Chris Hass is the Executive Director of the User Experience Center. Chris brings more than 20 years of experience in UX research, design, strategy, and business development to his role leading the center. Chris has garnered global renown for his contributions to the UX research, accessibility, service design, and healthcare innovation fields. Prior to joining Bentley, Chris was the Director of Health & Life Sciences at Kanda Software, President of Create Logic LLC, and Sr. VP of Experience Design at Mad*Pow Media Solutions LLC.

Chris has published and presented his research at more than 100 national and international conferences, including AMIA, ACM SIGCHI, Big Design, CDC PHIN, CSUN, UXPA International, and UXPA Boston. He is an adjunct professor at Bentley University and Northeastern University. He co-authored (with Margo Edmunds and Erin Holve) the Springer textbook: Consumer Informatics and Digital Health: Solutions for Health and Health Care. He is the past president of both UXPA International and UXPA Boston, where he serves as an advisory board member.

Bill Gribbons is Director of the graduate Human Factors program at Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts. The Human Factors program at Bentley is among the largest and most respected user experience programs in the country. In 2013, he established a west coast campus for the program in San Francisco. Bill also teaches Innovation in the Bentley MBA.

In 1999, Dr. Gribbons founded the User Experience Center at Bentley, and continues to hold a senior consulting role. For over thirty years he has provided strategy, product design, and user experience consulting services to technology groups around the world. In 2013, he founded the Bentley UX Studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The mission of the studio is to demonstrate the value of user experience research and design to the success of early-stage start-ups.

Bill received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He is a member of the Mass High Tech Council. He has appeared on, and been quoted by, local and national media including the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, Bloomberg News, Boston Business Journal, Computerworld, Mass High Tech, The Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, the Washington Times, East Bay Business Times, ABC “20-20”, Business 2.0, a nationally syndicated radio show (A Touch of Grey), Investor Business Daily, Times Higher Education Smashing Magazine, Knowledge@Wharton, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

His long-term research interests center on the building of a unified theory defining the user experience and the promotion of user experience as a guiding business strategy. He is a frequent speaker at conferences like SXSW, Collision, Future of Web Design, and Webvisions.

Lena Dmitrieva is a Senior Usability Consultant at the User Experience Center. Lena brings more than a decade of experience in UX consulting to her work at the center.

Lena is passionate about empowering users of all ages and walks of life with efficient, easy to learn, and enjoyable products. She strives to help her clients create successful customer experiences by connecting with their users, understanding their needs, and translating those needs into product solutions.

Lena enjoys the challenge of identifying appropriate UX methodologies and has extensive experience conducting user experience projects as well as training others in User Experience work.

Her skills include User Experience Project Implementation and Management, Information Architecture Analysis, Usability Testing, Expert Reviews, Heuristic Reviews, Competitive Evaluations, Focus Groups, Field Research, User Requirements Gathering, Development of User Profiles/Personas.

Lena is a generalist and has worked with clients across industries and product platforms. Her partial client list includes Dressbarn, Payless ShoeSource, T. J. Maxx, Sperry Top-Sider, Stride Rite, New York & Company, Fidelity Investments, Citizens Bank, TIAA Cref, H&R Block, Banknorth, Staples, Arnold Worldwide, One to One Interactive, Cabot Corp., Colgate University, Houghton Mifflin, Liberty Mutual, Monster.com, McKesson, Newsedge, Raytheon, Smarter Travel, Royal Caribbean, Volkswagen, CORT Furniture, MIT Alumni Association, Planned Parenthood of America, Putnam Investments, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Genzyme, JA Worldwide, Metromix, PNCGIS, Lionbridge.

Lena holds Master of Science with Distinction in Human Factors from Bentley University.

She serves on the board of directors of Boston UXPA (User Experience Professional Association) and is a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Greater Boston SIGCHI.

Peter McNally is a Senior Consultant at the User Experience Center. Pete has more than 25 years’ experience in usability, information architecture, accessibility, and software engineering. His current areas of interests include the intersection of user experience (UX), customer experience (CX), artificial intelligence (AI), universal design, voice UX, and internet of things (IoT).

Regardless of the area or technology, Pete always focuses on the human at the end of the product, so they can have the most seamless and engaging experience. He has worked with users and designed digital experiences in the financial services, healthcare, government, education, energy, manufacturing, defense, and electronics industries.  Some of his recent clients include: Philips Healthcare, Fidelity Investments, Intel, Southern New Hampshire University, Analog Devices, EBSCO, and BNY Mellon Eagle Investments.

Prior to joining the center, Pete was a Principal Consultant in the CSC User Experience Practice, Senior User Experience Architect at HP Enterprise Services, Research Officer at University of Hertfordshire in the UK, and Senior Software Engineer at 3M Health Information Systems.

Pete holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Northeastern University and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He holds a CPACC (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies) certification from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). He is a member of the International User Experience Professionals' Association (UXPA), Boston UXPA, Boston CHI, and IAAP.

Jason Reynolds is a Senior Usability Consultant at the User Experience Center and teaches in the graduate Human Factors program at Bentley University. Jason has over 25 years of experience in UX design and related fields with particular experience in information architecture, strategy, and accessibility.

Jason first took a job with the title of Information Architect in 1999. In the years since, he has worked to solve business problems and create delightful online experiences for large and small business, government, and non-profit organizations. Before relocating to Boston, Jason lived in Austin, TX where he was the Director of User Experience for TradeMark Media. He also maintained his own consulting practice for several years. 

Before joining Bentley, Jason spent more than 6 years teaching the User Experience Design Immersive (UXDI) program for General Assembly both on campus in Austin, TX and Boston, MA, and online. In recognition of his exemplary service in the classroom, Jason was selected as a member of General Assembly's Distinguished Faculty program.

Jason has an MBA from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business, Computer Science, and International Studies from Austin College. He is a Certified Professional for Usability and User Experience. 

Jason is an active member of the Boston UX community, serving as an organizer of World IA Day, and a volunteer for UXPA Boston and other UX events and organizations. He is excited to share his knowledge and experiences with others - especially those new to the field of UX.

Yael is a UX Research Associate at Bentley’s User Experience Center (UXC). Prior to joining the team, she was a UX Research Intern for an end-to-end software service connecting patients to essential health and social care services. In this role, she conducted user interviews and focus groups to understand the diverse needs of the company’s users to better represent and design for them.

Yael also has experience working as a UX Research Assistant at UC Santa Cruz, where she collaborated with her team to improve university systems through competitive analyses, journey mapping, analytics, and heuristic reviews. 

Yael is a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Human Computer Interaction. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.

Kimaya is a Research Associate at the User Experience Center at Bentley. Prior to joining the UXC, Kimaya has worked as a copywriter at a marketing and advertising agency and contributed as an author at one of India’s leading lifestyle magazines. Apart from words, she is passionate about mental health, the environment, sustainability and creating an impact on the world. She sees user-experience research as an opportunity to do good through tech. 

Kimaya holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and is currently pursuing her Masters in Human Factors in Information Design.

Ying is a Research and Design Associate at Bentley's User Experience Center. He has previously worked at a travel tech start-up, where he improved and created user interfaces of travel applications and websites, conducted user research, crafted marketing materials for social media, marketing and oversaw usability testing.

Ying's educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality Management from a prestigious hospitality college, a postgraduate diploma in user experience design, and a Master's degree in Business Management. Currently, he is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.

Samantha is a Research and Design Associate at the User Experience Center. Prior to joining the team, she graduated with her undergraduate degree from Bentley where she studied marketing, and minored in both Philosophy and Experience Design. She was also a member of the Bentley women's lacrosse team and held an Executive Board position on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. During the last two summers, she brought her learnings to the corporate world in some of the most high-profile buildings in the Boston Area as a marketing intern at BXP. In her senior year at Bentley, she held an undergraduate research position and was able to work on an NSF-funded project focused on Haptics and Touch Perception. 

Samantha holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Bentley University and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University.

Marianna is a Research and Design Associate at Bentley’s User Experience Center. Prior to joining the UXC, Marianna had completed internships in marketing and web design, and shortly after was a Multimedia Producer at Bentley University’s marketing department. With a background in physical product design, Marianna is passionate about integrating user research and business strategy into the design process when developing physical, digital, and hybrid products alike.

Marianna holds a Bachelor of Science in Product Design from the University of Dundee in Scotland, an RSA Student Design Award, and she is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.

Jackie is a UX Research Associate at the User Experience Center. Before joining the team, she worked as a school psychologist, where she utilized qualitative and quantitative methodologies to inform interventions catered to individual students’ unique learning styles. Jackie is passionate about improving the lives of others through her work. She aspires to support product designs that are equitable and accessible for all.  

Jackie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Concentration in Neuroscience, a Master of Arts in Professional Psychology, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) in School Psychology. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University.