I have always been fascinated by human behavior, and as a teenager, I devoured popular books by Oliver Sacks and Martin Seligman. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus on neuropsychology and was especially drawn to the theories and practices of learning, memory and behavior modification.   

After graduation, I “fell” into the investment industry. The bulk of my experience in this industry was on the operations side, where I used trading and reporting software extensively, developing an eye for designing and visualizing information.  

Then the economic crash of 2008 prompted a career change. 

As a fitness trainer, I drew upon more psychological principles than I could ever imagine. Not only was it a master refresher course in shaping behavior, I further developed my ability to listen, observe, engage and empathize. As a fitness manager, I improved employee on-boarding and engagement by fostering a collaborative workplace. I also became obsessed with the customer experience while running my own business, creating successful touch points to secure, nurture and retain clients. I went on to complete a master’s degree in kinesiology and a graduate certificate in public health leadership.

I moved back to the corporate world and now manage a corporate wellness facility, overseeing a wellness program that engages employees to take charge of their health. We were nationally recognized in 2016, receiving the GoodLife Fitness Health and Wellness Leadership award (yes – that’s me on stage!) for the service improvements seen after gathering and applying user feedback to enhance the member experience within our facility.

I’m currently completing a master’s degree in interaction design – a natural progression of my skills and experiences. My interests include:

  • using design to influence health behavior 
  • designing exceptional service experiences 
  • design and user experience strategy

This is what I can do.

  • Prototyping and Wireframing – Axure, Invision
  • Operations and Strategy – Strategic planning (workshops, design sprints), project management
  • Design –  Sketch, graphic design principles
  • Research methods and Analysis – Contextual inquiries, competitive analysis, card sort, user flows, personas, experience maps, user and usability testing

Here are some publications.

Edugyan A., Papallas A., Zaphiris P. (2018) Lessons Learned: Engaging Older Adults in Generative Design Sessions for a Digital Messaging System. In: Zaphiris P., Ioannou A. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. Design, Development and Technological Innovation. LCT 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10924. Springer, Cham. (Also presented at HCI International 2018, Las Vegas, NV.)

What you need to know to work in corporate fitness. CanFitPro: The official magazine. May/June 2017.

I'm also a member of these organizations.

  • User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)
  • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM); Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI)

And here's my resume.