About me
I enjoy improving human activities with context-relevant and
low-cost visual and/or interaction design solutions. In my view,
these conditions produce design outputs of far-reaching effects.

My design expertise mainly contributes to the advancement of educational research and practice, and also includes some non-educational projects. This website presents examples of the kind of work I am capable of doing. You can contact me via gloria [at] gloriagomez [dot] com for further information, and if you would like to hire my services as a design researcher or practitioner.

Since 1996, I have worked in multidisciplinary projects of regional, national and worldwide impact and in close partnership with professionals and academics from diverse fields, first in my home country Colombia, later in the United States and Australia, and currently in New Zealand.

The design experience I have includes the educational and interaction design of one tangible resource for preschool education; plus several online products and one print product for higher degree education; the visual interface design of interactive games and websites, graphical user interface (GUI) design of two software applications; as well as information graphics, printed materials, and logo symbols for varied purposes.

Through work experience, close collaborations, and academic endeavours, I have developed expertise and research interests in multiple areas:

• Interaction, participatory, and inclusive design
• Graphic user interface (GUI) design , icon design, and visual design for websites
  
• Qualitative research methods: user-centred design, rapid ethnography, and case study research
• Childhood education and research, cognitive and educational psychology
• E-learning and instructional design in higher degree education
• Knowledge visualisation techniques, esp. Novak’s concept mapping, and more recently
• Survey research and purposeful games

I write and have published a number of scholarly articles in English and Spanish showing how design can promote innovation. My writing contributes to the areas of educational research and practice, interaction and visual design, and cognitive psychology as applied to the design of products informed by technological advancements.

To expand my research network and knowledge, I have been research visitor at academic institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and The University of Rochester in the United States; have presented at early childhood education, human-computer interaction, educational technology, and concept mapping conferences; as well as delivered seminars to diverse audiences, such as to interaction designers and child developmental psychologists at CMU or master students of inclusive education at the University of South Australia.

I serve the academic community as PhD supervisor, thesis examiner, conference, journal, and book reviewer, and conference committee member. I have also been student volunteer (e.g. CHI 2006, CHIKids Leader 2002), student representative, and raised funds for student-led seminars while I was a doctoral student at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.

 

Browse work: Design research or Design practice