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Sr. User Experience Designer
DTS, Inc.
Dec 2012 - Present (11 years 10 months)
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UX/UI Design & Researcher
Samsung Research - User Experience Center America
Jan 2011 - Nov 2012 (1 year 10 months)
Worked on concepts for next generation mobile apps and services, all of which are highly confidential. Some concepts may reach market in 2013 or 2014. Deliverables included competitive evaluations, user benefit descriptions, sketches, wireframes. At a general level, cultivated multiple areas of professional interest in the mobile industry, including:
o Communications Experiences: How can mobile devices help people to communicate in more enjoyable, richer, and simpler ways?
o Convergence Experiences: How can mobile devices empower users to engage more richly with the world around them, especially with other people, TVs, and other types of Internet connected devices?
o Context: How can a mobile device with so many sensors and its embedded knowledge of the user enhance a user’s interactions with friends, family and the world around her?
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Founder and President
FloSpace, Inc.
Mar 2002 - Dec 2010 (8 years 9 months)
Founded a small software company to create highly usable software for several fields. The only shipping product was an innovative teleprompter app for Windows PCs used for public speaking, video and audio production, and podcasting.
o The company's first app, FloPrompter, launched fall 2006 and was frequently updated.
o Was entirely responsible for programming the app in C#, Microsoft's native .NET programming language.
o Created business strategy and conducted market research and analysis.
o For an earlier FloSpace project, recruited project collaborators on shoestring budget.
o Collaborated with legal team to craft and submit a patent application.
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Mobile User Experience Designer
Motorola Mobile Devices
Dec 2008 - Dec 2010 (2 years)
Designed compelling user experiences for MOTOBLUR, Motorola’s proprietary apps layer on Android. Worked closely with Product Management and Engineering counterparts, and managed graphic design deliverables. Drafted new feature concepts for team review. My work was featured on Motorola’s first Android device, the CLIQ/DEXT, and some features remain active on current devices (e.g., RAZR MAXX and Atrix HD). Significant projects included:
o Home Screen, Widgets and Cards: Primary UI design for most Motorola widgets and the proprietary Home Screen experience. Distinctive features included the app grouping features in the Apps List Screen, widget resizing, the Fast Navigation Bar with Braille-style dots, 3D Cards UX, and over 14 widgets. (For devices released Fall 2009 – late 2011; some features through present.)
o Calendar App: UI design lead for enhancing the Calendar app with additional features appealing to enterprise users, including Microsoft ActiveSync 2003 and 2007 protocol (Outlook) support and conference calling. (For devices released Summer 2010 – present.)
o Contacts App: Primary UI design for Motorola’s proprietary Contacts app which featured advanced integration with social networks and operator address books. (For devices released Fall 2009 – Summer 2010.)
o Social Networking App (aka Happenings): Primary UI design for Motorola’s proprietary social networking features, including an app for viewing friends’ status updates with a widget and app to update one’s own status across multiple networks. (For devices released Fall 2009 – Summer 2011.)
o Tasks App: Conceived the UI design for a To Do (aka task management) app to work with multiple cloud services, including Outlook Tasks. Worked with a graphic designer to finalize the visual design and wrote the UI specifications. (For devices released Spring 2010 – present.)
o Patents: Four U.S. patents pending relating to widgets and lock screen features.
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Freelance User Experience Designer
Hand Interactive
Feb 2008 - Dec 2008 (10 months)
Freelance user experience design and usability consultant focusing on mobile applications, web sites & innovative desktop software products.
o Explorations of OS Designs and User Experiences: Two separate projects working at the OS level, one for a netbook hardware and services startup using Linux, the other for an embedded tablet OS vendor using Android. Created interactive mockups to explore design concepts. Fleshed out personas, user experience targets, and high level use cases for each project’s final designs.
o Mobile Web Site: For a national email marketing distribution company. Designed and programmed two versions of their mobile web site. One optimized for modern touchscreen devices (e.g., iPhone, Android) and a second for devices with less capable browsers (e.g., feature phones, BlackBerries).
o Mobile Device Evaluations: For a large U.S.-based wireless operator. Participated in professional evaluations of several music-oriented mobile phones, focusing on music consumption use cases.
o Mobile Web Site Usability Evaluation: For a prominent mobile social networking company. Evaluated ease of use of mobile web site (WAP) from the perspective of its large customer base using “Feature” (mass market) phones rather than smartphones. Provided detailed, action-oriented list of opportunities for improvement.
o MobileESP: Created a code library called MobileESP for web site publishers to detect visitors using mobile devices. Originally written in PHP and JavaScript. After open sourcing the library, the code has been ported by the developer community to Ruby, Python, Java, ASP.NET and VBScript.
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Mobile User Experience Designer
iSkoot, Inc.
Jan 2007 - Jan 2008 (1 year)
Designed a consistent user experience for a mobile IM/VOIP app based on Skype across multiple mobile phone platforms, including BlackBerry, Symbian S60, UIQ, Windows Mobile, PalmOS, and mobile Java (J2ME). Created wireframes, screen flow diagrams, and user-centered functional specifications.
o Worked closely with engineering and other teams to define and iterate experience requirements.
o Supported launch of innovative Skypephone, jointly launched by Huchison 3G, Skype and iSkoot.
o Created interaction and design mockups for new product concepts.
o Managed vendors for translation and graphic design services.
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Mobile User Experience Designer
Nokia
Nov 2005 - Jan 2007 (1 year 2 months)
Authored interactive product specifications for mobile device experiences on a range of platforms including Symbian S60, Windows Mobile and mobile Java (J2ME). Created wireframes, screen flow diagrams, and user-centered functional specifications.
o Led the user interface (UI) design for Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel product which powers enterprise PBX system functionality on Nokia S60 mobile devices.
o Contributed major sections of cross-platform UI design for Intellisync Mobile Suite 8.0, which includes prosumer- and enterprise-oriented email, file sync, and device management functionality.
o Collaborated with usability researchers to evaluate opportunities for improving user experience.
o Managed contract graphic designers for image and S60 theme asset creation.
o Worked closely with engineering and other teams to define and iterate experience requirements.
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Mobile User Experience Designer
SavaJe Technology, Inc.
Sep 2004 - Nov 2005 (1 year 2 months)
Authored interactive product specifications for mobile device experiences. Created wireframes, screen flow diagrams, interactive prototypes. Designed and moderated usability tests involving mobile phones. Conducted experience evaluations for external companies with SavaJe’s professional services offering.
o Mobile software design portfolio included: music and video players, picture viewer, email client, theme manager, and file browser.
o Collaborated with the engineering team UI designer on the theme framework implementation team for the SavaJe mobile OS. Managed contract graphic designers for theme asset creation.
o Designed the SavaJe Theme Studio, a Java-based desktop application for authoring mobile phone themes enabling designers to brand an end user experience without programming.
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User Experience Designer
Answerthink
2000 - 2002 (2 years)
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Information Architect
Argus Assoc.
1999 - 2000 (1 year)
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Assistant Language Teacher (ALT)
Japan Exchange and Teaching Program(me) (JET)
Jul 1993 - Jul 1996 (3 years)
Employed by the Hanaizumi Town Board of Education, Hanaizumi, Iwate, Japan.
Team-taught English at two junior high schools in Northern Japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program sponsored by several Japanese government agencies.
o Assisted Japanese teachers with in-class teaching, lesson planning, and evaluation.
o Created interactive activities and modified existing learning materials to meet the communicative needs of students.
o Participated in discussion panels and gave speeches to civic groups.
o Initiated and organized various international events with Board of Education staff, community groups, and the public library.