Karen Holtzblatt

Karen Holtzblatt is a thought leader, industry speaker, and author. As co-founder and CEO of InContext Design, Karen is the visionary behind Con textual Design, a user-centered design approach used by universities and companies worldwide. Her latest book, Contextual Design, 2nd Edition: Design for Life, details the new techniques needed for product innovation today. Recognized as a leader in requirements and design, Karen has been twice honored by the ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group on...See more

Karen Holtzblatt is a thought leader, industry speaker, and author. As co-founder and CEO of InContext Design, Karen is the visionary behind Con textual Design, a user-centered design approach used by universities and companies worldwide. Her latest book, Contextual Design, 2nd Edition: Design for Life, details the new techniques needed for product innovation today. Recognized as a leader in requirements and design, Karen has been twice honored by the ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction)--an international society for professionals, academics, and students. She was first awarded membership to the CHI Academy and then received the first Lifetime Award for Practice presented in recognition of her impact on the field. Karen is also the Executive Director of WITops, a non-profit dedicated to finding practical and effective ways to understand and influence the experience of diverse people working in tech companies, especially women. Known for pioneering transformative approaches, in 2013 Karen turned her energy to the challenges of retaining women in technology. Through collaboration with volunteer colleagues and students worldwide, WITops teams have developed the @Work Experience Framework and Measure defining the key workplace experiences needed for women to thrive. Then they turned their attention to solutions, developing critical intervention techniques and materials to help companies improve their culture for diverse teams. All work at WITops is grounded in deep field research and quantitative techniques which drive ideation and iteration of tested solutions. Karen is a Research Scientist at University of Maryland's iSchool. She regularly consults with universities to help improve their HCI programs--including building in awareness of issues that new workers, especially diverse people, will face. Karen has more than 30 years of teaching experience, professionally and in university settings. Karen holds a doctorate in applied psychology from University of Toronto. Contact Karen with questions at karen@incontextdesign.com. See less