Resume

Profile

• Fierce defender of the user's perspective in the design process
• Keen visual eye and strong typographic sensibility
• Experienced in specification of design patterns and templates
• Mentors and communicates design and usability concepts to a broad audience

• Combined arts and technology background
• Solid combination of imaginative and logical creativity
• Self-motivated, self-reliant and quick learning

Employment

User Experience Architect (contract)
An intensive foray into forward thinking consumer product development.

• created wireframes for an integrated system to deliver TV, movies, music and games on demand
• authored functional specification document to detail the wireframes and workflows, supporting not only
  the product definition but also the patent process

Information Architect / Usability Specialist (contract)
Short-term contract to help this exciting new company through a peak period.

• devised a personalisation scheme that allowed a client to speak more directly to its audience through their web site
• authored needs assessment and system requirements document using survey results and stakeholder interviews as key inputs
• created site architecture, schematics and competitive analysis reports

Usability Specialist (contract)

• Created Interactive Design Specification documents, wireframes and process flows.
• Designed student area of CIBC’s corporate web site that opened a marketing reach for CIBC to a college and university audience.
• Created process flows and wireframes for online banking enhancements. Designed task flow and screen layouts to allow transfer of funds between Canadian and US denominated accounts while smoothing out the complexities of real time exchange rates.
• Conducted user experience research and competitive analysis of online banking in Canada that helped to secure a recognition of the connection between usability enhancement projects and improvements to CIBC’s place in the market.

Senior User Interface Designer

• Designed user interface and conducted usability testing of web based financial services software.
• Collaborated with business analysts in requirements gathering and with developers in implementation ensuring that design considerations and the users' perspective were enforced throughout the software development life cycle.
• Received Key Contributor Award in recognition of the importance of his efforts towards the successful launch of the business.
• Eliminated confusing design inconsistencies and achieved significant product improvement by distilling pre-existing disparate designs into a cohesive set of standardised metaphors.
• Increased customer satisfaction by conducting usability tests of both working screens and paper prototypes and translating the results into enhanced designs.
• Customised system look & feel per client firm to allow each firm's corporate identity to be presented to it's employees and it's investor clients.
• Produced HTML mock-ups, templates and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for all application components ensuring correct interpretation of designs by system developers.
• Specified user interface patterns, standards and style guidelines for developers to enforce consistency and to promote re-use of code.

User Interface Designer (contract)

• Designed enhanced functionality and revised look & feel for mixed Java and HTML financial services software.
• Ensured optimal usability by creating GUI designs that specified both interaction and workflow.
• Achieved significant aesthetic improvement with an updated look & feel for the existing application (CSS, HTML and images).
• Updated Style Guide to ensure consistent user experience in future development efforts.

User Interface Designer (contract)

• Designed an efficient, elegant and highly usable interface for call centre support software.
• Created logical information hierarchies to provide powerful multi-dimensional data drill-down and reporting.
• Specified interaction and workflow using detailed storyboards.
• Produced HTML mock-ups, templates and CSS for all application components to ensure correct interpretation of designs.
• Authored Style Guide for programmers to ensure design integrity in future development efforts.

User Interface Design Consultant (contract)

• Strategic consultation on accounting software to maintain product dominance against fierce competition.
• Authored report containing competitive analysis and corrective recommendations for the short, mid and long term.

User Interface Designer

• Designed user interface of internet enabled financial goal planning application targeted to home users.
• Represented the user's perspective within the Rational Unified Process (RUP) to ensure industry leading best practices were employed in the software development cycle.
• Created low fidelity storyboards to optimise workflow and high fidelity designs to specify aesthetic quality.

Graphical User Interface Designer / QA Analyst

• Designed mixed Java, HTML, XML application for financial planners and brokers.
• Designed the framework for a modern UI that incorporated diverse functionality including Java GUI, JSP's, static HTML and integrated telnet and stock price components.
• Authored interface design standards and style guide to ensure design integrity of future development.
• Specified standardised Java layout manager grid to support rapid consistent GUI layout.
• Conducted user feedback interviews for content and usability review.
• Improved development quality by focusing on methodology, creation and enforcement of programming. standards, and verification of program documentation .
• Built Perl CGI application that greatly improved the speed and ease of creating brokerage accounts .
• Increased corporate visibility by designing and implementing the company's external web site.

Production Assistant

• Instrumental in computerising old paper based systems including RDBMS inventory and CADD drafting of theatres, scenery and lighting plots
• Worked as member of road crew for tour to Europe (1994) and to Asia (1992)

Education