Hello! I'm Abby Golfo.

I'm a service designer and researcher working in public transit!

Work Experience

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
Senior Service Designer · 2022 — Present
→ Plan and conduct research — including 1:1 interviews, usability testing, and contextual inquiry — with riders and frontline staff

→ Plan, execute, and synthesize information gathering and alignment workshops

→ Map service experiences of users
America on Tech (AOT)
UX Design Instructor · 2021 — Present
→ Instruct introductory UX design courses (covering topics like information architecture, prototyping, and usability testing) for high school and college students interested in technology

→ Plan and review lessons

→ Assess student work
M&T Bank
Designer / Researcher · 2018 — 2021
→ Helped define a North Star Experience Vision for a financial advisement and planning experience by facilitating workshops (journey mapping, service blueprinting, experience principles, opportunity identifying, and more) and conducting research

→ Led research for a new product by creating research plans, conducting 1:1 interviews, and analyzing and synthesizing data
Cortina Productions
Interactive Design Intern · 2017
→ Wireframed, prototyped, playtested, and created graphic assets for interactive experiences in museums and other cultural institutions across the U.S. and Canada

Education

Georgia Institute of Technology
Master of Science in Digital Media (Civic Media) · 2018
SUNY Geneseo
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology · 2016;
Bachelor of Arts in Communication · 2016

SELECTED Speaking & Workshops

Interaction 21 (IxDA)
Workshop Co-Facilitator · Feb 2021
→ Co-faciliated with Brooke Bosley
Service Design Network Atlanta
Speaker · Dec 2020
→ Shared my design journey at SDN Atlanta's Pecha Kucha (watch here)
RIT's Thought At Work
Workshop Co-Facilitator · Oct 2019
→ Co-facilitated “Encouraging Diverse Perspectives in Group Brainstorming” at RIT's Thought At Work — a design conference made for students by students

About

My goal is to positively impact people’s lives by meeting people where they are.

I'm a research-focused designer dedicated to building impactful products and services. I'm interested in understanding how people move through their worlds and I love working within multidisciplinary teams so we can ask, learn, and iterate together.

I'm a Service Designer in the Technology Innovation Department (TID) at the MBTA. I get to work on interesting public transit problems, like digitizing applications for our reduced fares programs, improving internal communications on our light rail (Green Line), and more.

I've worked in a variety of industries as a designer and researcher (museums, finance, and, now, civic technology). Previously, I was a UX Designer at M&T Bank focusing on service design and research. I have a master’s degree in Digital Media from Georgia Tech and bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Communication from SUNY Geneseo.

My pronouns are she/her.

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Contact me→

abbygolfo [at] gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/abbygolfo

Abby Golfo close up headshot in foreground with painted red brick in background.


Two thoughts I had while trying to come up with a bio:

1. I'd like to think that a few aspects of my life drew me to public service. One is going to all public schools (through grad school!). The other is being the daughter of two immigrants from the Philippines who spent 30+ years in public service careers — a nurse at a New York City public hospital and a doorman at an Upper East Side hotel (we'll count this!).

2. I've lived in many apartments across the Eastern Seaboard post-college — in Atlanta, Northern Virginia, Buffalo, New York City, and Boston. I love each of these places, but if you ask me which I enjoyed living in the most, I'd answer with the places that are walkable and bikeable, with reliable public transit.And the real answer is that my heart will always be in New York.

WHAT'S NEW — MARCH 2024 DISPATCH

→ Through May 2024, I'm instructing a UX Design course for high school juniors and seniors in America on Tech's Tech Flex Leaders (TFL) program
→ I'm playing pickleball as much as I can — and planning a tournament!

→ I'm writing a screenplay.

→ I'm keeping up with and watching women's sports (NWSL, WNBA, PWHL).

→ I'll be traveling with family to Japan in March!