So-Yeon Yoon is associate professor of design and environmental analysis and director of Design-User Experience-Technology (DUET) Research Lab at the College of Human Ecology, Cornell University. She practiced interior design and architecture in Korea and the U.S. With her education and industrial experience in design with digital media, she taught in the School of Design at the University of Ulsan in Korea and worked with industry partners on large-scale interface/interaction design projects. From her interdisciplinary experience in education and design practice, Yoon determined to study user-technology interaction in the context of design and usage of interfaces and earned her PhD in Information Technology with emphasis on Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Missouri.
In 2014, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has announced Professor Yoon as its 2014 Educator of the Year. Yoon’s research has been developed around the interdisciplinary areas of design, user experience and human-computer interaction using computer simulation techniques. To better answer the research questions related to user experience and impacts of designed environments, she adopts innovative approaches with research collaborators from neuroscience, marketing, and media psychology. Prior to Cornell, Professor Yoon taught in the Architectural Studies Department at the University of Missouri in Columbia for 12 years, leading the design with digital media graduate program. Professor Yoon was a recipient of 2011 Gold Chalk Award for teaching excellence and three-time finalist for excellence in teaching with technology award from the University of Missouri.