Bob Thomas; Manager of User Experience, Liberty Mutual; USA
Kathi Kaiser; Partner, Centralis; USA
Chauncey Wilson; Director of UX, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research; USA
Dan Berlin; Experience Research Director, Mad*Pow; USA
Rich Buttiglieri; Director of Design at Pearson Education; USA

Robert L. Thomas: believes that focus groups belong in the UX toolkit. They can provide high-level results that enable companies to make strategic decisions around product direction, early in the development cycle. Their success depends on preparation and good moderator skills. Robert L. Thomas is Manager of User Experience at a Fortune 100 company, where he has worked to expand usability best practices and build a UX team. He has presented at local and national UXPA conferences. He holds an MS in Human Factors in Information Design and an MBA. He is on the Board of Directors of a local UXPA group.

Kathi Kaiser: is co-founder and partner at Centralis, a leading Chicago-based user experience firm. As a researcher, Kathi provides rich insight into user behavior. As a designer, she applies that insight to creating products that help users accomplish their goals while ensuring businesses meet their objectives.  Kathi’s experience spans fifteen years, featuring engagements global clients including Sony, LexisNexis and Warner Bros. She is an authority on user-centered design, serving as adjunct faculty at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design.  Kathi holds a Master's degree from the University of Chicago and a BA from Georgetown University.

Christopher S. LaRoche: works as an internal usability consultant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  He has worked as a technical writer, information designer, user researcher, and usability consultant for eighteen years. His work has specialized in content creation, user research, and most frequently as a UX generalist. Chris is a Senior Lecturer at the College of Professional Studies (CPS) at Northeastern University, where he has taught for over a dozen years. Chris teaches courses in usability, information architecture, user research, prototyping, and modern Irish and British history. He was previously on the Board of Directors of the Boston Chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UXPA). Chris is active in the usability/UX community and regularly presents at professional conferences. Chris has an MA in Irish History from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and an MS in Human Factors from Bentley University. 

Rich Buttiglieri's background includes over 25 years working in high tech in a variety of roles including QA engineer, front end developer, interaction designer, usability/UX researcher, manager, consultant, and now director. He has worked on large, complex desktop applications used by tens of millions, to web applications ranging from banking and credit card account management, sales force software, and online gaming. As a consultant, he has planned and moderated many focus groups on a variety of topics. Rich has presented on a wide range of UX topics over the last decade at several UXPA conferences and Consumer Electronics Shows, and was a repeat judge for several prestigious product design competitions including IDSA’s Innovations Award at CES, HFES’ User Centered Product Design Award, Appliance Design, and Mobile Internet World design competition.

Chauncey Wilson is an Associate Director of UX at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research and Adjunct Professor at Bentley University. Chauncey has spent over 30 years as a usability practitioner, development manager, lab director, usability manager, and mentor. Chauncey has presented at many CHI, UPA, APA, and HFES conferences, published numerous articles in professional journals and magazines, published chapters in several books on HCI and recently, completed a book, “Brainstorming and Beyond,” about ideation methods for UX practitioners. 

Dan Berlin: After seven years providing technical support for hard-to-use interfaces, Dan Berlin found his calling after participating in a usability study. He then went on to enroll in the MBA+MS in Human Factors in Information Design program at Bentley University. After graduating from Bentley, Dan spent two years at an interactive agency performing usability and neuromarketing research studies. For the latter research, Dan investigated eye tracking and biofeedback methodologies, and has presented extensively on these topics. He is now Experience Research Director at Mad*Pow, where he helps determine the ideal research methods to collect useful data that will inform Mad*Pow's designs. Dan is vice president of UXPA Boston, is the Education committee chair for the UXPA International conference, holds a BA in Psychology from Brandeis University, and is particularly interested in visual space perception.