UX Architect
From kickoff to launch - skills to help your project find its way
Architecting and Inception
Defining your client's needs
I've got the experience you need to help kick off your project on a solid foundation. Beginning from understanding your existing Users and reviewing competitors, UX can help sell your project to your client. I can help kick off projects by conducing in-depth audits and User focus groups, processing and understanding the data to help you to define scope and scale of a project, creating pitches and initial kickoff of your projects.
UX Design
From sketch concepts to wireframes, and all the supporting documentation
It's not just about sitting down and kicking out a deck of wireframes. I can help you digest the data you have, find the data you need, and understand your client's users. I can take that data, feed it into a set of docs that includes analysis, IA, Taxonomies and any other necessary documentation that can feed and inform the site map and wire framing process. Wireframes are the end result, and the product of documentation, not emotion.
Project Management
Conducting your project to their goals
The right Project Manager can make your projects move smoothly. I have the skills and experience working on things from small splash pages to multiyear technology rollouts on an international scale, and everything in between. I understand the language of both design and development. I can talk drop shadows and curves, Agile as a CSPO to CSS and SQL. I know when to push for more time and when to call foul when confronted with obstacles because of my deep and varied experience.
Recent Projects
Some selected screenshots of my work. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like to see more.
Toyota Offers Admin Tool
Visit the Axure Wireframes
The Toyota Offers Admin Tool (OAT) was designed to convert a dated manual offers creation and traffic process into a seamless tool that guided the offers creation process from start to finish. A intensive UX evaluation effort observed and analyzed every step of the original manual process and questioned every assumption. I then crafted a streamlined tool and interface based on observation, a deep understanding of the the business process and constant confirmation with the business stakeholders. The manual process took 3 to 4 18 hour days to complete. With the Offers Admin Tool, the process now only takes 4 - 6 hours while increasing accuracy, saving Toyota time and money.
Trident University
View UX Brief - Phase 1
View UX Brief - Phase 2
Trident University had a unique problem. While Trident had no problems acquiring students from their core market of Military personnel, they had trouble appealing to a broader consumer base. I evaluated the the current student base as well as a large representative sample of the staff to see where the issues might be. From there I developed a comprehensive UX plan giving their internal creative team a roadmap on how to evolve their website to appeal to a wider audience.
Toyota Notebook
Car shopping is a complex process. For many people, a car purchase is one of the most expensive decisions they will make in their lives. Toyota was looking to streamline the car buying process, and the first step was to help users organize their notes, thoughts and interests into an application on Toyota.com. Starting with user research, stakeholder interview and months of wire framing, prototyping, meetings with multiple internal Toyota divisions, this project went from a wish list of functionality to working project requirements. Collaborating with Toyota's creative agency of record, front end development agency, backend development agency and project management service, I further developed the requirements into a workable User Experience for Toyota Notebook juggling development resources, timeline and budgets for all these groups.
ScionOwners.com
A young and hip automotive brand needed a complete redesign of the vehicle owner's website to align with a redesigned website and new product launches. ScionOwners.com is a key and high profile project for this brand. I create a complete set of UX documentation which was crafted in multiple iterations in the the span of 4 months before the start of design and programming development.
Visit the Site.
Download a PDF sample of documentation for this project.
Sony Pictures Television International
Visit the Wireframes
SPTI had grown to over 200M viewers around the world, and each regional broadcast center published and managed their own websites with no adherence to brand, technology continuity or functionally. Since each channel region did not have a standard technical base, global ad serving and global content publishing was not possible. I was responsible for overseeing global design and development, project scoping and solutions architecture for Sony Pictures Television International as Primary Project Manager, working with resources in the US as well as divisions, agencies and development shops from around the world on a day to day basis. During this three year project, I managed the long-range and day-to-day production, technology and strategic needs of over 80+ websites in over 32+ different languages for Sony Pictures Television's international cable networks: Sony Entertainment Television, AXN, and Animax.
Vantiv
As one of the largest payment processors in the US, Vantiv had a unique problem of legacy forms, systems, procedures and security concerns that required their sales representatives over an hour to "on board" a new client. I traveled to Vantiv's headquarters for 3 days and sat with their IT team, Sales Trainers and sat in on calls to observe the process. Keeping all of the barriers and security restrictions in place, I devised a much simpler flow that took the data entry process from over an hour to just under 10 minutes.
Once Upon A Monster
In the fast paced world of video game development, sometimes the marketing website gets pushed to the last minute. This project started with very minimal documentation and an accelerated timeline. I rapidly created wireframes and site content outline based on my previous game website experience and pointed content questions. Documentation was completed within days and site launch just a two weeks after wireframe creation.
Visit the Site.
Download a PDF sample of documentation for this project.
Sony PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network (PSN) had an identity issue. Users couldn't separate the service from the console and were unclear about the services offered on PSN. Furthermore, as a group within the overall PlayStation website, PSN was restrained on what they could accomplish on their website. I sought to understand visitors by conducting extensive user research and interviews and crafted a new UX experience based on competitive analysis and the data I collected.
Download a PDF sample of documentation for this project.
ToyotaVision (Sharepoint 365 Intranet)
I worked in collaboration with multiple vendors of Toyota Motor Sales, USA working with enterprise IA and UX from Microsoft and Hitachi Global Consulting. I created wireframes and supporting documentation working within the constraints of a preselected Content Management System (Sharepoint) and crafted a UX experience that tens of thousands of employees of Toyota Motor Sales USA will visit every day.
FunCom Secret World
I helped create immersive website based game experience to entice users and get them hooked before the actual game was launched. Working in a team of two, we crafted an experience that wasn't an web version of the game, but rather a social media complement to the game where users would be able to recruit and market the game while potentially earning future in game rewards.
YourLexusDealer.com
YourLexusDealer.com is managed by another agency employed by Lexus. Lexus wanted to make significant changes to a very confusing UI/UX that the current agency could't fit into their schedules. I crafted a multiphase UX evolution in order minimize disruption to the current agency's management of the site while evolving this static marketing website into a tool that allows users to search for inventory at a Lexus Dealer.
Visit the Site.
Download a PDF sample of documentation for this project.
CAPABILITIES
With years of experience, I've done a lot of different things
User Experience
- Meet with key stakeholders to determine goals for project.
- Can provide input into the overall project plan to include usability tasks with sufficient time and resources to complete the tasks and analyze the results.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams including UX, IA, Content, Designers, Developers and Business Analysts.
- Develop usability goals and objectives for the project.
- Conduct field studies. This includes on-site visits to understand existing tools and usability, interviews with current users or support staff, complete walk-through of the software to gain an understanding of existing challenges.
- Complete Heuristic evaluations and competitive market research and analysis, including documentation thereof.
- Information Architecture and data modeling.
- Review Analytics to understand current user flow, user successes and challenges.
- Develop user profiles and scenarios based on interviews of users and stakeholders.
- Develop a task analysis based on observational data and interviews.
- Document user performance requirements based on data and technological requirements.
- Iterate UX and IA design concepts and metaphors.
- Develop screen flow and navigation model diagrams.
- Conduct client- and team-walkthroughs of UX and IA documentation.
- Create low- and high-fidelity prototypes, wireframes and data models.
- Conduct usability testing on prototypes.
- Document standards and guidelines for both UX and IA.
- Create a UX and IA design specification.
- Work closely with creative and development team as design is implemented.
- User surveys to gather product feedback.
- Vet requirements and objectives via usability testing
Project Management
- Overall Project Management and scoping (budgets, talent resources, documentation, etc.)
- Experience managing entire project lifecycle from inception to post deployment
- Deep understanding of current Content Management Systems
- Conduct remote and in-field training of content management system to a diverse group of developers, clients and content managers in multiple countries.
- Familiar with Agile development methodologies
- Experience with the integration of analytics including Omniture and Google Analytics.
- Global Web Development Experience Including language specific needs as well as global domain registration and management experience.
- Hardware deployment Including Data Center Management and hardware deployments
- Edge Serving implementation including Akamai, Edgecast and Limelight implementation
- Video Serving experience through Brightcove Including Integration of Brightcove though Content Management Platform
- Coordinating both development and business needs including experience working the Legal teams
- Experience running hundreds online sweepstakes for GSN, including stand alone, cross channel and interactive sweepstakes
