I help health and biotech organizations design products, conversations, and strategies that actually change behavior — grounded in science, centered on people.
"The 'fail fast' approach might work for some contexts, but in digital health, when you're talking about people's lives, that's not an option."
— Bridgette Collado, Money on the Mind, 2024
My journey started at the bedside — as a Registered Dietitian, I quickly realized that telling people what to do doesn't work. People are complex. Behavior change is hard. And technology, when designed thoughtfully, can help.
That realization sent me back to school for a master's at the intersection of Emerson College and Tufts School of Medicine, where I found my home in applied behavioral science. For over 15 years, I've been designing interventions, products, and strategies that bridge the gap between what people intend to do and what they actually do.
My work is deeply collaborative by nature. I'm at the table with engineers, developers, data scientists, clinicians, and product teams from the very start — not handed off at the end. The behavioral science lens shapes everything, but it only works when it's woven into the process alongside the people building the technology.
I'm a first-generation American with Dominican and German roots, a Chicago native, and someone who genuinely loves learning how people think. That curiosity drives everything I build.
"I've been thinking a lot about how we bring behavioral science rigor to AI applications — not just making them smarter, but making them safer, more equitable, and genuinely helpful to people navigating their health."
— Bridgette Collado
I work at the intersection of behavioral science, product design, and digital health — bringing a rare combination of clinical grounding, research rigor, and real-world design experience to every engagement.
Evidence-based intervention design using frameworks like Motivational Interviewing, behavior change theory, and health communication principles — built for real people in real contexts.
Language design and UX for AI-powered conversational systems in digital health — collaborating closely with engineers, product teams, and data scientists from day one, from scripting and persona development to flow architecture and ethical guardrails.
Expert-level content strategy across domains — frameworks, blueprints, modular systems, and best practices that scale across programs and teams.
Quantitative and qualitative research design, outcomes measurement, and evaluation frameworks that go beyond vanity metrics to measure what actually matters.
Organizational strategy, operating model design, and change management — helping teams build the infrastructure to do their best work sustainably.
Embedding equity and ethical rigor into product design and AI systems — ensuring that what we build works for everyone, especially those most often left out.
A selection of projects that illustrate how I apply behavioral science across the full product lifecycle — from discovery through deployment. Client names are omitted per confidentiality agreements.
A top-10 global pharmaceutical company needed a digital therapeutic to help COPD patients in the US, Germany, and Japan manage their condition, improve medication adherence, and reduce avoidable hospitalizations — ultimately intended as a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) following clinical validation.
I joined at Phase II and carried through Phase III clinical trials, owning the behavioral intervention design and all content strategy. This spanned discovery through go-to-market, including internationalization.
A year-long, weekly intervention study needed a virtual health coach capable of supporting participants in building a walking habit to improve cardiovascular health — with the sophistication to adapt to each participant's readiness, history, and personal context across every session.
I designed the full content strategy and wrote all conversational content for the virtual coach — including scheduled weekly check-ins and unscheduled participant-initiated interactions.
A national health plan needed to modernize its annual member health survey — transforming a static form into a natural, adaptive AI-driven conversation that could assess member health status, respond empathetically to concerning responses, and connect members to relevant benefits in real time.
I designed the full conversation flow and wrote all dialogue for the AI interface — including the content strategy governing how the system switches voice between first-person ("I") and institutional ("we") to signal different levels of engagement.
A behavioral health Employee Assistance Program needed to redesign its consumer portal to improve usability, clarify its service offerings, and better connect members to the right support — without overwhelming people who were often arriving in moments of stress or uncertainty.
I partnered on the new content strategy through design sprints, then designed and conducted the UX research study to validate the concepts — creating all study materials and leading the analysis and readout.
Over 15 years of consulting, I've had the privilege of working with many of the most influential organizations in health and biotech — from national insurers to digital health startups to academic medical centers.
Curious about my background, my approach, or whether I might be a good fit for your project? Meet my digital twin — an AI built from my own words, experience, and way of thinking.
This isn't me, but it's a thoughtful representation of how I think and what I know. Ask it about behavioral science, my consulting work, or how I'd approach a problem. Think of it as a first conversation before the real one.
A non-linear path that turned out to be exactly the right one — each role adding a new layer of perspective that makes my work stronger.
Whether you're designing a new digital health product, rethinking your engagement strategy, or trying to bring behavioral science rigor to your AI systems — I'd love to hear what you're working on.
I take on a limited number of consulting engagements at a time, so I can give each client the depth of attention the work deserves.