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, Beth Loring, CHFP
Beth Loring, Director of the Center, has over 20 years of experience in product design and usability. She has expertise in user requirements gathering, UI design, and usability evaluation methods. She has designed and evaluated a wide array of consumer products, web sites, desktop software, business applications, and medical devices. Beth has been a faculty member in Bentley's Information Design Certificate program since 2001.
Before joining Bentley in 2003, Beth was a Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research, and before that she spent five years as the human factors team leader at IDEO Product Development in Boston. She is knowledgeable about FDA and AAMI human factors standards for medical products, as well as ADA Section 508 accessibility compliance.
Beth holds an MS in Engineering Design from Tufts University and is a Certified Human Factors Professional. She has published numerous papers on usability and is co-author of a case study in "Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Requirements" by Catherine Courage and Kathy Baxter (Morgan Kaufmann, 2005). She has received design awards from IDEA/Business Week and ID Magazine. Beth is past chair of both the New England Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and BostonCHI.
phone: 781.891.2608
e-mail: bloring@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 degree in Economics from UMASS/Boston and an MS in Human Factors from Bentley College. 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, including Web programmers and 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. Kris’ recent projects have included a large study of enterprise data needs, developing profiles for enterprise users from IT professionals to business executives, testing a service for publication-quality Web photos, and developing personas for a loan-related website.
Kris’ areas of interest include field research and user profiles, usability in the Justice system, and usability in education. She holds an MS in Human Factors from Bentley College. 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. Recent clients include: PicScout, SimpleTuition.
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
Usability Consultant, Chris Hass
Chris Hass has more than 12 years of experience in human factors research, user interface design, and accessibility in the development of innovative user experience programs. Chris has unique expertise conducting human factors research with persons with physical and cognitive disabilities, a skill that strategically aligns with one of the center's key growth areas. He also brings extensive experience designing information architecture and interaction designs for consumer, medical, professional, and human service products.
Prior to joining the Design and Usability Center, Chris worked at the American Institutes for Research, where he was a senior research scientist in the Human Factors Research and Design group. Previously, he served as a World Wide Web specialist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.
Chris has published numerous papers on usability including Optimizing Research Design for Diverse Target Populations, presented to the MIT Humans and Technology Symposium, and PHIN For All: Implementing Research Based Accessibility Practices into Web-Based Applications, presented at the CDC Public Health Information Network, 2005 Annual Conference. Chris holds a BA in English Literature from Davidson College.
phone: 781.891.2032
e-mail: chass@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, Stephen Denning
Stephen Denning is a Research Associate in the Design and Usability Center. He has over nine years experience in IT consulting and software delivery, working as a Principal Consultant for a leading global management and technology consultancy firm based in the UK. In this role he worked to deliver innovative solutions to complex problems for a wide range of clients in both the private and public sector. Stephen has extensive experience across the software lifecycle from insight to implementation, as well as the planning of IT delivery projects and the management of project teams.
Stephen's experience in usability and user-centric design has been applied to the successful delivery of many client projects and he is now building on that expertise by pursuing a MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley. Stephen holds an Honors degree in Computer Science from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a member of the British Computer Society.
Research Associate, Zarlashtah Ludin
Zarla is a Research Associate in the Design and Usability Center. She has extensive experience in sociological and anthropological fieldwork, having completed two international projects in France and Malta. Her diverse academic background has permitted her to explore the world of applied anthropology, earning a certification from the School for International Training, and a publication for Expeditions, a Belgian-based network of applied anthropologists. Zarla’s most recent experience at the DUC has involved usability testing and a longitudinal study for a client with an e-commerce website.
Zarla holds a BA in Anthropology and French from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is currently pursuing a MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley College.
Research Associate, Neeta Goplani
Neeta is a Research Associate in the Design and Usability Center. She has her MBA from the University of Nottingham, UK. She has had great international exposure having worked in India, Middle East (Dubai) and UK with companies like Oracle, Honeywell and Rolls-Royce. Her area of expertise ranges from the technical domain - programming, software development - to market research and consulting projects. She has contributed to projects involving focus groups, expert reviews, ethnography studies, qualitative and quantitative research for clients including World Winner, Blue Cross Blue Shield, VW, New York and Company, and Staples.
Neeta also holds a BS in Computer Science from the American University of Sharjah, UAE and is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley College.
Research Associate, Tomer Sharon
Tomer is a Research Associate in the Design and Usability Center. He has eight years of experience working as a usability specialist and user experience designer in various high-tech firms, including Check Point Software Technologies in Israel. Tomer conducted dozens of usability and card sorting evaluations for various software products and Websites, created low and high-fidelity prototypes, conducted usability reviews, field observations, site visits, interviews, surveys, and developed user interface standards.
From 2004 through 2007, Tomer served as President of the Israeli Chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association, leading a variety of activities for hundreds of user experience professionals and raising awareness to the need for easy, simple, and fun technology products. Since 2006, he has served as an editorial board member for User Experience, UPA's member magazine.
Tomer holds a BA in Social Sciences and Humanities from The Open University of Israel (Cum Laude, Dean's List) and is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley College.
Research Associate, Bob Thomas
Bob Thomas is a Research Associate in the Design and Usability Center. He has played critical roles in testing and evaluation projects for clients such as Partners Healthcare, Siemens, the New York State Department of Health, Historic New England, XaR, and a manufacturer of insulin pumps. Before joining the DUC, Bob was the Director of Product Management for Bitstream Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, managing typeface design and font technology products. He has extensive industry experience in product management, technical writing, and graphic design.
Bob holds an MBA from Suffolk University, an MFA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, a BA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a graphic design certificate from Northeastern University, and is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley College.
Research Associate, Andrew Wirtanen
Andrew is a Research Associate in the Design and Usability Center. He has extensive experience in Web development and programming languages. He also has expertise in databases, networking, user requirements gathering, and usability testing. Since joining the DUC, Andrew has conducted usability testing and expert reviews for clients such as Astrive, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cramer Online, Putnam, VW, Upromise, H&R Block, and a manufacturer of insulin pumps. Before joining the Center, Andrew was a contractor at Bose Corporation, where he led initiatives to diagram, develop, and design new departmental websites.
Andrew holds both an MS and BS in Information Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and is currently pursuing an MS in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley College.
