Shaida Abachi (shay-duh · she/her)

I'm a UX Research Scientist at Meta Reality Labs and a Cognitive Scientist (Ph.D.) who studies how humans perceive, interpret, and adapt to complex technological systems.

My work sits at the intersection of cognitive science, human factors, and user experience research, with a focus on immersive and wearable technologies such as AR/VR displays and wrist-worn devices. I design and execute rigorous quantitative and mixed-methods studies that connect perceptual mechanisms, behavioral data, and physiological signals to real-world product decisions, informing everything from early-stage system design to validation-ready usability metrics.

I earned my Ph.D. in Cognitive Sciences with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience from UC Irvine, where my research examined the neural and computational mechanisms underlying perceptual confidence and decision-making using fMRI, psychophysics, and simulations. That training deeply shapes how I approach applied research today: I care not just about what users report, but why systems succeed or fail at a perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral level.

At Meta, I translate this foundation into human-centered insights for emerging wearable products, defining perceptual and ergonomic metrics, identifying early user risks, and partnering closely with engineers, designers, and product teams to guide iterative development under real-world constraints. I'm especially interested in long-term comfort, visual quality, and how subtle design choices impact trust, usability, and sustained adoption.

More broadly, I'm driven by a simple question: how can we build technology that works with human cognition, rather than against it? Whether in a neuroscience lab or a product team, my goal is the same: use careful measurement, thoughtful modeling, and clear storytelling to make complex systems safe and usable for real humans, not abstractions of them.

I'm open to connecting and talking science, research, and human behavior- please feel free to reach out!