Selected work

Research and design for complex, high-stakes systems

Case studies showing how I turn research evidence into accessible, implementable products for government and enterprise teams.

View featured work Download résumé

Focus areas

01
Government systems
National programs and public services
02
Complex enterprise workflows
Requirements, cases, roles, and handoffs
03
Accessibility
Section 508, Trusted Tester expertise, and inclusive interaction design
04
Responsible AI
Research operations and ethical AI product design

Featured case studies

National-scale systems and accessible public-sector products

The first two cases show sustained leadership across research, requirements, design, delivery, and adoption.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) · Sky Solutions · Enterprise case management

Modernizing fraud-prevention case management for a national CMS program

I led end-to-end research and design for five Unified Case Management (UCM) NexGen record types and provided substantial design, testing, and delivery support for four more. I partnered with CMS users, stakeholders, product owners, business analysts, software engineers, and QA to create accessible, buildable workflows.

1,200+: Users
5: National jurisdictions
2026: Target for legacy-system migration

My contribution · End-to-end research and design for five record types, with substantial design and delivery support for four more.

View UCM case study

Defense Media Activity (DMA) · Sky Solutions · Accessible publishing

Creating an accessible, reusable publishing system

Research and component design across five military publishing environments addressed authoring pain points and established reusable, Section 508-conscious patterns. The pilot work was accepted for continued development.

14: Research sessions
17: Components
3: Site themes prototyped

My contribution · Research notes and synthesis, comparative analysis, accessible component design, prototyping, testing, and agile delivery support

View DMA case study

Product innovation + public services

Responsible AI and accessible public-service design

Sky AI Research (Sky AIR) demonstrates independently directed AI product work; Medicaid.gov shows research-led accessibility improvements adopted across a major public service.

Sky Solutions · 30 Apps in 30 Days · Responsible AI

Designing and building an AI research product through a full development lifecycle

I independently defined Sky AI Research (Sky AIR), a qualitative research platform, including its product direction, UX architecture, design system, vertical-slice specifications, accessibility controls, and AI-assisted delivery workflow. I completed its first MVP in under 30 days.

Completed first MVP · Research operations · Responsible AI · AI-assisted delivery

My contribution · Product definition, UX architecture, design system, vertical-slice specifications, accessibility controls, AI-assisted delivery direction, review, and testing

View Sky AIR case study

Medicaid.gov · Sky Solutions · Accessible search

Making advanced search clearer and more accessible on Medicaid.gov

I led research, analysis, and prototype design for advanced search patterns adopted as a model across the site.

2024 CMS Honor Award · Three-year contract renewal · New full-time UX role

My contribution · Research leadership, accessibility analysis, interaction design, and interactive Figma prototyping

View Medicaid.gov case study

Master’s projects

Evaluation and prototyping grounded in user evidence

These academic projects pair rigorous usability evaluation with multi-semester research and interaction design.

Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) · Public transit · Master’s usability evaluation

Turning usability evidence into improvements for public-transit riders

For CATA, I helped synthesize five usability sessions, produced task and System Usability Scale (SUS) metrics, and presented findings that informed service and trip-planner changes.

5 sessions · SUS and task metrics · 3 recommendations adopted

My contribution · Session moderation, metrics, synthesis, report appendices, presentation oversight, and stakeholder readout

View CATA case study

Stakeholder-sponsored concept · Master’s project · Interaction design

From research to an interactive prototype for caregivers of people with dementia

A two-semester case study extending foundational research into Figma and code-based prototypes.

Research synthesis · Interaction design · Figma and coded prototypes

My contribution · User research, synthesis, concept design, Figma prototyping, and coded prototyping

View Caregiver support case study

“Not only is Stephanie talented, but she is a joy to work with. She is willing to support and assist her team members by offering a helping hand whenever needed. Her passion is evident in her work and she is truly committed to the success of the team.”

— HCD colleague, Menlo Innovations

Need a researcher-designer for a complex public-sector system?

Let’s talk about enterprise modernization, accessible workflows, or responsible AI.

snaggums@gmail.com