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Frontend
Engineer &
UX Researcher

Professional headshot of John Bovard

I'm a software engineer with a background in HCI research. I build accessible, well-engineered applications grounded in user research—from semi-structured interviews to usability testing to production code.

Engineering that puts people first

My path to software ran through English literature, special education, and HCI research. That background shapes how I approach projects—creating accessible, well-engineered applications grounded in understanding the people using them.

01

Designed a study, built the app to run it, and analyzed the results

Research constraints shaped every engineering decision—from stack selection to interaction design to handling missed days for an ADHD population.

02

Translated user research into grounded design recommendations

Watching a participant go silent trying to understand a form field changed the design more than any heuristic evaluation did.

03

Built an exploration tool for 36 million newspaper records

At that scale, the UI determines what questions can even be asked, making visualization design as much a UX problem as an engineering one.

Let's work together.

I'm actively looking for my next role at the intersection of engineering and user research. If you're building something where technical depth and user understanding both matter, I'd love to hear about it.