Design Research
Human-centered methods · Systems thinking · Academic & applied
An HCI system that enables users to interact with their subconscious dream states to enhance creativity and problem-solving. Positioned at an unexplored intersection of sleep science, HCI theory, and creative cognition.
Research Question
How can we design an HCI system that enables users to interact with their subconscious dream states in order to enhance creativity and problem-solving?
Methods
Literature review across HCI theory, sleep science, and creativity research. User survey to assess attitudes toward dream technology. Market analysis of existing solutions — none addressed creative collaboration during sleep.
Prototype
Two-component system: a sleep wearable delivering personalized sensory cues during REM, and a companion app for pre-sleep problem setting, dream journaling, and insight capture.
Layla, a freelance brand designer, enters her creative brief before sleep and selects themes like "minimalism" and "nature." The system delivers subtle audio cues during REM. She wakes up and sketches the logo concept that came to her in the night.
Outcomes & Reflection
Concept prototype with open questions around non-invasive REM-stage cue delivery, clinical validation, and ethical handling of sleep data — all requiring dedicated research and clinical collaboration to resolve.
A personalized hybrid learning platform designed during peak COVID, when traditional education systems failed to serve diverse learners navigating an unstable classroom environment.
The Challenge
Traditional education systems were not designed with diverse learning styles in mind. When COVID forced a shift to hybrid learning, these gaps became impossible to ignore — students struggled to keep up, teachers were stretched thin, and parents had little visibility into their children's progress.
Research
Interviewed students, parents, and teachers across schools. Distributed surveys. Generated over 100 ideas, synthesized and clustered into patterns that surfaced a consistent finding: students weren't failing because of the content — the system didn't account for how they individually learned best.
HMW
How might we assist students with their learning according to their strengths?
The Choice Button
One of our most debated features: an open-book test option rooted in our research insight that memorization-based assessment fails diverse learners. It generated strong feedback during testing — which became our richest source of iteration. Rather than removing it, we refined how it was presented and contextualized within the platform.
Outcome
Final prototype presented to the UAE Minister of Artificial Intelligence, incorporating his feedback across a final round of iteration. A new era of personalized learning.
UX / Interaction Design
End-to-end product design · Prototyping · Usability
A gamified campus exploration and rewards app that incentivizes physical activity through step tracking and real-world campus rewards. Designed and developed end-to-end.
Design Focus
The core interaction challenge was making physical movement feel rewarding in a way that didn't feel clinical or performative. The reward system was designed around discovery rather than fitness metrics.
A food waste and inventory management app designed to help households track perishables and reduce food waste through real-time syncing and smart notifications.
Design Focus
Designed for low-friction daily use — the primary interaction model was built around scanning and quick entry, making tracking feel effortless rather than burdensome.
Features
Users can add items manually or by scanning barcodes, receive expiry notifications before food spoils, and locate nearby food banks, composting facilities, and biofuel drop-off points for responsible disposal.
Photography
35mm film · Documentary · Everyday life
Film photography has been part of how I see and document the world for several years. I shoot primarily 35mm, with an interest in light, texture, and the unguarded moment. More work on Instagram: @majdaoso
About
Background · Skills · Contact
Human-centered designer and researcher with experience leading collaborative projects from research through prototype and delivery.
CS graduate with a background in AI development, drawn to the spaces where technology meets human experience. I care about responsible tech, education, walkable cities, and design that serves people rather than extracting from them.
Currently pursuing opportunities in design research and human-centered design — in Dubai, the US, or wherever the work is meaningful.
I also shoot film. It informs how I observe, document, and communicate — skills that show up in research fieldwork as much as anywhere else.
- Design Research Core
- Qualitative Methods Core
- Systems Thinking Core
- Iterative Prototyping Core
- Human-Centered Design Core
- Figma Strong
- AI / LLM Development Strong
- Python · React · Flutter Strong
- Film Photography Active practice
- English · Arabic · Somali Fluent