About Karena
researcher · designer · builder · curious about what people do and why
nice to meet you!
the short version:
I like making complicated things make sense.
I'm Karena, a UX researcher who also designs and codes. I pay attention to the distance between how a system is supposed to work and how people actually use it: a label that means something different to the reader, or a menu that hides the one link they came for.
I started in computer science. Along the way I got more interested in the people using software than in the software itself. I wanted to know how they read a page, which words they look for, and what makes a site feel trustworthy.
That’s why I’m now studying human–computer interaction. I still like building things. I just care more about whether they make sense to the person on the other side.
favorite kind of problem
“Why is this harder than it needs to be?”
how I got here
Not exactly a straight line.
01
start with the system
Computer Science
I learned how software is built and what’s happening underneath the screen.
→
02
then ask who it's for
Human–Computer Interaction
I started caring more about how people experience a system than how it’s built.
→
03
now connect the dots
Research + Design + Build
Now I research the problem first, then design the fix and sometimes build it myself.
what I wonder about
Questions I keep coming back to
⌕
Behavior
What changes between what people say they will do, what they intend,
and what they actually do when they use a system?
✦
Perception
What does someone expect a page to do before they’ve clicked anything?
♡
Identity + culture
How do a community’s words and norms change what feels welcoming or trustworthy to its members?
→
Clarity
Where is a site making people think harder than they should, and what would make the next step obvious?
what I actually do
My toolkit
?
Research
- User interviews
- Usability testing
- Survey design
- Heuristic evaluation
- Card sorting
- Tree testing
- Affinity mapping
- Research synthesis
✎
Design
- Information architecture
- Wireframing
- Interaction design
- Prototyping
- Content hierarchy
- Accessibility thinking
- Design rationale
- Research-driven recommendations
</>
Web
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Responsive design
- WordPress
- Front-end implementation
- Content structure
- Basic SEO
one more thing...
My favorite projects start with something that technically works but still confuses the people using it.
Navigation nobody can follow, feedback that contradicts itself, a page no one knows where to put. That’s where I want to dig in.
yes, I probably have too many tabs open
enough about me
See how I think.
The case studies show my methods, the results, and what I’d change next time.