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Hard Work Paid Off — See You at ACM CHI 2026 in Barcelona!
While I was in Abu Dhabi, I received the exciting news that our paper “Designing a Cyber Situational Awareness Application for Space Missions” has been accepted as a poster at ACM CHI Conference! 🚀 🎉 I’m incredibly grateful to my co-authors, Arun Viswanathan, Deniz Celik, and David Shamma for their collaboration, insight, and support! (HIGH…
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Abu Dhabi-doo! my Talk at MBZUAI
On February 18, 2026, I gave a talk at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI). It was an absolute honor! A huge thank you to Elizabeth Churchill for the invitation and to everyone who showed up, asked great questions, and made it such a thoughtful (and fun!) conversation. The energy in the…
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Leaping Into “Yes!” And Onto the Design Mob Podcast
Back in January, when Design Mob podcast host Jordyn Gleason invited me to be a guest, my answer was an immediate “Yes!” —which, fittingly, became the theme of our conversation. I suspect she knew that all along. Clever. I first connected with Jordyn after my Config talk in 2024, when she sent me a thoughtful,…
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It’s Been a While… Let’s Catch Up
2026 has already been a busy year! Now that it’s March, I’m finally finding the time to write my first blog post of the year. I’ve settled into my new role at Gallup, reacquainted myself with a new old city, and moved into a new apartment. And if that wasn’t enough to keep me busy over…
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It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Red Flags 🚩🚩
A Collection of Early Warning Signs From Job Interviews It’s the holiday season, and I find myself in a particularly giving mood. Since I’ve recently been through another round of job interviews, I thought I’d share some stories about the red flags I’ve come across along the way. So, grab your moose of eggnog, get…
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Are You The Keymaster?
My website, like 10-seconds-after-prom-Lieutenant-Ripley, asks of all its visitors, “Are you the keymaster?” Because it is the gatekeeper. Yup, I am writing a blog post with another reference to a 1980s big hair Sigourney Weaver film. I wasn’t planning this, yet here we are. In Ghostbusters (1984), Lieutenant Ripley becomes possessed by a ghost whose…
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Moving Sucks
I took a month between jobs. I spent October watching the baseball postseason (GO DODGERS!), hanging out with rock stars, saying goodbye to LA friends, and packing all of my things in boxes. Moving is stressful. In the week leading up to my move, my left eye started to develop an annoying twitch. I get…
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It’s Weird Out There
I’ll admit it: looking for a job right now is challenging. I was nervous about putting myself out there again, given how competitive it is. The design industry is facing tremendous disruption. I keep hearing about the shaky U.S. economy, widespread layoffs at top-performing companies, and fears that AI will replace creative jobs. On top…
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The Countdown has begun!
I start my new job on November 4th. Election Day! But before I start, and before I vote, I have to move. I built a countdown timer to move day:https://countdown.joycecroft.com I’m both sad and excited for this next chapter. I’m sad to be leaving sunny and beautiful LA. And I’m sad to leave the friends…
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Before Benny Built a Spaceship, Did He Start With A Spreadsheet?
I work with real-life Bennys. Benny is a character from the 2014 LEGO movie. He is a Master Builder of spaceships: “I felt so seen,” is the response to Benny from many of my NASA aerospace systems engineer co-workers. Yep, Benny and the rocket engineers I work with share an addictive enthusiasm for building spacecrafts.…