Ellen Ayoob

Ellen M. Ayoob serves as Program Director for the Master of Integrated Innovation for Products and Services (MIIPS) program and as an Assistant Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Integrated Innovation Institute. With over 20 years of multidisciplinary experience across academia, industry, and nonprofit sectors, she specializes in bridging engineering, design, and business disciplines through human-centered approaches.

Her academic credentials include:

• Master of Design in Communication Planning and Information Design from Carnegie Mellon University
• Bachelor of Arts in Communications with dual minors in Psychology and Journalism from the University of Pittsburgh

Professor Ayoob's research focuses on human-centered design methodologies, employing mixed methods to deeply understand users and translate insights into actionable design strategies. She believes "all design must be human-centered" and emphasizes the importance of experiences and narratives in daily design interactions. Her work consistently addresses the challenge of connecting technical implementation with user experience requirements.

As Program Director of MIIPS, she oversees curriculum development for this interdisciplinary program while teaching courses including Integrated Product Conceptualization, iii Seminar Series, Integrated Product Development Capstone, Innovation Mindset in Practice, The Elements of Professional Practice, and Integrated Product Development Methods.

Prior to her current position, Professor Ayoob served as Director of Education at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation and held roles at CMU's Human Computer Interaction Institute, Robotics Institute, National Robotics Engineering Consortium, and Software Engineering Institute, as well as industry experience at Wall-to-Wall Studios.

She actively participates in the design community through leadership roles including vice president and president of the local AIGA chapter, co-chairing design conferences and workshops, and serving as a guest speaker and panelist for professional organizations and academic institutions.