My Résumé

Work Experience

Ten Mile Square Technologies, (September 2003 to Present)

NOTE: Ten Mile Square split from Chessiecap at the end of 2006.

Engaged in a variety of projects as a User Experience/User Interface designer and consultant, Information Architect, Business Analyst, and/or Software Development Consultant. The following is a list of the representative engagements.

For a client who cannot be named

Acted as a product owner and business analyst where I described and prioritized users and stakeholders, documented use cases, managed the product backlog, and worked closely with the development team.

Relatient

Conducted an on-site Agile training session for all development teams. Conducted hands-on Agile coaching for one of those teams.

The Institute for Precision Cardiovascular Medicine, American Heart Association

Assessed the current state of the user experience and interfaces of their data collecting and search functionalities. Provided actionable recommendations for improvements. Also conducted an assessment of their technology in order to inform future investments.

SoundExchange

Designed and developed mockups for systems that manage entities and their relationships as well as the reconciliation process for applying royalties. Designed and developed WordPress implementations for their affiliates program and legislative fund.

U.S. News and World Report's Education Rankings

Assessed the current state of their data platform, defined the target state, and developed the plan to move from the former to the latter. Developed the data model for the target state.

Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Information Network

Provided usability advice for their directory and user management features. Normally straightforward functionality, but in times of crisis, these tasks need to be executed quickly and accurately to ensure all AND only the right people get in.

Mad Fox Brewing Company

Migrated the site from WordPress to Drupal. Implemented the creative design from third-party artists. Provide ongoing technical support.

iJET International, Inc.

Assisted in the development of the product road map. Walked the team through a product planning exercise.

FINRA

Designed the user interface for their COBRA product, which allows users to submit information about public offerings to FINRA for review. Developed the front-end system in a custom templating language.

Provided user and business requirements analysis for FINRA's online FOCUS filing submission and analysis application. Once the application went live, provided third level support and ongoing user analysis for future enhancements. Also transformed the JavaScript, XSLT, and CSS code to support the Firefox browser.

Designed and developed a working prototype of a proposed variable annuity comparison tool. This involved analysis of the schema for describing variable annuity products and coding XSLT to transform each file into a clickable prototype.

Designed and developed a prototype for the second version of the NSCC Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer. This updated the first version with the ability to compare more than 2 funds and added additional data fields along with methods to indicate difference and confidence in the data presented.

Designed and developed a prototype for the next version of FINRA's Report Center. Also wrote the best practices document that describes how the Report Center should grow as new reports and features become available.

Designed and developed a prototype for the first version of the NSCC Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer.

Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Information Sharing Environment

Migrated their site to Drupal. Implemented the new branding look and feel. Consulted on usability testing.

Playmaker Systems

Analyzed the searchability of their website and provided actionable recommendations for the improvement of its search engine optimization. They now appear consistently in the top 10 hits for their key terms.

Migrated the site to the Drupal CMS, including template and module development. They are now able to effectively update and grow their website without outside technical assistance.

Provided ongoing product planning consulting.

FitTEST Solutions

Converted their Physical Therapy Client / Visit management and diagnostic tool from a desktop to a web-based application. Redesigned the interface to make the critical functionality flow more smoothly.

Federal Communications Commission

Designed the interface for the Consolidated License Search system. Converted the initial wireframes into clickable mockups and then converted the mockups into working code. Integrated site-wide look and feel.

Consulted on usability testing and interpreted the results.

Notable Solutions, Inc.

Conducted a detailed accessibility review of their AUTOSTORE application ahead of a critical sales meeting.

Conference of State Bank Supervisors

Worked with a graphic designer to incorporate the new branding and look & feel for their Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS).

Developed the site architecture for the State Regulatory Registry's website as well as for the NMLS supporting website.

Scripps Networks

Implemented the process to create and maintain controlled vocabularies for all of their websites.

Redesigned the search tool for the Food Network so as to more effectively separate the search for recipes from other online content.

Designed and developed the interface for their enterprise search application. Acted as the user advocate within the development team.

Participated in the decision to build or buy new content management software. Tasks included interviews with stakeholders and users (current and potential future) to prioritize uses, the examination of the current state of content management, and presentation of findings to the decision-makers.

Conducted a user interface review of their asset tracking software. This involved interviews with stakeholders, managers, and users, the development of recommendations along with HTML mock-ups to demonstrate those ideas, and the presentation of my findings to the core team of decision-makers.

Carey Worldwide Chauffeured Services

Provided software development consulting for their next-generation dispatch software. Duties included analysis of the dispatch process, identification of gaps in their current set of development artifacts, documentation of the use cases, and development of mock-ups to demonstrate and vet ideas.

Conducted a user interface review of their internal reservation tool. This involved interviews with stakeholders and managers, observations of users, and the development of recommendations along with HTML mock-ups to demonstrate those ideas.

Designed eCarey's new online reservation system. This process included extensive interviews, prototype development in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and thorough documentation.

buySAFE

Designed and developed a working prototype for their Bonded Shopping Network. This included documenting use cases and development in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as extensive documentation of the mock-ups so that the developers and artists could implement the ideas.

Developed and documented the taxonomy for the products in the Bonded Shopping Network.

HighSpeedAmerica

Facilitated discussions among the company's executives to define their business processes. Modeled and documented those process.

Shop at Home, LLC

Engaged in a variety of tasks related to business process modeling with the goal of developing a full understanding of the current state architecture for Shop at Home's eCommerce effort. This involved the development of activity flow and state-transition diagrams as well as extensive written reports describing the various relevant activities.

LyriCity Music Exchange

Developed an initial prototype for an online music exchange. Designed content ingestion, searching and administration page flows in HTML and CSS Level 1. This prototype was used to get additional funding and present to potential partners.

Developed a proof-of-concept prototype to be used as the basis for the development of the back-end software. This work, too, was done in HTML and CSS Level 1 and involved the incorporation of the initial look and feel.

iDefense

Designed a quick fix for the iDefense's content creation system that involved speeding up the authoring process. Designed online trending functionality, which allows iDefense customers to view graphical reports of content output over time and type. Designed a system whereby iDefense's customers can assign iDefense content to the customer's employees. All design work was done in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Designed and participated in the development of iDefense's new content creation system. Developed a prototype for this system with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that allowed users to click through the proposed system and provide feedback. Development of the actual system was done with JSPs and Jakarta Struts.

Independent Consultant, (Jan 2002 to August 2003)

Triumph Learning

Developed the user interface of their Test Authoring system that allows their editors -- who don't have Macromedia Shockwave experience -- to dynamically create Test Prep CD-ROMs. The primary skills used were JSP, Director, and Roxio Toast.

PBI Media

Designed and developed various websites for this media conglomerate. A good example of my work is M3 Online.

Business Consulting

Provided consulting for domestic and foreign internet-related start-ups on issues ranging from cost estimation to decisions on whether to build or license software.

The Adrenaline Group, Inc., (January 2000 to January 2002)

Group Manager, Information Architecture

Managed the Information Architecture practice, which ranged in size from 6 to 17 people. Hired and fired staff, ensured compliance with Adrenaline's standards, and supported the professional development of the staff.

Senior Consultant, Information Architecture

Developed software for a variety of clients ranging in size from internet startups such as AnswerLogic to established large companies like Verisign. Analyzed potential users, developed prototypes to further clarify business requirements, and coded user interfaces. Managed project teams of 3 to 7 members. For some clients, such as the NASD, analyzed their organization and operations in order to improve their processes so that they could deliver software better and faster.

Tutornet.com, Inc., (July 1999 to January 2000)

Web Development Manager

Managed the web development staff, which ranged in size from 2 to 6 people. Implemented the CyberCash Merchant Connection Kit to allow for real-time online credit card processing. Managed technical relationships with partners. Developed HTML, client-side scripting, and graphics for the website.

UUCom, Inc., (August 1997 to July 1999)

Consultant

Worked for private and public sector clients like CyberCash and the National Institute for Literacy. Developed online financial calculators in JavaScript. Developed CGI scripts to process the input from online loan applications. Designed and developed a variety of internet databases, all SQL compliant. Wrote CGI scripts in PERL to interface with those databases. Implemented and tested internet commerce-related Java applets. Designed, developed, and implemented websites with tools ranging from text editors such as vi to more advanced programs such as Allaire's HomeSite.

Independent Consultant (November 1996 to November 1998)

Titan Games

Converted their inventory and customer databases to MySQL and developed a web front-end. Designed and implemented a shopping cart system. Designed and implemented a search engine for items in the inventory database. Redesigned their website.

Boeing

Designed, developed, and implemented web interfaces for FileMakerPro databases using Lasso tags. Designed and developed web pages for the Washington, DC office's intranet.

IBM, Internet Technologies Division

Automated FTP retrieval of data. Wrote PERL and UNIX shell scripts that converted the data into an HTML format and indexed the data via the PLS search engine.

Gonyea & Associates' International Career Connection

Designed and developed the front-end of their site on America Online. Developed hybrid web browsers to display their internet content on the AOL platform. I consulted on advertising strategies.

America Online (July 1994 to November 1996)

Senior Producer

Designed, developed, and maintained online content areas within the Learning & Culture channel of AOL. Managed 3 producers who did the same. Developed and implemented a FileMakerPro database that tracked partner, project, and usage information. Trained members of my team on the current AOL production technologies.

Technical Training Coordinator

Developed, taught, and managed trainers for Producer, Technical Producer, Web, and RAINMAN Plus classes.

RAINMAN Beta Test Coordinator

Managed the RAINMAN Plus beta test. Created and managed the ARC Help Desk and designed and supported the ARC, RAINMAN Plus Support, and VLA online areas.

Computer Sciences Corp. (February 1993 to July 1994)

Senior Technical Specialist

Worked on the Help Desk for AppleLink, Apple Computer's online service. Assisted users with technical, billing, and administration issues, concentrating on modem and software problem replication and resolution. Was shift supervisor for the Help Desk from 5pm to 8pm, daily. Consulted on user interface issues stemming from technical support problems.

Skills

Technology

I have extensive experience with HTML (through 5), CSS (through 3), JavaScript (including JQuery and frameworks like Vue), XML, XSLT, SVG and the CMSs Drupal and WordPress (and through that, MySQL and PHP).

Search Engine Optimization

I can guide you through the exercise to determine what your users want, how they express that desire, and how you can ensure that your website is speaking their language.

Accessibility

I know how to format your web content such that any user can access it, including search engine spiders.

Usability

I focus on presenting features to users. I pay attention to what users do rather than what they say. I also understand that there are times when the user's needs are not the top priority.

Content Management

I can help you implement a strategy to develop and exploit your digital assets. How can you make the most money with what you have?

Product Management

I can effectively balance the needs of the business vs. the goals of the users, all within the constraints of the existing technology. I focus on bringing the product to market or learning as quickly as possible that it cannot be feasibly done.

Project Management

I can effectively balance available resources against the features requested and the time allotted. I understand that shipping a product that is good enough is better than wasting time in the pursuit of perfection.

Gastronomy

I love food, everything from cheap Mexican to expensive French cuisine. On occasion, I have been known to eat prodigious quantities of food, but not so often now that I'm older.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, The American University, 1987. Majored in International Studies, Minored in Computer System Applications.

Graduate studies, The American University, 1988-1990. International Economic Policy with a concentration in Latin America.