AI Automation Built for UCSD Design Lab Leadership — San Diego Local
You're architecting human-centered AI at the Design Lab. You need an execution partner who can prototype, integrate, and ship the internal tooling — not a consultancy pitching another roadmap.
What an Associate Director at Design Lab actually needs
- Research-to-prototype acceleration: Automate the gap between design research outputs (interviews, synthesis docs, Miro boards) and working AI prototypes your team can test with users next week, not next quarter.
- Grant & partnership ops automation: Custom pipelines that pull NSF/industry partnership opportunities, draft tailored LOIs using Design Lab's voice, and track deliverables across sponsored projects — built in days, not procurement cycles.
- Human-centered AI infrastructure: Internal LLM tooling with proper evals, design-over-default UX, and transparency layers that actually align with your "Design Over Default" philosophy — not black-box SaaS you'd reject on principle.
- Student & fellow throughput: Automate the repetitive scaffolding (onboarding, literature reviews, documentation, demo days) so your designers-in-residence spend hours on craft instead of coordination.
Research Synthesis Pipelines
Pipe interview transcripts, field notes, and observation logs into structured theme extraction with citation-traceable outputs. Your team sees the pattern; the AI does the combing.
Rapid Prototype Harnesses
Deployable LLM + vision + voice scaffolds for classroom studios and partner projects. Ship a functional AI concept to users in a week — test the interaction, not the infrastructure.
PJ · Encinitas, CA · 858-461-8054
I've been watching the Design Lab work — the Innovation Architect, human-centered AI, "design over default" framing is exactly the posture that needs real tooling behind it. I build the custom AI plumbing so your team can stay focused on the research and the design ethics, not on stitching APIs together at midnight.
Want a working prototype in 2 weeks?
Pick one Design Lab workflow — research synthesis, partnership ops, or a student-facing AI tool. I'll scope it, build it, and hand it over. $100/hr, no retainer, 25 mutual connections already.
Text PJ: 858-461-8054