Hello! I'm Abby Golfo.

I'm a service designer and researcher working in public transit!

Work Experience

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
Senior Service Designer · 2022 — Present
→ Service Designer working on a variety of projects, including leading discovery for paratransit service leading to real-time vehicle tracking, operations-facing tools to improve internal communications on the Green Line, making future Green Line audio and visual communications more accessible, and more.
‍
→ UX Designer & Researcher working on digitizing Reduced Fares applications for Senior Pass, Blind Access, and Transportation Access Pass (TAP) — Reduced Fares
America on Tech (AOT)
UX Design Instructor · 2021 — Present
→ Instructor for introductory UX design courses (covering topics like information architecture, prototyping, and usability testing) for high school and college students interested in technology
M&T Bank
Designer / Researcher · 2018 — 2021
→ Service Designer working on imagining a North Star Experience Vision for financial advice and planning for one’s financial future.
‍
→ Researcher for a new product focused on young families thinking about and managing money together.

→ Designer & researcher for a money management integration into M&T’s online banking, focused on how people view and interact with their full financial picture.
Cortina Productions
Interactive Design Intern · 2017
→ Designer working on interactive experiences in museums and other cultural institutions across the U.S. and Canada

Education

Georgia Institute of Technology
Master of Science in Digital Media (Civic Media) · 2018
SUNY Geneseo
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology & Communication · 2016

SELECTED Speaking & Workshops

Exploring Transit Through Service Design
Guest Speaker · March 2025
→ With Harmonic Design (watch here)
Interaction 21 (IxDA)
Workshop Co-Facilitator · Feb 2021
→ Co-faciliated with Brooke Bosley
Service Design Network Atlanta
Speaker · Dec 2020
→ Shared my design journey at SDN Atlanta's Pecha Kucha (watch here)
RIT's Thought At Work
Workshop Co-Facilitator · Oct 2019
→ Co-facilitated “Encouraging Diverse Perspectives in Group Brainstorming” at RIT's Thought At Work — a design conference made for students by students

About

My goal is to positively impact people’s lives by meeting people where they are.

I'm a research-focused designer dedicated to building impactful products and services. I'm interested in understanding how people move through their worlds and I love working within multidisciplinary teams so we can ask, learn, and iterate together.

I'm a Service Designer in the Technology Innovation Department (TID) at the MBTA. I get to work on interesting public transit problems, like understanding our paratransit system and more.

I've worked in a variety of industries as a designer and researcher (museums, finance, and, now, civic technology). Previously, I was a UX Designer at M&T Bank focusing on service design and research. I have a master’s degree in Digital Media from Georgia Tech and bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Communication from SUNY Geneseo.

My pronouns are she/her.

-
‍
Contact me→

abbygolfo [at] gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/abbygolfo

Abby Golfo close up headshot in foreground with painted red brick in background.

WHAT'S NEW — May 2025 DISPATCH

→ Continuing to build Queer Pickleball BostonQueer Pickleball Boston‍
→ Revising a TV pilot script with my cousin, inspired by our moms moving from Manila to the Bronx in 1983 as newly-graduated nurses
‍
→ Keeping up with and watching women's sports (NWSL, WNBA, PWHL)