Software designer/engineer specializing in user interface design and web development.

Over fifteen years of software development experience with a focus on usability and user-centered design; web application development using Django, Python, SQL, JavaScript, XML, XSLT, OCaml and Java; interaction design, usability analysis and web accessibility evaluation.

• Led the user interface redesign of Fidelity Investments’ NetBenefits web application, resulting in significant cost savings in call center support.
• Designed and developed Java-based financial planning tools for Fidelity Investments that drew significant traffic to their 401k.fidelity.com web site.
• Led the user interface redesign of a complex financial analysis application for HOLT Value Associates (acquired by Credit Suisse).
• Designed and developed X Window/Motif-based user interface of computer performance analysis application for BGS Systems (acquired by BMC Software).
• Redesigned and developed the Functional Accessibility Evaluator for University of Illinois web developers.

Redesigned and developed the current version of the Functional Accessibility Evaluator, a web application that has subsequently been used to analyze over 2.5 million web pages for accessibility based on best practices and guidelines defined by the IITAA.

• Facilitated wants and needs analysis workshop for determining user requirements.
• Added usability enhancements, login accounts, and new reporting functionality.
• Utilized Django, Python, Objective Caml, XML, XSLT and PostgreSQL.

Designed and developed the AInspector Sidebar, a Firefox browser add-on for assessing web accessibility compliance with WCAG 2.0.

Provided design and development services for clients that included:

• Fidelity Investments: interaction designer of major web application; user interface designer & developer of financial planning tools
• Allstate Insurance: usability analyst, interaction designer of call center application
• HOLT Value Associates: interaction designer of financial analysis application
• ABN/AMRO: user interface designer of internal trading application
• DeVry University: designer & developer of XML-based content management system
• Accenture: subject matter expert in XML and XSLT; technical writer
• Illinois Institute of Technology: instructor for Webmaster Certification and Java programming courses

Responsible for front-end design and Java and XSLT development of WebLogic application for displaying and processing over 100 different credit card applications. Created Java components for dynamic creation of XSLT stylesheets used for transforming RDBMS data into HTML forms. Gained experience configuring WebLogic application server.

Served as principal interaction designer in redesign of NetBenefits, a web application providing retirement savings account access to over one million customers. Improved user experience through contextual inquiry, task flow analysis and usability testing. Following the launch of the new design, significant call center support savings were realized, with 57 percent of customer contacts coming online in the first year vs. 16 percent in the previous year.

Created Java-based financial calculators for 401k.fidelity.com [examples: Contribution Calculator, Take Home Pay Calculator] and NetBenefits, Fidelity’s web application for retirement savings account access [screen shots: Withdrawal Calculator]. In user interface design phase, conducted user interviews and usability tests using low- and medium-fidelity prototypes. Designed and developed custom Java AWT components such as bar charts, tab panels, and pop-up labels.

Responsible for X Window/Motif user interface design and C/C++ development of capacity planning and performance analysis products. Investigated feasibility of using Java for migrating to platform-independent user interface development.

Served as lead developer of computer performance analysis application written in C. Developed new functionality, fixed user-reported defects and updated installation procedures over numerous release cycles. Increased performance of application by over 300 percent.

• Field observations, contextual interviews
• User role- and task-modeling workshops
• Conceptual walk-throughs, paper prototyping
• Card sorting exercises

• Development of personas and scenarios
• Refinement of user role- and task-models
• Creation of wireframes using OmniGraffle and Visio
• Behavioral specifications documents

• Creation of paper, HTML and Java prototypes
• Compilation of task lists and surveys
• Discount and lab-based usability testing
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis of test results

• Xcode, Interface Builder, Cocoa Touch, Objective-C
• Django, Python, PostgreSQL, XML, XSLT
• JavaScript, CSS, DOM, XHTML, PHP, Perl
• OmniGraffle, Visio, Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

• Professional Member of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Member of SIGCHI, the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction
• Served as Vice Chair and Co-Chair of CHI-Squared, the Chicago chapter of SIGCHI, 2001-2003
• Member of Greater Boston SIGCHI, 1997-1999