Designing for Decision Making

User/Developer Experience Webinars feature speakers who highlight best practices and challenges for usable scientific software. Have a suggestion for a future meeting? Use this Google form to propose ideas.

In safety-critical environments, every second counts, and human attention is limited. Leah Kim, UX designer at Fermilab, shares lessons from redesigning the Alarms application used by accelerator operators. Through observation, empathy, and iterative design, she explores how understanding cognitive load, attention, and operational context can guide interfaces that help users focus on what truly matters, reduce stress, and support safe decision-making.

Presenter

• Leah Kim (Fermilab)

Organizer

• Johanna (Hannah) Cohoon (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)

Presenter bio

Leah Kim is a UX designer with a background in human–computer interaction from the University of Washington, Seattle. She previously worked at Boeing for five years designing complex systems for expert technical users, and recently joined Fermilab’s ACORN project, helping modernize the lab’s accelerator control systems with a focus on usability and human-centered design.

Organizer bio

Johanna (Hannah) Cohoon is a User Experience Researcher at LBNL, seeking to create more rewarding and impactful careers for research software engineers and more efficient and enjoyable experiences for users. She has focused on studying and facilitating open source development, open science practices, and data intensive workflows. Hannah earned her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin.