Catherine Howard Lovazzano

Catherine Howard Lovazzano leads UX Research at Nest, Google, where she brings her expertise as an anthropologist, strategist, and designer to uncover human insights that shape innovative experiences, products, and services. Her career spans leadership roles in research and strategy, including pathfinding research for Facebook’s Connection team and directing the Lifestyle Research Lab at Samsung in San Francisco.

Previously, Catherine was Head of Consumer Trends and Foresight at Chrysler, where she led a multidisciplinary team of social scientists, engineers, and designers to explore the macro forces shaping the future of human mobility. Her diverse background also includes contributions to projects such as financial services for coffee farmers in Mexico with UC Irvine’s Institute for Money, Technology, and Financial Inclusion. Earlier in her career, she served as a senior associate at Jump Associates, a researcher for Wired Magazine, and a documentary film producer.

Catherine holds an M.Sc. in Material Anthropology from the University of Oxford, where her research focused on photography and indigenous self-representation, and a BA in Anthropology from UCLA. A frequent lecturer on design research methods, she has taught at Stanford, CCA, and UC Berkeley. When she’s not exploring cultural trends, Catherine is a competitive open-water rower and plays bass in an indie rock band.