INFO
I'm Michelle → a designer, researcher, educator and author with over 18 years of experience.
I split my professional time between serving as a Design Director of Input and Interaction at Meta Reality Labs and teaching VR design and prototyping at NYU ITP. My work focuses on: immersive interaction systems and the ethical implications of embodied technology.
As a systems specialist, I build immersive interaction systems and frameworks that solve ambiguous problems in nascent design spaces. I have authored design research published via Bloomsbury, Meta, IEEE, OneZero, MIT's Immerse Journal and more; have exhibited work at CES, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, and Sundance; and am publishing a new book with Intellect Books on ethical spatial computing design in 2027.
PROJECTS
01
Design System
02
Human Interface Guidelines
03
Born This Way Installation
04
VR Installation
05
New 3D Media Type
06
VR Installation
07
Interactive Sites
08
Interactive Stores
CV
Industry Experience
Design Director @ Meta Reality Labs [2017-present]
Senior Design Technologist @ Refinery29 [2016-2017]
Senior Experiential Art Director @ Fake Love (New York Times) [2015-2016]
Lead Interaction Designer @ IPG Media Lab [2014-2015]
Art Director & Senior Designer @ Hudson’s Bay Company [2010-2014]
Graphic & Interface Design @ Various Clients [2007-2010]
Teaching
Hedonomic VR Design at NYU ITP [2021-present]
Social VR Performance at NYU Tisch Drama [2020]
Digital Electronics Lab at NYU Steinhardt Music Technology [2019]
Advanced 3D Design at CUNY Queens College [2018]
Speaking Engagements
TLIC: Strategies and Frameworks for Creating Ethical XR Experiences [2025]
Harvard XR: Women in XR [2024]
Voices of VR: Interview [2022]
MIT Open Doc Lab: In Conversation with Michelle Cortese [2019]
Thinking Digital Conference: Designing Respect for Virtual Reality [2019]
Coaxial Arts Workshop: How to Build a Microphone from Telecom Trash [2018]
FITC: Using the History of Typography to Inform the Future of UI [2017]
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Publications
[COMING SOON] Embodying the Machine: Design for the Ethical Implications of Immersive Technology. Bristol: Intellect Books, 2027.
“Social and Multi-User Spaces in VR: Trolling, Harassment, and Online Safety,” in The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Extended Reality (XR) Report, (pp.1-17), IEEE Standards Association, 15 December 2021.
"A Blueprint for Designing Inclusive AR/VR Experiences," Design at Meta, 21 May 2021.
“Designing Safe Spaces for Virtual Reality,” in L. Scherling & A. DeRosa (Eds), Ethics in Design and Communication: Critical Perspectives (pp. 49–60), London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.
“How Designers Can Build Experiences That Reduce Anxiety and Stress,” OneZero, 1 May 2020.
“Designing Safe Spaces for Virtual Reality: Methods for Merging Body Sovereignty Theory into VR Design Practice,” Meta Research, 1 January 2020.
“Designing Safer Social VR,” MIT Immerse Journal, 1 November 2019.
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Ethos
Ensuring that human-centered design choices are made at moments of seismic change in technology.