CV

Curriculum Vitae

L. Ricardo Prada, PhD

Applied Experimental Psychologist

Education

Ph.D. in Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology
George Mason University, 2008

M.A. in Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology
George Mason University, 2005

B.A. in Psychology
San Francisco State University, 2002


Professional Experience

User Experience Researcher at Google
January 2008 - Present

Conducting research to make humanity’s most advanced information-sharing technology available to everyone on earth, for free.

Human Factors Design Specialist (contractor) at Boeing Commercial Airplanes
September 2006 - September 2007

Member of a small Flight Deck Research and Development team. Conducted analytical and empirical evaluations of new flight deck prototypes, while completing dissertation on task analysis techniques.


Graduate Research Assistant at George Mason University
August 2002 - December 2007

Completed studies of airline training on flight deck automation under Dr. Deborah Boehm-Davis, including lab studies and on-site research at a national airline. Briefed FAA grant monitors. Began collaborations with researchers at Boeing, the University of Colorado, Carnegie Mellon and NASA Ames. Supervised retrofit of LC Technologies Eye-tracker. Worked with multiple student design teams, winning an international award.


User Experience Design Intern at Google
Summer, 2006

Worked with a team of interns to analyze Google’s primary revenue generating product. Developed and created interactive mock-ups for a tool to explain complex system behavior to consumers. Co-author on 5 posters presented during an internal research symposium.


Math & Computing Technology Intern at Boeing Phantom Works Labs
Summer, 2005

Conducted research on distributed cognition in desktop computing under Dr. Keith Butler. Completed first validation study of Boeing’s Flight Deck of the Future autopilot interface.


Undergraduate Research and Teaching Assistant at San Francisco State University
August 2001- May 2002

Graded exams, conducted study sessions, and guest lectured two sections of Psyc 300: Current Issues in Psychology (emphasis on psychoneuroimmunology). Gained familiarity with NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS).


Professional Interests

I am primarily interested in exploring the extent to which psychology can be applied to real world problems, especially with the goal of creating safe, useful, usable products for consumers.

My research focuses on techniques to improve early stage design decisions, objective task analysis approaches intended to predict user performance, and evaluation methodologies. My work tends to center on Human Computer Interaction, both in traditional contexts like the desktop PC, and in emerging areas, such as in-vehicle control systems.


Manuscripts in Preparation

Prada, L.R., Boehm-Davis, D.A., Mumaw, R.J., Boorman, D.J. (in preparation) Validation of multiple task analysis techniques on prototype commercial jet flight deck automation.

Butler, K. A., Esposito, C., Zhang, J., Jones, S. Eggleston, R., Prada, L.R. (Under review) Separating Extrinsic Usability from Intrinsic Work Difficulty: An Ontology-Based Approach.


Peer-reviewed Proceedings

Prada, L.R., Boehm-Davis, D. A., Riley, V. & Smith, C.F. (2007) Designing, evaluating, and training flight decks of the future. Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology. Dayton, OH.

Prada, L. R., Mumaw, R.J., & Boorman, D.J. (2006). Training Boeing’s Flight Deck of the Future: An experimental comparison of prototype and B777 automated flight panel. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society. San Francisco, CA.

Mumaw, R.J., Boorman, D.J., and Prada, L.R. (2006) Experimental evaluation of a new autoflight interface. Proceedings of the International Conference on Human Computer Interaction in Aerospace. Seattle, WA

Prada, L. R., & Boehm-Davis, D. A. (2004). GOMS on the flight deck: A case study of the Boeing 777 MCP, Proceedings the Annual Meeting of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society: New Orleans, LA.


Presentations

Prada, L. R. (2007) Evaluating an autoflight prototype (and ourselves). Presentation given at the 14th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology. Dayton, OH.

Prada, L. R. (2006) Be useful: Reflections from a former intern. Presentation given at the Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. San Francisco, CA.

Smith, C.F., & Prada, L.R. (2006). Transforming driving: Designing an automotive concept for a student competition. Presentation given at the George Mason University Arch Lab Lecture Series, April 26, 2006. Fairfax, VA.

Prada, L.R. (2006, February) Training the Flight Deck of the Future: An autoflight computer interface evaluation. Presention given at the meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Potomac Chapter. Washington, DC.

Prada, L.R. & Boehm-Davis, D.A. (2004) Predicting performance with GOMS. Presentation given at the APA Division 21 Mid-year Meeting. Fort Belvoir: VA.


Technical Papers

Smith, C.F., Prada, L.R. & Rahman, M.T. (2006). Designing a multimodal automotive interface. Unpublished manuscript submitted in consideration of the International Award in Design, Engineering and Innovation in the Field of Human Factors.

Smith, C.F., Prada, L.R., & Rahman, M.T. (2005) Driving design: Creating simple interfaces for complex cars. User Experience, 4(1), 14-19.


Awards

International Award in Design, Engineering, and Innovation in the field of Automotive Human Factors, Ex Aequo prize with Carl Smith and Mohammad Rahman. Endorsed by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. Torino, Italy. €2500. 2006

Graduate Student Travel Awards, from George Mason University. ~$1500 2003-2006

Institute for Humane Studies’ Liberty and Society Seminar Scholarship. ~$1000. 2002


Professional Service

Reviewer, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual meeting, Aerospace Technical Group, 2009

Reviewer, ACM Computer Human Interaction (CHI) conference, 2008 - 2009

Panel Chair and Organizer. Designing, evaluating, and training flight decks of the future. 14th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology. Dayton, OH. 2007

Google Ambassador to George Mason University. Administered funding for graduate student groups. 2006-2007

Panelist, Student Career Day, HFES annual meeting. 2006

Student Reviewer, Proceedings of the HFES annual meeting (Aerospace Systems Technical Group), 2006

Conference reporter, HFES annual meeting. 2005

National Ergonomics Month Speaker, George Mason University HFES chapter. 2005-2006

GMU Student Chapter Officer for SIGCHI (Chair) and HFES (Vice President). 2004-2005

Student volunteer, HFES annual meeting, APA Division 21 Midyear meeting, and Cognitive Science conference, 2003-2005

Professional Affiliations

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Usability Professionals Association

ACM SIGCHI, the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group in Computer-Human Interaction (BayCHI and Puget Sound chapters)


Media Appearances

Packard, E. (March, 2007) Post-grad growth area: Engineering psychology. gradPSYCH: The Magazine of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students. Retrieved on March 7, 2007, from http://gradpsych.apags.org/mar07/engineering.html

Mora, E. (February, 2007) A winning display. George Mason University Broadside Online. Retrieved March 20, 2007, from http://www.broadsideonline.com/02-05-2007/News/mora.htm

Italdesign-Giugiaro (2006). International Award in Design, Engineering, and Innovation in the field of Automotive Human Factors promoted jointly by Italdesign-Giugiaro and the Politecnico di Torino and endorsed by ICSID International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. Press release. Retrieved April 29, 2007, from http://www.italdesign.it/dinamic/webspecials/internationalaward/home_def.swf


Other Activities

Advanced Spanish Language and Culture coursework, via a joint program of the faculty at the Colegio de España and Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. 1996


References

Available on request.