After working as a web designer and developer for several agencies I was hired by Brooklyn College as a liaison between the Computer Science and Art Departments. I was tasked to create templates and manage the development of departmental intranet sites. As interest in the projects grew my role focused upon requirements gathering, high-level design and managing the development of the departmental, institutional and faculty sites.
Another major aspect of my job description was teaching and presenting workshops. I led workshops in: SGML / HTML, Web Design, Photoshop and Director.
At first the role was primarily Web Development and what we now call
Information Architecture and User Experience (IA/UX).
Over time the PM role grew to about twenty percent of the work load.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
PS
HTML
CSS
JS
PERL
Access
ClubMom
At Club Mom I was hired as a Technical Project Manager but almost immediately incorporated IA tasks. Of particular interest was my evangelism in designing for the end-user. I wrote user flows and wireframes for Interwoven’s Teamsite (a CMS) which was to be used by a team of over thirty editors and hundreds of full-time and part-time writers. The project was two-pronged: the writing of functional specs, use cases and user flows and Technical Project Management overseeing the implementation of Teamsite.
The role was primarily Project Management / Business Analysis.
Nonetheless the design of User Flows and high level wireframes were a large part of the work load.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
Visio
PS
PERL
SQL
WeightWatchers
This was my first full-time Information Architecture position. The key factor for hire was my knowledge of user personas and how they interact with the application.
At that time, a limitation for design complexity was load time. Single-page apps with asynchronous loading were not yet mature, and considerable attention was paid to user interaction while making server calls. The challenges of website design we faced then are similar to those faced by app designers today.
I took part in numerous user tests. These tests were all moderated in-person. Most were done with professional facilitators in observation suites, however many were informal tests.
The role was exclusively focused on Information Architecture.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
Visio
PS
Ill
BrokerTec
BrokerTec was a fixed income trading platform created by ICAP, Merrill Lynch and other equity traders.
The focus of the position was designing and implementing tools for business users.
My primary function was gathering requirements from business users, producing functional flows and wireframes, and coding the resulting designs.
The UX work was accomplished primarily with Visio, approved by the department heads and followed by Photoshop/HTML mockups.
I was responsible for building external portions of the website. They were little more than brochureware and collecting sales leads but required production in Cold Fusion (a server-side IDE) and SQL.
The role was primarily Front End Development / Information Architecture.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
HTML
CSS
JS
CFMX
SQL
Visio
PS
GHCM (RazorNY, Serene Rose, Blue Rose)
A chain of high-end boutiques and design houses based in NYC.
I headed the UX team. We focused on discovery and high-level wireframes / mockups. I also gathered, analyzed and documented business requirements as related to UX. I wrote use cases, including preconditions as well as user stories, user personas and acceptance criteria.
My primary focus was on internal apps: inventory management, income/expense reporting tools and the email templating system.
The role started as a UX / Front-End Development position
but evolved to have significant PM responsibilities.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
HTML
CSS
JS
CFMX
SQL
Visio
PS
Freelance Approximately 16-20 companies
Given the nature of freelance work, the responsibilities varied greatly per role: requirements gathering, extensive analysis of user-flows and use-cases, analysis of existing applications, solving usability problems, extending and revising existing mockups, creation and presentation of whiteboard and paper prototypes, user-testing and production of higher-fidelty mockups.
Photoshop, Balsamic, InVision, and Visio were the primary UX tools. Redmine, KanbanFlow and Trello used for keeping track of use-cases and user-stories. Skype and JoinMe were the principal collaboration tools.
All positions were exclusively UX roles, with one exception which was Project Management.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
HTML
CSS
JS
Visio
PS
Ill
Mixed
B&H
I focused on projects for internal clients. At times the projects were built completely in house and other times they were customizations of 3rd Party software such as SalesForce and IBM’s Sterling OMS. Functional Requirement Documents were created by BAs in conjunction with high level sketches.
B&H has very complex requirements. Illustrator and Photoshop Layer Comps couldn’t handle the complexity. HTML and Javascript took too long to account for scope and design changes therefore we evaluated numerous tools, including InVision and JustInMind, and settled on Axure. It handled most of what was required and became our go to tool.
JIRA was used for maintaining use cases. Skype, JoinMe and Slack were used for internal collaboration. Some of the most interesting design problems I’ve faced have been during the last four years at B&H.
The role was exclusively UX.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Tools Used:
HTML
CSS
JS
PS
Mixed
Axure
In sum, I’ve worked primarily as an Information Architect / UX Designer.
I excel at working on, and leading, UX teams. As with all designers I prefer complex and interesting design problems.
I have also been a front-end developer
and have stepped more than once into the BA and PM roles.
Good UX means one doesn’t hear:
“It’s just what I asked for, but not what I needed.”
Job Timeline
After working as a web designer and developer for several agencies I was hired by Brooklyn College as a liaison between the Computer Science and Art Departments. I was tasked to create templates and manage the development of departmental intranet sites. As interest in the projects grew my role focused upon requirements gathering, high-level design and managing the development of the departmental, institutional and faculty sites.
Another major aspect of my job description was teaching and presenting workshops. I led workshops in: SGML / HTML, Web Design, Photoshop and Director.
At first the role was primarily Web Development and what we now call
Information Architecture and User Experience (IA/UX).
Over time the PM role grew to about twenty percent of the work load.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
At Club Mom I was hired as a Technical Project Manager but almost immediately incorporated IA tasks. Of particular interest was my evangelism in designing for the end-user. I wrote user flows and wireframes for Interwoven’s Teamsite (a CMS) which was to be used by a team of over thirty editors and hundreds of full-time and part-time writers. The project was two-pronged: the writing of functional specs, use cases and user flows and Technical Project Management overseeing the implementation of Teamsite.
The role was primarily Project Management / Business Analysis.
Nonetheless the design of User Flows and high level wireframes were a large part of the work load.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
This was my first full-time Information Architecture position. The key factor for hire was my knowledge of user personas and how they interact with the application.
At that time, a limitation for design complexity was load time. Single-page apps with asynchronous loading were not yet mature, and considerable attention was paid to user interaction while making server calls. The challenges of website design we faced then are similar to those faced by app designers today.
I took part in numerous user tests. These tests were all moderated in-person. Most were done with professional facilitators in observation suites, however many were informal tests.
The role was exclusively focused on Information Architecture.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
The focus of the position was designing and implementing tools for business users. My primary function was gathering requirements from business users, producing functional flows and wireframes, and coding the resulting designs.
The UX work was accomplished primarily with Visio, approved by the department heads and followed by Photoshop/HTML mockups.I was responsible for building external portions of the website. They were little more than brochureware and collecting sales leads but required production in Cold Fusion (a server-side IDE) and SQL.
The role was primarily Front End Development / Information Architecture.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
I headed the UX team. We focused on discovery and high-level wireframes / mockups. I also gathered, analyzed and documented business requirements as related to UX. I wrote use cases, including preconditions as well as user stories, user personas and acceptance criteria.
My primary focus was on internal apps: inventory management, income/expense reporting tools and the email templating system.
The role started as a UX / Front-End Development position
but evolved to have significant PM responsibilities.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
Given the nature of freelance work, the responsibilities varied greatly per role: requirements gathering, extensive analysis of user-flows and use-cases, analysis of existing applications, solving usability problems, extending and revising existing mockups, creation and presentation of whiteboard and paper prototypes, user-testing and production of higher-fidelty mockups.
Photoshop, Balsamic, InVision, and Visio were the primary UX tools. Redmine, KanbanFlow and Trello used for keeping track of use-cases and user-stories. Skype and JoinMe were the principal collaboration tools.
All positions were exclusively UX roles, with one exception which was Project Management.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
I focused on projects for internal clients. At times the projects were built completely in house and other times they were customizations of 3rd Party software such as SalesForce and IBM’s Sterling OMS. Functional Requirement Documents were created by BAs in conjunction with high level sketches.
B&H has very complex requirements. Illustrator and Photoshop Layer Comps couldn’t handle the complexity. HTML and Javascript took too long to account for scope and design changes therefore we evaluated numerous tools, including InVision and JustInMind, and settled on Axure. It handled most of what was required and became our go to tool.
JIRA was used for maintaining use cases. Skype, JoinMe and Slack were used for internal collaboration. Some of the most interesting design problems I’ve faced have been during the last four years at B&H.
The role was exclusively UX.
A visual representation of the responsibilities is shown below.
In sum, I’ve worked primarily as an Information Architect / UX Designer.
I excel at working on, and leading, UX teams. As with all designers I prefer complex and interesting design problems.
I have also been a front-end developer
and have stepped more than once into the BA and PM roles.
“It’s just what I asked for, but not what I needed.”