Mother,
design researcher,
educator.

Hi, I’m Adriana. I shape inclusive research at SOUR, serve as chair of MFA Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts, and serve on the board of Superbloom. I give talks about inclusive design and community-centered practices as part of Consciousness Leaders,

I have 15+ years of experience leading design research that focuses on centering the experiences of people and communities for startups, government, non-profits, and corporate clients. Previously, I led research and strategy at Stae, a platform for cities to manage civic data and new mobilities. I was the head of consumer research at littleBits, a STEAM platform for kids and educators to invent their own technology. And most recently, I crafted community building at 3x3 and shaped communications, business development, and the urban design practice at Openbox.

I became a researcher because I lived in many places and learned from fascinating and wonderfully complicated people. I grew up spending summers with my family in Caracas and winters in Chinatown in Honolulu. I worked at a women’s prison in Upstate New York, co-designing summer camps with children and their incarcerated mothers. I founded a school for undocumented immigrant families in Providence, Rhode Island. I researched privatized-public spaces in India, China, and the Middle East. I studied politics in a small city outside of Moscow at the time when Putin was first elected.

I once lived in the Providence Place Mall and made a dress out of an IKEA bag. I hold a BA in History from Brown University and an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics. I homeschooled my son from grades one to four and both of us are still alive.

Some recent things I’ve written ✎

‘Leaving the mall’
'Light Brain Surgery: 30 days with my Light Phone II’

‘To practice inclusion we need to let go of designer-centered design’

Say hello <3