About User Cognition

User Cognition belongs to me - Rossano Barone PhD. I'm an independent user researcher based in Brighton, UK. I have an interdisciplinary background in Psychology, Human-computer Interaction and Cognitive Science.

I focus on using research and theory, particularly from cognitive science to improve the usability and user experience of systems. My preference is to employ both qualitative research and advanced statistical methods to address problems in a meaningful and evidence-based way.

Scroll down for more information on my background, skills and publications.



Background


I hold a PhD in Cognitive Science from the University of Sussex, an MSc in Cognitive Science from the University of Manchester and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Middlesex University.

My doctoral research investigated cognitive explanations of how graphical representations can support abstract reasoning through psychological experiments and cognitive modelling.

I've worked for about ten years as an academic researcher on projects in the field of human-computer interaction and cognitive science. This research included projects investigating the design and evaluation of interactive visualizations for complex planning and scheduling systems.


Skills


I have experience in psychological and user research methods including experimental design, survey design, interviewing, knowledge elicitation methods, cognitive and task modelling, verbal protocol analysis, eye-tracking, mouse and keyboard log file analysis, usability testing and the analysis of representations and interactive systems.

I'm competent in advanced statistical methods for behavioural sciences and software tools including IBM SPSS, Excel and R.

I also have modest programming experience in several languages including Visual C++, Visual C#, Javascript, LISP and Python. I've developed prototype desktop applications, data processing scripts, visualisations and computational cognitive models.

I've co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and presented research at international conferences.