PROFILE
User Experience Consultant with 9+ years experience in designing, validating & refining the end-to-end design of: online shopping, financial services, multimedia, social networking & government web sites; collaborative web portals; intranet systems; wireless devices & handheld products; and remote kiosks.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Product research, definition, design & implementation
Execution of internet marketing strategies to increase traffic and conversion
Designing strategies to balance user goals, business goals, and marketplace trends
Business development efforts
Project resourcing, budgets & target initiatives
User testing and usability fieldwork
User personas, scenarios, task analysis, and experience briefs
Sketches, wireframes, visual mock-ups, functional prototypes, and other artifacts
Mentoring teams, helping to evolve their skills and champion their growth
SKILLS
Business Analysis & Design:
Lead requirements gathering, analysis, and conversion
Deliverables: product requirements, user personas, user scenarios, use cases, process flows, storyboards, navigation models, information architectures, page specifications, taxonomy models, wireframes and prototypes
Project Management:
Manage usability & design teams, while advocating for UCD best practices
Estimate work effort, create schedules, prioritize tasks, and update project plans
Skilled at bridging the gap between teams, such as User Experience, Market Research, Product, Development, Design, Engineering, and QA
Usability Research Strategies:
Develop and execute innovative user-profiling and evaluative strategies
Strategies: High-fidelity, low-fidelity, card-sort, field studies, remote tests, eye-tracking, and focus groups
Facilitation & Presentation Skills:
Excellent meeting facilitator and presenter
Regular presenter at conferences, company chalk talks, and brown bag sessions
EXPERIENCE
Comcast Entertainment Group, User Experience Manager, Los Angeles, CA, May 2008 – Apr 2009
Led Usability Testing methods and execution, so as to understand user behaviors/preferences and translating findings into tangible, informed design solutions
Worked with Product Managers to jointly own and evolve the user experience for E!Online, FEARnet, G4TV, and Style Network
Ensured that end products met strategic goals of the business, product teams, and end-users
Articulated concepts and information architectures through user stories, sketches, user flows, requirements, and wireframes
Worked collaboratively with designers and developers to develop interface functionality
Managed, improved and optimized team dynamics, individual career paths, and group road map
Yahoo, Senior Designer, Burbank, CA, Aug 2007 – Feb 2008
§ Led UI design of Mass Market application for Advertisers and Publishers
§ Facilitated daily collaboration with business owners, product managers, designers, developers and usability researchers
§ Created UI deliverables, such as wireframes, page flow diagrams, functional specs, and use cases
§ Worked with product managers to define requirements, milestones, and technical specifications
Shopzilla, Senior User Experience Manager, Los Angeles, CA, May 2006 – Aug 2007
Led design projects for Scripps international comparison shopping sites, BizRate and Shopzilla (UK, Germany, and France)
Tested UI layouts via A/B Tests, Memetrics, and an in-house usability lab
Spearheaded effort to convert all Scripps properties to becoming compliant with W3C Standards of Accessibility and Section 508
Facilitated daily collaboration with cross-functional teams
Implemented UI projects to increase revenue, conversion and redirect rates; decrease balk rate; and enhance the overall user experience
Managed UI projects, by estimating work effort, creating schedules, identifying requirements, prioritizing tasks and updating project plans
Planned usability research, including facilitation and analysis of user feedback sessions, remote testing, and field research
Reported findings to a variety of different audiences (from team members to senior executives)
Created UI deliverables, such as wireframes, personas, page flow diagrams, functional specs, and use cases
Led feature-driven competitive analysis studies
Delivered internal training sessions and chalk talks
Accenture, Senior UEX Consultant, Chicago, IL, Jan 2004 – Apr 2006
Clients: Wells Fargo, Best Buy, Wachovia, Guidant, State of Ohio, Bristol-Meyer Squibb, State of New Jersey, and Walgreen’s
Managed UI design effort for web applications and portal solutions
Led design sessions to define application requirements, use cases, process flows, storyboards, wireframes, user scenarios, information architectures, taxonomy and metadata, and user interaction patterns
Managed remote teams in Brazil, India, and UK
Conducted ongoing Competitive Analyses and Heuristic Reviews
Led UI design, including navigation models/approaches, information architectures, taxonomies, and prototypes
Obtained stakeholder buy-in for proposed design approaches
Managed visual design process with external Graphic Designers
TEK Systems, Human Factors Consultant, Warrenville, IL, May 2002 – Dec 2003
Clients: International Truck and Engine Company (formally Navistar International), Siemens Transportation Systems, Wallace Printing, and AccuQuote
Led the design, development, management, and implementation of custom web applications and wireless applications
Redefined Corporate User Interface Standards, based on user feedback via usability testing, focus groups, and brand development strategies
Initiated, conducted, deployed and evaluated usability testing
Developed User Interface Standards and Guidelines documentation
EDUCATION
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, May 1999
· Bachelor of Arts: Health, Kinesiology and Leisure Studies
· Minor: Communication
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI August 2001
· Concentration: Health Promotion
