SKILLS SUMMARY

  • Passionate about usability, looking for a rewarding fulltime position within an organization that values the role of user experience and design, to commence after completion of Master’s degree (September 2011)
  • Extensive understanding of the design lifecycle including requirement generation, personas, storyboarding, wireframing, prototyping, usability test plan design and execution, data analysis, and recommendations
  • Strong experience in both qualitative and quantitative data gathering and analysis including literature reviews, requirements gathering, ethnographic research, formal and informal usability testing, interviews, focus groups, coding, and affinity diagramming
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills demonstrated through technical writing and publication, and project coordination experience

    PROJECTS

    Collaborative Technology Design for Waterloo Region REACT February 2010 – present
    Ongoing project within the Collaborative Systems Laboratory to outfit the Waterloo Region REACT group (volunteer emergency services provider) with collaborative technologies in their mobile command centre; proposed thesis work

    • Gathered informal requirements – spoke with group committee and volunteers to better understand requirements and expectations for technology solutions
    • Conducted observational studies – observed volunteer events to learn about current trailer use and areas easily enhanced through collaborative technologies
    • Currently planning future work – project will move forward into an iterative design, implementation, and testing cycle to provide the best solution possible; thesis work likely to be in the interface design and usability testing of a proposed solution

    User Study of ASPECTS Project september 2009 – present
    Project within the Collaborative Systems Laboratory to design and evaluate a collaborative digital tabletop application for use in naval command and control situations; paper to be submitted for publication at Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces Conference (ITS 2010)

    • Designed usability study protocol and tasks – created study tasks, schedule, evaluation methods, and questionnaires to target functionality and behavior to be evaluated
    • Conducted user studies – conducted 17 study sessions with 41 participants over two weeks
    • Analyzed qualitative and quantitative data – found results in data through affinity diagramming, coding, survey data graphing, log file analysis
    • Represented project at conferences – exhibited project at  Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) and CANSEC 2010 to gather informal feedback from subject matter experts

    EXPERIENCE

    Community Manager – IXDA Waterloo/Waterloo UX Group (volunteer) March 2010 – present

    • Spread word about UX in Waterloo – help to connect Waterloo user experience professionals through monthly meet-ups in partnership with Communitech
    • Plan monthly sessions – assist in finding presenters or brainstorming interesting user experience related activities to expand attendees’ skill sets and generate enthusiasm about user experience
    • Contribute to online presence – currently planning how to best be represented online; work directly with the rest of the community managers to construct event highlights

    User Experience Designer, Intern – Primal, Inc. May 2009 – August 2009

    • Designed an informal usability test plan – formulated a test plan to regularly test design and usability issues throughout the design lifecycle; developed a suite of testing activities and evaluation methods
    • Conducted informal usability tests – conducted over 40 usability tests to evaluate various designs and interactions; reported results to the design team to direct design decisions
    • Researched and developed two personas – independently developed two personas for use by the design and development teams; designed a persona visual template for future use by the design team
    • Participated in all aspects of design lifecycle – assisted other designers, and regularly took responsibility for developing product concepts, storyboards, scenarios, wireframes, and functional specifications

    Usability Specialist/Product Designer – Desire2Learn, Inc. May 2008 – December 2008

    • Conducted usability studies – designed tasks to evaluate prototype interfaces, conducted user sessions, and assembled a set of design recommendations
    • Assisted directly with design of new features – designed both functionality and user interfaces for new features in the Learning Object Repository product
    • Defined functional specifications – developed functional specification documents to define new user interface interactions, for use by development team
    • Conducted market research – assembled competitive analysis charts to understand competitors and future development

    Beta Program Coordinator – Research In Motion, Ltd. September 2007 – December 2007

    • Managed beta programs – was responsible for administering beta test programs for four different products and assisted with dozens of other programs
    • Coordinated testing efforts – liaised with directors and development to understand goals of beta programs and deliver updates; interacted with hundreds of beta testers to understand product issues and to ensure coverage of all features
    • Ran usability studies – gathered feedback on localization issues through informal usability studies, used to direct development efforts

    Technical Writer – Northern Digital, Inc. May 2006 – August 2006

    • Wrote and maintained technical documents – responsible for all technical assembly documents for an entire product release
    • Designed testing procedures – assisted mechanical engineers with the design and testing of production procedures
    • Developed verbal and written communication skills – wrote over 30 documents; interacted with numerous employees to ensure document accuracy and effectiveness

      OTHER EMPLOYMENT

      EDUCATION

      Candidate for Master’s of Applied Science, Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo
      September 2009 – Present, Graduating August 2011

      • Proposed thesis topic: Designing collaborative systems interfaces for use in a mobile command centre
      • Completed grad-level coursework in Collaborative Systems Design, Advanced Analysis of Variance, Social Implications of Computing, Qualitative Methods
      • Working under a Research Assistantship in the Collaborative Systems Laboratory under Dr. Stacey Scott, conducting studies to evaluate collaborative systems
      • Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Human Systems in Systems Design Engineering (SYDE162)

      Bachelor of Applied Science, Honors Systems Design Engineering Co-Op, with Distinction, University of Waterloo
      September 2004 – April 2009

      • Completed courses in User Centred Design Methods, Human Systems, Cognitive Ergonomics, Interface Design, Cognitive Science, Designing Learning Activities with Interactive Multimedia, Cognitive Processes
      • Achievements: recipient of President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Engineering Society, recipient of the University of Waterloo – Waterloo County Special Entrance Scholarship 2004-2006

      Shad Valley UBC 2003 Alumna