Laura Granka, Resume

Laura Ann Granka

EDUCATION

Ph.D, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Thesis Committee: Dr. Shanto Iyengar, Dr. Clifford Nass, Dr. James Fishkin, Dr. Simon Jackman

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Master of Science in Communication
Focus in Human-Computer Interaction, Minor in Cognitive Studies
Thesis Committee: Dr. Geri Gay; Dr. Thorsten Joachims; Dr. Michael Spivey; Dr. Jeffrey Hancock

Bachelor of Science in Communication
Magna Cum Laude with Distinction in Research

EMPLOYMENT

Google, Lead UX Researcher for Google+: August 2011 to Present

Direct the research strategy for Google's social efforts.

Manage and lead the team of UX researchers on Google+.

Execute both strategic and tactical research (e.g., surveys, field studies, usability).

Google, User Experience Researcher: September 2005 - 2011

Led UX research for numerous search features, including social search, +1, Instant, and Suggest.

Proficient in multiple methods: eyetracking, field research, lab-based usability, log analysis, diary studies.

Conducted international search research in emerging markets, including China, Russia, and Poland.

Stanford University, Teaching Assistant: September 2010 - December 2010

Teaching assistant for Poli Sci 120B, Campaigns, Voting, Media, and Elections, with Prof. Shanto Iyengar.

Stanford University, Research Assistant: Fall 2009 - Spring 2010

Research assistant with Prof. Shanto Iyengar

Planned and executed large-scale online experiment and survey with 1,000 participants. Coordinated efforts with YouGov/Polimetrix.

Conducted statistical analysis - survival analysis, time-series regression, and other linear modeling with R statistical software.

Stanford University, Teaching Assistant: Fall 2008 - Spring 2009

Course teaching assistant for three quarters: Intro to Communication (Fall 08); New Media & Society (Winter 09); Virtual People (Sp 09)

Google, Inc., Usabiliy Team Intern: July 2005-September 2005

Designed and executed user studies for a number of products including Picasa, Google Scholar, Blogger, and Search.

SAP Labs, LLC., Intern: September 2004- March 2005

Part-time intern with SAP Research Center Palo Alto, Human Computer Interaction Group

Research and developed insights about interface complexity.

Google, Inc., Search Quality Intern: June 2004-September 2004

Search Quality and Evaluation internship

Cornell University, Research Assistant: August 2002 to May 2004

Research assistant in Cornell's Human Computer Interaction (HCI) lab

Conducted eye-tracking research: experimental design; conducted quantitative and visual analyses; developed recommendations for enhanced information display

Conducted research and evaluations of online information seeking behaviors

Developing process models for structural site design, marketing, and information visualization

Cornell University, Course Instructor: June-August, 2003

Taught Communication in Social Relationships (Comm 116) to undergraduates during the Cornell Summer Session.

Coordinated all class activities, including developing syllabi, daily lesson plans, presentations, weekly assignments, and exams.

General Electric, Corporate Benefits Delivery: May - Aug 2002; May - Aug 2001; May - Aug 2000

Designed prototypes for new online benefits initiatives

Developed and designed internal web interface for GE's Corporate Benefits Delivery division.

Wrote articles for "Benefits Updates" newsletters, sent to employees company-wide.

Recommended, designed & implemented process improvements leading to the automation of the Email Engine, a system which sends targeted mailings to GE Employees nationwide.

Teaching Assistant - Oral Communication (Comm 201): Spring 2001

WVBR FM - Ithaca area radio station, involvement from 1999-2001

Executive Producer and host of This Sunday, a weekly, 60 minute live talk show.

Produced commercials for Ithaca area merchants, and organized station promotions

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITES

Reviewer for the following conferences:

ACM CHI 2009, CHI 2010, CHI 2011

ACM ETRA 2008, 2010

ACM Hypertext 2010. Also served on program committee for the Social Computing Track.

ACM SIGIR 2009. Also served on program committee for workshop on implicit user feedback.

Reviewer for the following journals:

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies: April 2010

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception: August 2010

Political Communication: March 2010, April 2010, May 2010, August 2010

Public Opinion Quarterly: December 2009

Google Faculty Research awards: sponsor and review committee.

PUBLICATIONS/ CONFERENCE PAPERS

Braunstein, A., Granka, L., Staddon, J. Indirect Content Privacy Surveys: Measuring Privacy Without Asking About It. SOUPS 2011, Symposium On Usable Privacy and Security.

Granka, L. 2010. The Politics of Search: A Decade Retrospective. The Information Society Journal, 26 (5). Forthcoming: December 2010.

Granka, L. 2010. Measuring Agenda setting with online search traffic: Influences of online and traditional media. Prepared for delivery at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 2-5, 2010. Download.

Granka, L. Improving Election Forecasting Models with Online Search Traffic. Poster presentation at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 2-5, 2010.

Granka, L., Feusner, M, & Lorigo, L. Eye Monitoring in Online Search. Book Chapter, pp 283-304.Passive Eye Monitoring. Springer-Verlag, 2008.

Joachims, T., Granka, L., Rodden, K. Evaluating the accuracy of implicit feedback from clicks and query reformulations in Web search. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 2007.

Granka, L., Rodden, K. Incorporating Eyetracking into User Studies at Google. Workshop Position paper presented at CHI 2006, ACM.

Granka, L., Hembrooke, H., & Gay, G. Location, Location, Location: Viewing Patterns on WWW Pages. Proc. of Eye Tracking Research & Applications (ETRA): Symposium 2006, ACM.

Lorigo, L., Pan, B., Hembrooke, H., Joachims, T., Granka, L., Gay, G.. In press. The Influence of Task & Gender on Search & Evaluation Behavior Using Google. Information Processing & Management.

Joachims, T., Granka, L., Gay, G., Hembrooke, H., Pan, B. Accurately Interpreting Click-through Data as Implicit Feedback. Proceedings of the Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR), 2005.

Granka, L., Scheufele, D. (2005). Talking about Drugs: How family and media shape interactions. (To be presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association: New York City, May 2005).

Hembrooke, H., Granka, L., & Gay, G. (In Press). The Effects of Expertise and Feedback on Query Formation and Expansion: Developing a Typology of Search Term Strategy Use. Journal of the American Society for Information Science.)

Walther, J. B., Loh, T., & Granka, L. (In Press). Let Me Count the Ways: Expression of Affinity in Computer-Mediated Communication and Face-to-Face Interaction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology.)

Granka, L., Joachims, T., Gay, G. (2004). Eye-tracking Analysis of User Behavior in WWW Search. Poster Abstract, Proceedings of the Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR), 2004.

Granka, L. (2004). Eye-R: Eye-Tracking analysis of user Behavior in online Search. Masters Thesis, Cornell University Library Press.

Pan, B., Hembrooke, H., Gay, G., Granka, L., Feusner, M., & Newman, J. (2004). The Determinants of Web Page Viewing Behavior: An Eye-Tracking Study. Proc. of Eye Tracking Research & Applications: Symposium 2004, ACM.

Granka, L. (2003). Cognition in Interactive Media: Implications for Learning. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Miami, FL, Nov 2003.

Pan, B., Gay, G., Hembrooke, H., Granka, L., Feusner, M., (2003, October). Eye tracking in the design and evaluation of digital libraries. Presented at the NSDL All Projects Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Liddy, L., Gay, G., Allen, E., Hembrooke, H., Finneran, T., Granka, L. (2003, October). MetaTest: Experimental results on utilities of metadata for information access. Poster session presented at the NSDL All Projects Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Walther, J. B., Granka, L., Loh, T., Foucault, B. (2003). Let Me Count the Ways: Expression of Affinity in Computer-Mediated Communication and Face-to-Face Interaction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association. San Diego, CA, May, 2003.

Liddy, E. D., Allen, E. E., Finneran, C.M., Gay, G., Hembrooke, H., & Granka, L.A. (2003). MetaTest: Evaluation of metadata from generation to use. Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, Houston, TX.

Liddy, L., Gay, G., Allen, E., Hembrooke, H., Finneran, T., Granka, L. (2002, December). MetaTest: Evaluating the quality and utility of metadata. Poster session presented at the NSDL All Projects Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Granka, L. (2002). A cross-cultural comparison of the anti-drug campaigns in the United States and Singapore. Cornell Library Press. Undergraduate Honors Thesis.

Laura Ann Granka

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