics. She is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.
Research Associate, Niyati Gupta
Niyati Gupta is a research associate in the Design and Usability Center. Before joining the center, she worked as a Usability Specialist in Human Factors International Pvt. Ltd. Her repertoire includes usability analysis for government portals, e-commerce web sites, web applications, intranet applications and for wireless application protocol (WAP) services. During her tenure at HFI she created personas, low and high-fidelity wireframes, and information architecture. She also conducted heuristic reviews, competitive reviews, remote usability testing and card-sort analysis. Since joining the DUC, she has worked on projects for a variety of clients, including Abiomed, Autodesk, Children’s Hospital, and Nokia.
Niyati holds a MA in Social Psychology from the Mumbai University, India and is a Certified Usability Analyst. She is currently pursuing her MS in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University.
Research Associate, Mindy Maxwell
Mindy Maxwell is a research associate in the Design and Usability Center. She brings over twelve years of experience in web design and interactive media. Mindy recently spent four years working in Dublin, Ireland, as an interaction designer and usability specialist. In this role she worked directly with clients in Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Australia and Canada, creating usable, intuitive, and engaging design solutions for online booking applications. Since returning to the states in January of 2009, she has been actively consulting as a designer and usability specialist.
Mindy is a Human Factors International (HFI) certified usability analyst and holds a BA in studio art (oil painting), with a double minor in sociology and anthropology from The College of Wooster. She is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.
Research Associate, Dharmesh Mistry
Dharmesh Mistry is a research associate in the Design and Usability Center. He has over two years of experience in consulting, working for a global leader in data warehousing and analytic technologies in India. He has expertise in data warehousing tools and understand the full data warehousing lifecycle and has special expertise in Telecommunications data. Dharmesh has a strong interest in graphic design, with experience in print and web layout and logo design. At the DUC, he has worked on usability tests in a variety of fields, including law research and medical equipment.
Dharmesh holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Computer Science from Mumbai University. He is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.
Research Associate, David Sutton
David is a research associate in the Design and Usability Center. He has been working to improve web sites for over six years, specializing in web design, design specification, information architecture, content creation, and content management. Most recently, David spent three years as a User Experience Specialist for Comcast’s corporate web site, Comcast.com. He has also worked as a technical writer and content manager at Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin), a global professional services firm.
David holds a BA in Communication from Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.
Research Associate, Allison Werner
Allison Werner is a research associate in the Design and Usability Center. Before coming to the center, she was a consultant for Continuum, working on several long-term user research projects. Allison brings with her a strong knowledge of user research methodologies. She has a range of experience with analysis techniques, including the creation of frameworks, personas, scenarios, and journey maps.
Allison holds a BS in Geological Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
She is currently pursuing a MS in Human Factors in Information Design at
Bentley University.
