ABOUT ME

Hello there, my name is Ben Kertman and I am a Behavior Scientist who uses UX Research and Design to improve well-being. I like to spend my time lending these skills to organizations who share a similar vision of improving the world.

An unfortunately small percentage of our world's population has access to the treasured resources of a healthy mind, body and society. Without these resources peoples' creative capacity for solving many of the world's problems is severely limited. My mission is to increase that percentage of potential scientists, artists, and creators so that they can solve the multitude of challenges that face our world today.

What began as a passion for understanding phenomena of the universe as an astrophysics major at UCLA quickly turned inwards as an appreciation for the rarity of this planet. In my mind, without a functioning world, the opportunity to pursue great discoveries could not persist. I changed my degree to environmental science.

After graduation I couch-surfed, worked, and volunteered along a two-year journey through southern Africa and South America. My observations and experiences while visiting my brother in the Peace Corps, working on organic farms and speaking with strangers led to another focusing of my mission. I found that the behaviors required to create a sustainable global ecosystem were being throttled by environments that damaged people’s mental, physical, and social well-being.

I enrolled in a masters program in Social and Behavioral Science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where I learned many theories of behavior change. My degree allowed me to hop between the Kennedy school, MIT Media Lab, School of Design, School of Business and School of Education, collecting a variety of tools for influencing behavior.

I began practicing these insights as I lead the user research for a micro-farm technology start-up, SproutsIO. This experience in applying the lean methodology ignited my passion for quick, efficient and solutions-focused research, a tenant of UX.

I now apply my experience in behavioral science to UX Design and Research. In combining these fields, I can effectively test, fail, iterate and ultimately advance methods for shaping behaviors, behaviors that are often the barriers to other people’s mental, physical, and social well-being.

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my portfolio. If you would like to work together or grab a tea, please feel free to reach out below.