Sky Island Consulting
Sky Island Consulting
Turning Complex Questions into Clear Insights
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Sky Island helps mission-driven organizations see more clearly, by listening more deeply.
We combine user experience research, narrative strategy, and on-the-ground fieldwork to uncover how people actually experience your systems, spaces, and services. Then we translate those insights into smart, story-rich strategies.
Our work is grounded in human nuance and designed to move things forward.
Unlock Your Data's Hidden Story: Get a Free 1-Hour Data Scan
Unlock Your Data's Hidden Story: Get a Free 1-Hour Data Scan
Are you a mission-driven organization feeling like you're guessing how something is "landing"? Do you have complex questions about your data but lack the clear insights needed to move forward?
Are you a mission-driven organization feeling like you're guessing how something is "landing"? Do you have complex questions about your data but lack the clear insights needed to move forward?
Experience our approach firsthand with a complimentary, no-obligation 1-hour Data Scan.
The Experience Insight Sprint
The Experience Insight Sprint
Get actionable insight into how people actually use, experience, and interpret your service in 10 days.
Get actionable insight into how people actually use, experience, and interpret your service in 10 days.
What It Is:
What It Is:
A short-cycle research engagement that collects and analyzes first-person data—so you can tune systems, messaging, or design based on actual user and stakeholder experience.
Who It’s For:
Who It’s For:
Civic and cultural teams piloting a new program or service
Health orgs trying to improve user navigation or outreach
Nonprofits wanting clarity on friction points in service delivery
Any mission-driven org tired of guessing how something is “landing”
Method Summary:
Method Summary:
Brief kickoff to frame your key questions
Fieldwork: Interviews, usability walkthroughs, site observation
Analysis: Behavioral patterns, unmet expectations, system gap
Delivery: Action-focused summary with direct implications
Deliverables:
Deliverables:
1-page Behavioral Journey Map
2–3 Insight Areas (what’s working, what’s breaking)
2 Recommendations (aligned to design, ops, or messaging)
Timeline:
Timeline:
10 business days from start to delivery
Price:
Price:
Full Sprint - $8,550 flat rate
Min Sprint - $4,250 flat rate
Optional add-on: playback session + co-design sketch ($1,500 - $750)
Services
Services
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The Field Insight Framework
The Field Insight Framework
Our Signature Process
Our Signature Process
1. Discovery & Alignment
We begin with stakeholder conversations to understand your context, goals, and questions. This shapes everything that follows.
2. Method Design
We choose the right tools for your needs—interviews, field observation, journey mapping, co-creation sessions, or mixed methods. Everything is tailored.
3. Field Collection & Analysis
We gather lived experience through direct contact with the people who use, avoid, or are affected by your service or space. We look for patterns, signals, and blind spots.
4. Synthesis & Insight Framing
We turn raw data into clear insights, powerful quotes, and narrative frameworks you can use. Visuals, themes, and short briefs make it easy to share.
5. Strategic Advisory & Co-Creation
We don't just deliver a report. We work with you to translate insights into action—whether that’s redesigning a program, refining a message, or rethinking a process.
Our Approach Is:
Our Approach Is:
Human-first. We don’t start with assumptions—we start with people.
Narrative-aware. We help you understand the stories people are already telling—so your messaging and strategy resonate.
Flexible. We adapt to your scale, your team, and your timeline.
Deep but fast. Even our short projects uncover what’s usually missed.
If you're looking for insight that goes deeper than a survey—and leads somewhere actionable—you're in the right place.
Selected Works
Selected Works
A few moments where story, structure, and human experience came together
Empowerment by Design
Empowerment by Design
Even strong mission-driven content fails without clear structure. We uncovered how mislabeled links and broken flows betrayed trust—turning empowerment into confusion. Our redesign brought the mission back into alignment with experience.
Teaching Financial Literacy Through UX
Teaching Financial Literacy Through UX
We reimagined a student portal not just as a reward tracker, but as a learning environment. The redesign focused on visual budgeting, goal tracking, and simplified navigation for real-world skill building.
Women in Arizona Aviation
Women in Arizona Aviation
Our research unearthed the forgotten lineage of Arizona’s women aviators, from 19th-century performers to WWII pilots. The result: a published article, a public exhibition, and a reshaped institutional narrative.
Who We Are
Who We Are
I’m a narrative researcher working at the intersection of social science and design. My background is in ethnographic fieldwork, observing how people move through systems, spaces, and stories. I use tools developed in the tech world, like UX research and behavioral mapping, but I apply them more like a fieldworker than a product tester.
Contact
Contact
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