Authors
Leandro Agro
Leandro has more than 10 years of experience as an interaction designer and manager of IxD teams. He specializes in next generation user interfaces that provide human-like interaction with intelligent virtual assistants. At Key-One, in Milan, Italy, Leandro is providing detailed specifications for the behaviors of such virtual assistants, including gesture, language, and social skills; defining emotional models that let these assistants respond to the moods of users; and designing visual user interfaces and voice-recognition systems. Before joining Key-One, Leandro was Advanced Design Director at the innovative startup SrLabs, where he focused on eyetracking for the usability market. While there, he led a design team that created the first hands-free, multimodal GUI with voice and gaze input. Previously, he was co-founder and Vice President of a large eConsultancy with offices in Milan and Boston. Leandro studied interaction design at the Domus Academy, in Milan, Italy. He is actively involved with the Milano Bicocca University, TorVergata University, and others. Leandro is a prolific writer on topics from IxD, usability, and UX to natural, multimodal user interfaces. He was the founder of Idearium.org, the first Italian eZine/community for UX designers, and is co-producer of the Interaction Frontiers conference.
Read Leandro’s blog, in Italian, at www.leeander.com.
Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | Usability
Elizabeth Bacon
Liz discovered her calling in 1999, when she joined Cooper as an interaction designer. As a Cooper consultant, she performed ethnographic research, developed personas, and delivered innovative interaction design solutions. She worked on projects in a wide range of domains, from consumer-oriented Web sites to enterprise resource planning systems to blue-sky designs for office telephones. As a supervising/principal designer with a theoretical bent, she also helped advance Cooper’s methodology and practice. From 2002–2006, Liz worked in technology product planning at St. Jude Medical—a Fortune 100 company that develops implantable medical devices for cardiac rhythm management—where she led UX design for complex software systems. Her elegant yet friendly user experiences improved clinicians’ ability to provide good patient care. A resident of Portland, Oregon, Liz is the IxDA Local Coordinator and is active in CHIFOO (ACM SIGCHI). She is also on the IxDA Board of Directors.
Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design
Practice Director of Interaction Design, at Quarry Integrated
Communications
Robert leads projects for clients who want to distinguish
themselves through products that are well designed, usable,
and deliver an outstanding customer experience. As Practice
Director of Interaction Design, he also works with teammates
to develop Quarry’s design methods. For instance, Robert introduced
the use of personas to Quarry and has
since then employed personas for projects in a variety of industries.
He has also helped develop methods for better aligning usability
with the goals and practices of marketing and branding. Some
of this expertise is captured in Robert’s invited chapter
about “Marketing Versus Design Personas,” in
The
Persona Lifecycle,
a book Morgan Kaufmann will publish in 2006. With over 14 years of experience designing software
and Web applications, Robert has worked throughout North America
and Europe, at companies with familiar names such as Sony and FedEx.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy
Steve Baty
Principal Consultant, at Meld Consulting
Focusing on the business and technology side of the user experience equation, Steve has worked on corporate Web sites and Web applications since 1997. Working with user experience designers, information architects, and usability specialists, Steve integrates user and business imperatives into balanced user experience strategies for corporate, not-for-profit, and government clients. He holds Masters degrees in Electronic Commerce and Business Administration from Australia’s Macquarie University (MGSM), and a strong focus on defining and meeting business objectives carries through all his work. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Statistics, which provides a strong analytical foundation that he further developed through his studies of archaeology. Steve is a member of IxDA, IA Institute, and UPA and is a regular at the Sydney IA-Peers confabs.
Column on UXmatters: “User Dialogues—Creating exceptional user experiences through research”
Specialties: Consulting | UX Strategy | User Research
Giovanni Bellocchio
Giovanni has almost 10 years of experience, working as a freelance graphic artist, photographer, and Web designer in Milano, Italy.
Check out his photoblog 9 di sera.
Specialties: Visual Design
Peter Bogaards
Founder, at Bogieland
With almost 20 years of experience in information design, information architecture, and user-centered design, Peter is a recognized leader in the international information design community. Prior to founding BogieLand, he worked for the InfoDesign & Usability Group of Razorfish Europe and was information and user interface designer at Informaat. He was responsible for the design of intentional user experiences, including user interfaces, site architectures, navigation, and usability for clients such as eBay, Elsevier Science, IBM, Nissan, and Vodafone.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Information Design | UX Design | User Research
Dan Brown
Dan has practiced information architecture and user experience design since 1994. Through his consulting work in both the public and private sectors, Dan has improved enterprise communications for both Federal and Fortune 500 clients, including The Federal Communications Commission, The Postal Service, US Airways, Fannie Mae, First USA, British Telecom, Special Olympics, AOL, and the World Bank. Dan has taught classes at Duke, Georgetown, and American Universities. He is a popular speaker and writer on topics relating to information architecture. Most recently, Dan taught a pre-conference tutorial at the 2005 IA Summit on using Microsoft Visio. He is very active in the local Washington, DC, information architecture community and organizes regular workshops there. In 2002, Dan collaborated with information architects around the world to establish the Information Architecture Institute, the first professional organization dedicated to the craft.
Read Dan’s blog at www.greenonions.com.
Specialties: Information Architecture | UX Design
Laura Caprio
Laura has been active in Web site design since 1998—first as a Web designer, then as a content designer and editor. In 2001, Laura joined the new Information Architecture team at DNM—now Fullsix. Since then, she has been active in information architecture, user-centered design, and usability testing. Currently, Laura is working as a product manager at Matrix, a company in the Telecom Italia Group—the most important telco player in Italy. In her role at Matrix, she is responsible for UX design and information architecture and is the editor of www.alice.it, one of the best-known Web portals in Italy. Laura is co-founder of www.informationarchitecture.it, the first Italian Web site focusing on information architecture and user-centered design. She is also co-author of the book Information Architecture, the only book in Italian on this topic. For the last five years, Laura has been promoting information architecture and user-centered design through articles, courses, and panels at seminars and conferences, including the Italian IA Summit.
Specialties: Information Architecture | UX Design | Usability
Richard F. Cecil
Rick has nearly a decade of experience envisioning and designing innovative solutions for a variety of companies, including startups, non-profits, universities, and Fortune 100 companies. During his tenure at Motricity, he has worked with Cingular, BET, Ask, Alltel, and other clients and has been the Design Lead for their core product offering. Rick was a co-founder of both the Interaction Design Group—now the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)—and the Triangle Usability Professionals Association (UPA). Active in the UPA, he also serves on the organizing committee for World Usability Day. Rick is also the UXnet Local Ambassador for Research Triangle Park.
Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy | User Interface Design
Hilary Coolidge
While at Molecular, Hilary has worked on projects for companies in the financial services, consumer products, Web services, and consulting industries. She was responsible for planning and conducting a usability study for a mobile Web site, produced site maps and annotated wireframes for a Web site redesign for a top-10 consulting company, and created a new home page for a well-known job search company, including new branding and campaign messaging. Other companies she has worked with include Coca-Cola, Boost, BCG, IBM, Monster.com, and Houghton Mifflin. Hilary enjoys bringing her business knowledge and experience to the experience design field.
Specialties: Consulting | UX Design | Usability
Meghashri Dalvi
Meghashri Dalvi has combined her love of writing with an engineering and management background to create a successful career in technical communication. She currently works as a consulting technical communicator in India and is pursuing doctoral research in management.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Design
Garett Dworman
Tec-Ed specializes in knowledge-management analysis and design. Garett has over ten years of experience in product and user interface design for firms ranging from established financial institutions to high-tech startups. Garett has published extensively on how people and organizations disseminate, access, and consume information. He holds a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design
Lindsay Ellerby
Lindsay started her career as a content analyst before realizing her true calling as an information architect/interaction designer. She has been involved in projects ranging from interaction design for online applications to information design for product pages to the information architecture of marketing Web sites. She has also worked on financial, home renovation, energy and utility, and automobile Web sites. With a particular interest in pattern-based design, Lindsay was instrumental in creating a robust pattern library for Critical Mass. She is an active member of her local UX community, viewing informal gatherings as the best way to share ideas and inspiration.
Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design
John Ferrara
As an information architect at Unisys, John works on a team that comprises designers, programmers, and content editors who are responsible for Unisys.com, the corporation’s global Web presence. Before joining Unisys, he was an information architect at the Web consultancies Breakaway Solutions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and iXL in New York City. He holds a B.A. in Communication Arts from Hofstra University and an M.A. in Communication Studies from West Chester University. John is the UXnet Local Ambassador for Philadelphia, is active in PHICHI, the Philadelphia region chapter of the ACM SIGCHI, for which he presented a talk on “HCI Documentation for Web Sites,” and has contributed articles to Interactions and The UPA Voice. In 2005, John organized a major World Usability Day event in Philadelphia, which featured Tom Tullis as its keynote speaker, a demonstration of best practices in usability testing, instant usability reviews of attendees’ Web sites, and a usability museum.
Specialties: Information Architecture
Jonathan Follett
Founding Partner and Creative Director, at Hot Knife Design
At Hot Knife, Jon designs Web sites and applications for a variety of private- and public-sector clients, approaching each project with a strong focus on the use of language and clear communication of the client’s message. He has a passion for typography, its history, and its proper use in design. While Jon’s first design job was for Saul Bellow’s literary magazine, “News from the Republic of Letters,” he has also worked for various Web and multimedia firms in Boston. He was, most recently, lead designer for the Massachusetts Pension Plans Regulatory Agency. Jon co-authored two humorous non-fiction books, “Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey” and “Suburbageddon.” In another life, he plays jazz piano. Jon is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and the Usability Professionals Association (UPA), Boston Chapter.
Column on UXmatters: “Beautiful Information—Discovering patterns in knowledge spaces”
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Information Design | User Interface Design | Visual Design
Jessyca Frederick
Principal, at Monarch Productions
Currently Senior User Experience Designer at comparison-shopping giant Shopzilla, Jessyca is also Principal of the all-things-Web consulting firm, Monarch Productions, which she founded in 2001. Always looking for new ways to stay involved in the UX community, Jessyca is a member of UPA, CHI, and STC and is the UXnet Local Ambassador for Los Angeles. She has recently published articles with STC. Jessyca has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of California at San Diego and also completed a minor course of study in Mathematics.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | UX Design
Leo Frishberg
Since graduating with a Masters in Architecture in 1984, Leo has offered user experience design, technical communications, and product development services both through his consultancy Phase II and within several technology companies. A strong proponent of user-centered design, he is currently designing logic analyzers at Tektronix. Leo has served the Portland, Oregon, UX community as Program Chair for the local ACM SIGCHI chapter, CHIFOO (Computer Human Interface Forum Of Oregon), since 2000. He also co-organized and facilitated workshops on the relationship of industrial design and interaction design at the CHI2004|ICSID Forum and at the Sun 2005 Engineering Conference.
Find out more about Leo at Phase II.
Specialties: Information Architecture | UX Design
Pabini Gabriel-Petit
Principal User Experience Architect, at Spirit Softworks LLC
At scanR, Pabini is leading user experience strategy and design for Web and mobile applications that let users scan digital photos of whiteboards and documents. Founder of Spirit Softworks, a Silicon Valley user experience strategy and design consultancy, Pabini has over 15 years of experience designing digital products. She is highly skilled in interaction design, information architecture, and visual interface design and has designed innovative desktop and Web applications in product domains that encompass authoring, hypertext, collaboration, and networking and communications. Past clients include Google, Cisco Systems, Tellme Networks, WebEx Communications, Chemdex, Whistle Communications, Kaleida Labs, Apple Computer, and Ashton-Tate. Formerly User Experience Manager at WebEx, Pabini designed Web applications for online meetings, training sessions, seminars, and remote collaboration, including the award-winning Meeting Center and Training Center. Pabini is an Emeritus Member of the Board of Directors of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and IxDA Local Coordinator for Silicon Valley, Co-Chair of BayDUX, UXnet Local Ambassador for Silicon Valley, BayCHI IxD BOF (Birds of a Feather) Leader, and a former Interactions Editorial Board Member.
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Management | UX Strategy | Visual Design
Bob Goodman
Principal, at BobGoodman.Net, Inc.
Bob Goodman is a Boston-based UX professional whose consulting business offers a unique integrated model of consulting and creative services, including interaction design, information architecture, usability consulting, copywriting, brand building, and business strategy. Before launching his own business, Bob served as creative director at several leading interactive agencies in New England. As a usability consultant, Bob has run hundreds of usability labs. From these intense and sustained interactions with real-world users, he has extracted a unique set of principles and practices surrounding the user experience. At the core is his understanding of the ways in which a successful user experience flows from and undergirds smart business strategy and lasting brand value. Bob is a member of the UPA, IAI, and SIGCHI, and serves as Boston’s Local Ambassador for UXnet. He is a frequent awards show judge and speaker on UX, design, usability, and IA.
Bob writes about technology and culture on his blog, UXculture.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Information Architecture | UX Design | Usability
Joel Grossman
Founder and Managing Principal, at Pivotal Click
Joel Grossman is the Founder and Managing Principal of Pivotal Click, a user experience research, design, and innovation firm that focuses on helping clients identify the moments of truth for their digital products and services. Prior to forming Pivotal Click, Joel built the Interactive Branding practice for LAGA, a nationally recognized brand design agency. He has held senior UX management positions with Playboy Enterprises and Encyclopedia Britannica. He also led product development for Edventions, a start-up that Edison Schools since acquired. Joel began his career as an independent technology consultant, working on application development and networking projects in the US and Japan. Joel has a master’s degree in political economy from the University of Minnesota and serves as Chicago’s Local Ambassador for UXnet.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Information Architecture | UX Design | UX Strategy
Michael Hawley
As director of Mad*Pow’s user experience department, Mike brings deep expertise in user experience research, usability, and design to Mad*Pow clients, providing tremendous customer value. Prior to joining Mad*Pow, Mike served as Usability Project Manager for Staples, Inc., in Framingham, Massachusetts. He led their design projects for customer-facing materials, including e-commerce and Web sites, marketing communications, and print materials. Previously, Mike worked at the Bentley College Design and Usability Center as a Usability Research Consultant. He was responsible for planning, executing, and analyzing the user experience for corporate clients. At Avitage, he served as the lead designer and developer for an online Webcast application. Mike received an M.S. in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley College McCallum Graduate School of Business in Waltham, Massachusetts, and has more than 13 years of usability experience.
Column on UXmatters: “Research That Works—Innovative approaches to research that informs design”
Specialties: Consulting | UX Design | UX Management | Usability | User Research
David Heller Malouf
David has been active in Web application design for over ten years. Domains in which he has experience include business-to-business exchanges, corporate information portals, complex collaborative business process engines, logistics systems, securities trading applications, and retail operations. David is a Founder, Vice President, and on the Board of Directors of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), a member of the Executive Council of the User Experience Network (UXnet), and for the second year running, a member of the IA Summit planning committee.
For David’s blog thoughts and photos, go to Synaptic
Burn.
Specialties: Interaction Design
Andrew Hinton
Andrew is a writer and designer, living in Phoenixville,
Pennsylvania. Previously, Andrew
practiced as an IA consultant and designer for companies
like American Express, Sealy, Wachovia, Shaw, and Kimberly-Clark.
Andrew participated in the founding of the IA Institute
and wrote its manifesto. He spoke on the topic “Clues
to the Future: What the Users of Tomorrow Are Teaching
Us Today” 
at
IA Summit 2006. He also writes for Boxes and Arrows.
Read Andrew’s blog at www.inkblurt.com.
Specialties: Information Architecture
Mike Hughes
In his role as User Assistance Architect at IBM Internet Security Systems, Mike identifies tools, methods, and standards for integrating the content and delivery of user assistance, including documentation, Help, e-learning, and training. He was formerly the lead UX designer for CheckFree Corporation, where he instituted their User Experience Research and Design Center. Mike has a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia and a Masters in Technical and Professional Communication from Southern Polytechnic State University. He is an Associate Fellow with the Society for Technical Communication and a Certified Performance Technologist through the International Society for Performance Improvement. His professional focus is designing user interfaces that accommodate the user as learner.
Column on UXmatters: “User Assistance—Putting Help in context”
Specialties: Information Design | UX Design
Colleen Jones
For a decade, Colleen has created successful interactive experiences and communications in industries such as health, telecommunications, and retail as well as for brands such as The Home Depot, CDC, Cingular Wireless, AutoTrader, Boston Scientific, and more. Colleen enjoys distilling complex considerations into a simple interactive experience for Web sites, IVRs (Interactive Voice Response systems), kiosks, and other channels. As a consultant, she draws on a wealth of academic knowledge and real-world experience to deliver results. With an M.A. in technical communication, she has made several presentations and contributed articles to the Society for Technical Communication and ACM SIGCHI. She also writes articles for industry publications such as iMedia Connection.
Column on UXmatters: “More Than Words—Content that communicates”
Specialties: Information Architecture | Information Design | UX Design | UX Strategy
Joshua Kaufman
At Tiny Pictures, Joshua is creating user-centered designs for Radar, a social media service that lets people engage in visual conversations using camera phone pictures and videos. He has over 7 years of experience working as an interaction designer and user experience consultant, in both the United States and Europe. He earned an M.S. in Human Computer Interaction from University College London, University of London. Joshua is an active member of the user experience design community, is a member of IxDA and BayCHI, and was previously the London Local Ambassador for UXnet and a columnist for Digital Web Magazine.
Read Joshua’s writings about design, technology, and products on his blog unraveled.
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design
James Kelway
James has worked for Reed Business Information, a part of Reed Elsevier, for over 8 years, in a variety of roles. While working as a digital art director, he studied for a Masters degree in Design Practice, specializing in UCD techniques. After qualifying, he became an information architect and is responsible for the formulation of the business’s information architecture strategy, its implementation among several teams, and the redesign of several major industry Web sites.
On his blog, User Pathways, James records his findings, as well as developments in information architecture, interaction design, and user experience.
Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | User Interface Design
Patrick Kennedy
User Experience Architect, at Step Two Designs
Patrick has over 10 years of experience in the digital media and Web industries, and his expertise covers many areas, including information architecture, ethnographic and design research techniques, and best practice Web design and development. Over the years, Patrick has advised a wide range of clients, across private and public sectors, both in Australia and the United Kingdom. Patrick is a member of the Sydney chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA), the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group of Australia (CHISIG), the Web Standards Group (WSG), the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA), the Web Industry Professionals Association (WIPA), and the Information Architecture Institute (IAI), as well as several smaller special interest groups. Patrick holds a degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Read more of Patrick’s thoughts on UX on his blog Pat’s Point of View.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | UX Strategy | Usability | User Research
Afshan Kirmani
A usability analyst with a background in psychology, Afshan analyzes and determines users’ real needs within specific contexts before designing Web sites and applications. Her user studies go beyond the cognitive approaches users take when using a user interface. Applying her knowledge across domains, she believes that, without an understanding of the human mind and interpretive insights, attempts at creativity and innovation fail to deliver what is essential to users. Afshan values opportunities to connect with other experts in the global UX industry and has presented at local HCI meetups. She values innovation and has faith that usability will emerge as a best practice in software design, globally.
Specialties: Interaction Design | Usability
Dirk Knemeyer
Founding Principal,
at Involution Studios LLC
Dirk is a catalyst for developing new ideas and inspiring people and groups to create meaningful change. His contributions to the business and design communities are myriad. He has participated on seven different Boards of Directors for companies, industry organizations, and design publications. He has been a keynote speaker and given presentations all around the world and has published over 100 articles on business and design topics. At Involution Studios, a digital product design firm in Silicon Valley, Dirk is responsible for the business success of the company. His diverse professional background includes time as a management consultant, advertising executive, and design director. Dirk is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Information Design (IIID), the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Center for Brand Experience, and the Executive Council of the User Experience Network (UXnet).
Read Dirk’s blog at www.knemeyer.com.
Column on UXmatters: “Imagine—A space for seeing the world in a different way”
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Information Design | UX Strategy
David Kozatch
Principal, at DIG
David Kozatch brings over 20 years experience in marketing research and customer user experience to his work as an interviewer and strategic consultant. As principal of DIG, which he founded in 1989, he has conducted literally thousands of focus groups and in-depth interviews in the areas of financial/business services, software, hardware, Web/interactive services, and telecommunications. Since 1996, David has been a leading thinker in helping companies gain a deeper understanding of the ways people use the Web and mobile communications. His company’s user experience research was integral to successful launches on the Web for Google, HBO, Verizon, and Absolut Vodka. And, more recently, his work for clients like Register.com, FedEx, and Cablevision has helped these companies build better brands online.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | UX Strategy | Usability | User Research
Keith LaFerriere
Managing Partner, at Visual Activity, LLC
As the Managing Partner for Visual Activity, a Massachusetts-based UX consultancy, Keith LaFerriere has had the privilege of working on complex user experience solutions for clients such as Staples, Harvard University, Clear Channel, DHL, and others. With over 15 years of interaction design experience, Keith focuses on creative staff management and the design and architecture of online applications and business solutions.
Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Management
Joe Lamantia
A veteran architect, consultant, and designer, Joe Lamantia has been an active member and leader in the UX community since 1996. Joe has crafted innovative, successful user experience strategies and solutions for clients ranging from Fortune 100 enterprises to local non-profit organizations, digital product companies, and social media startups, in a wide variety of industries. Joe is the creator of EZSort, the leading, freely available tool for card sorting, as well as the Building Blocks for Portals design framework. He is also a frequent writer and speaker on topics including future directions in user experience; the intersection of business, culture, and design; and systems thinking. Joe is currently based in New York, working as a UX strategy consultant for the enterprise architecture group of a global IT services firm.
Joe blogs regularly at JoeLamantia.com.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | UX Design | UX Strategy | User Research
Laurie Lamar
Information Architect and Interaction
Designer, at Lamar Online Design
Laurie Lamar is a consulting information architect and interaction designer in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Her clients range from Fortune 100 companies to nonprofits, government agencies, and startups. Projects include large marketing and support-oriented Web sites, intranet portals, search engines, custom content-management user interfaces, and complex Web applications. Laurie serves with Karyn Young as a UXnet Local Ambassador for the Denver area. She is also chair of the Rocky Mountain CHI chapter. Laurie’s interests include languages, world travel, and the interstices between disciplines.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | Usability
Anirban Basu Mallik
In his present role at Content and Design Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Anirban has worked on projects spanning branding, graphic design, user research for Web applications, information architecture, and interaction design. He specializes in UX strategy, visual design, and design documentation. Prior to joining Cognizant, Anirban was Creative Head of the Corporate Communications function at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). He is passionate about design in any form. He firmly believes that a successful UX strategy has to have at its core a rock solid conceptual model. Anirban holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and is a Human Factors International Certified Usability Analyst (CUA). He is a member of IxDA and HCI India.
Check out his blog, dotted arrow.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Information Architecture | Information Design | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Visual Design
Stacia Marlett
Stacia has been a technical writer for six years in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, working in all sorts of industries, including the medical device, pharmaceutical, travel, and hospitality industries, and most recently, e-commerce. She has written everything from sales training materials to manufacturing user guides to system text. Although Stacia studied writing, technology has been her true passion for ten years. She is currently achieving her dream of leaving a mark in new technology by growing into a user interface design position at Digital River. Stacia has already successfully contributed to the redesign of a Web application and will continue working on that redesign project. She is also beginning a large project to overhaul an internal Web application, merging several individual tools into one.
Specialties: Information Design
Michele Marut
Michele is currently a Human Factors Specialist with the medical manufacturing company Respironics. Since 1999, Michele has been applying Human Factors principles to the design and evaluation of a range of products. Her experience includes usability testing kitchen and bath products at Kohler and making Navy ships more user friendly at General Dynamics: Bath Iron Works. She currently serves as the UXnet Local Ambassador and IxDA Local Coordinator for Pittsburgh and chairs the Environmental Design Technical Group of HFES. Michele holds an M.S. in Human Environment Relations from Cornell University.
Specialties: Human Factors | Information Design | UX Design
Luca Mascaro
Owner and Lead User Experience Architect, at SketchIn
Luca has more than 10 years of experience in information design, user interface design, interaction design, and accessibility for Web sites and Web applications. He is founder of SketchIn—a user experience design and strategy consultancy located in Lugano, Switzerland—and co-founder and UX manager at Phiware Engineering—a Swiss firm specializing in enterprise applications. Luca’s work focuses on agile UX design, applying user-centered design principles to projects for clients such as Generali Assurance, Swiss-Italian Television, the Swiss Post, and Italy’s Innovation Department. Luca is president of IOSHI (International Organization for Standards in Human/Computer Interfaces)—an association that promotes standards in Human/Computer interfaces—is a member of many international organizations—such as IWA/HWG (International Webmasters Association/HTML Writers Guild) and UPA (Usability Professionals’ Association)—and participates in the W3C HTML, Web Content Accessibility, and Web Application working groups as well as that for ISO software ergonomics.
Read Luca’s blog, in Italian, at www.lucamascaro.info.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Information Design | Interaction Design | UX Design | User Interface Design
Sam Ng
Founder and Director, at Optimal Usability and OptimalSort
As a co-founder and Director of the consultancy Optimal Usability and a passionate generalist, Sam has been involved with over 100 usability and design projects with clients in such diverse domains as government, ecommerce, education, finance, telecommunications, and not-for-profits. With a desire to practice what he preaches, Sam recently led a small team to design and develop the online card sorting tool, OptimalSort. Built on a modest budget and with limited resources, OptimalSort is now being used by hundreds of leading companies and Web professionals worldwide.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Usability
Jim Nieters
Jim has been a usability and user experience design practitioner for more than 15 years—and a leader and management consultant for eight of those years. He built and managed the Cisco User Experience Design Group. Each year, over $200 million in increased revenues resulted from their work. Jim specializes in UX organizational leadership and transformation and in driving big ideas that significantly increase revenue.
Column on UXmatters: “Management Matters—Leading user experience teams”
Specialties: UX Design | UX Management | UX Strategy | User Research
Greg Nudelman
Greg has worked on improving software usability for over 10 years, designing, researching, and developing multi-tier distributed applications for ecommerce, biotechnology, real estate, and banking companies. He specializes in triangulating field studies, using a participatory design methodology to understand people’s pain points and design intuitive, holistic experiences. Greg is the originator of the experience partners concept. He loves using storyboarding to promote his partner experience design vision and has participated in several successful eBay projects that used a storyboarding methodology. Greg taught a workshop on participatory design at IA Summit 2008, in Miami, Florida, and has published articles in JavaWorld, ASP.NETPro, and more recently, in UXmatters. He works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Greg’s Web site is GregNudelman.com.
Specialties: UX Design | User Research
George Olsen
Principal, Interaction by Design, LLC
George has more than 10 years of experience doing award-winning design work for a variety of companies—from dotcom startups to Hollywood studios such as Disney to Fortune 500 companies, including Nestle Transamerica and The Capital Group, and to Internet giants such as Yahoo!, where he was the interaction designer for Yahoo! Search. For the past two years, George has headed his own user experience consultancy. He has also taught at UCLA Extension, spoken at numerous conferences, and written articles about user experience design. Back when George had a hands-on role in crafting Web sites, he co-founded The Web Standards Project, a grassroots coalition of Web developers who sought to ensure browser-makers fully supported HTML, CSS, and other Web standards that help make the Web accessible to all. He was also a co-founder of both Boxes and Arrows, a peer-written online journal about user experience issues, and UXnet, a group seeking to make connections between people, resources, and UX organizations. Recently, DevSource™ featured George in its series of video interviews with experts in the field of software and Web development, “Great Minds in Development.”
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design
Roberto Ostinelli
Principal, at e-undertown s.r.l.
Roberto Ostinelli is one of those multi-faceted personalities who is interested in finding the synergies between various fields. Musician, photographer, programmer, and MBA—class of 1997—Roberto became an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers to learn about the deep accounting mechanisms that regulate companies. He then led the marketing team at the broadband ISP company chello Belgium, where he was responsible for the ideation and launch of advertising campaigns, market analysis, and product definition. As his interests moved toward the technical aspects of running an IT business, he became systems integrator for chello in France. Then in 2002, Roberto started his own software company, e-undertown, with the goal of providing integrated Internet systems for utility networks. Now at Kallideas, in Italy, Roberto is Director of the LAB Technologies Division, dealing with research, development, and the integration of the many technologies behind the creation of intelligent virtual assistants. He is exploring artificial intelligence, with particular attention on human-like emotional software models, building complex and scalable software architectures, and integrating existing state-of-the-art technologies such as semantic engines and voice software.
Specialties: UX Development
Matteo Penzo
Director of Design and Development, Research Center, at Consultechnology
At Consultechnology, an ITC company with offices in Milan and Lamezia Terme, Italy, Matteo’s research projects focus on natural interactions between people and computers, automotive applications, and universal design—specifically for the elderly and the disabled. Matteo began his career in information technology working for Anixter International at their Milan and London offices, managing their intranet design and programming team. Then he worked as a project manager for a leading Italian Web agency in Milan, where he managed Internet projects for international Fortune 500 companies. Matteo is a sought after speaker at national and international seminars—including CHI2005, Macromedia, and VNU to mention just a few—and is a professor for the Interaction Design course in the Masters program in Humanistic Computer Studies at Bicocca University, Milan. He has written numerous articles on the subjects of natural interfaces, user experience, and technological innovation. He is also the UXnet Local Ambassador for Milan.
Matteo is the founder and publisher of an online magazine
about user experience for Macromedia® Flash® called
Flashability.
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Usability
Isabelle Peyrichoux
Based in Montréal, Canada, Isabelle has six years of experience in conducting user research and designing useful, usable Web sites and applications for organizations in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. Now specializing in user research, she has significant experience in usability testing, eyetracking studies, non-directive interviews, and focus groups. With a passion for exploring users’ mental models, she is currently focusing on conceptual research, including contextual inquiry and task analysis. Isabelle has a Masters degree in Information Science from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, in Paris, France. Isabelle has also earned two certificates in psychotherapy and has conducted about sixty psychotherapy sessions with clients and students. She has endeavored to integrate her knowledge of psychotherapy and psychology into her practice as a user researcher and thereby contribute new approaches to the field of user research. An engaging speaker, Isabelle has given presentations and workshops for professional associations and conferences. At the IA Summit in 2006, she spoke about her experience conducting an international needs analysis across North America, Europe, and Africa.
Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | Usability | User Research
Steve Psomas
Steve has specialized in Web application design and development, with six years of experience as a user experience designer and four years in UI component engineering, working at Responsys, Neoforma, Intuit, Clear Ink, and Maus Haus. Steve is currently responsible for all user experience design for the Responsys Interact® application. Steve has developed and presented an audioconference on How to Succeed as an Interactive Designer in a Rich Internet Application World. In his work as a designer, he also draws inspiration from his prior experience as a technical writer, teacher, and coach. Steve graduated from the University of San Diego with a B.A. in English. He is a member of UPA and SIGCHI.
Specialties: Human Factors | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design
Whitney Quesenbery
Principal Consultant, at Whitney Interactive Design, LLC
Whitney is a user interface designer and usability specialist with a passion for clear communication. As the principal consultant for Whitney Interactive Design, she works with companies around the world to develop usable Web sites and applications. Formerly a principal at Cognetics Corporation, she was the design leader for many design and usability projects. Her project credits include work with companies such as Novartis, Deloitte Consulting, Lucent, McGraw-Hill, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, and Dow Jones. While at Cognetics, she was one of the developers of LUCID (Logical User-Centered Interaction Design), which promotes the importance of a user-centered approach and usability in design. Whitney is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, including UPA, ACM SIGCHI, STC, tekom, and the IA Summit Winwriters. She is the President of UPA (Usability Professionals’ Association), Past-Manager and Web Manager for the STC Usability SIG, and a member of the Executive Committee for UXnet. Whitney is also the Director of the UPA Voting and Usability Project and is on the US Elections Assistance Commission’s guidelines development committee, where she works to ensure the usability of voting systems.
Column on UXmatters: “Universal Usability—Putting people at the center of design”
Specialties: Consulting | Usability | User Interface Design
Robert Reimann
Robert has spent the past 18 years pushing the boundaries of digital products as a designer, writer, and consultant. He has led dozens of interaction design projects in domains including e-commerce, Web portals, desktop productivity software, authoring environments, medical and scientific instrumentation, wireless and handheld devices, kiosks, and consumer electronics for startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Joining Cooper in 1996, Robert played a key role in the development and refinement of their goal-directed design methods, including personas and scenario-based design. He has lectured on these methods at major universities and to international industry audiences. Robert is President and on the Board of Directors of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), a past member of the advisory board of the UC Berkeley Institute of Design (BiD), and co-author, with Alan Cooper, of About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design.
Specialties: Interaction Design | User Interface Design
Joi L. Roberts
During the past 13 years, Joi has worked in a variety of roles within the telecommunications industry, ranging from requirements gathering to software development/validation to user interface design—voice, telephony, and Web—to user-centered process development and institutionalization. Currently, as the Design Ambassador for the Motorola Consumer Experience Design (CXD) team, Joi is responsible for driving strategic initiatives internally and externally around design education, design culture, talent growth and development, and industry contribution. And, in her spare time, Joi is quite active in the UX design community—often organizing or presenting at local and international industry events and conferences. Joi firmly believes that, in order for the UX community to make a real difference in the world, industry and academia must work together to develop design leadership. In her current role and through her industry participation, she seeks to spread this message.
Specialties: UX Design | UX Strategy | User Interface Design
Louis Rosenfeld
Information Architect, at
Louis Rosenfeld LLC
Lou is an independent consultant and entrepreneur, whose latest startup, Rosenfeld Media, will publish books for UX professionals. He holds a Masters in Information and Library Studies and was instrumental in establishing the field of information architecture. At Argus Associates, a stellar IA consulting firm Lou co-founded in 1991, he was president and lead information architect on projects for such clients as AT&T, Borders Books & Music, Chrysler Corporation, Dow Chemical, and SIGGRAPH. With Peter Morville, Lou co-authored the best-selling book, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, which has become a standard text for many graduate-level classes. In 1993, he founded the Argus Clearinghouse, a popular Internet research service. Lou is a popular speaker and writer who has presented at CHI, COMDEX, Intranets, and various Web design conferences, done speaking tours, and contributed columns to CIO, Internet World, and Web Review magazines. Lou is co-founder and past board member of the Information Architecture Institute (IAI). He played a leading role in organizing and programming the first three IA conferences—the 2000 and 2001 ASIS&T Summits and ACIA 2000—and still serves on the Summit’s program committee. Lou is a co-founder of UXnet and leads its Local Ambassadors and has served on the advisory boards for Content Management Professionals, AIGA ED, and IxDA.
Read Lou’s Bloug.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | UX Strategy
Dan Saffer
Interaction Designer, at Adaptive Path
Currently at Adaptive Path, Dan previously worked at such companies as Organic and Datek and has a Masters in Design, in Interaction Design, from Carnegie Mellon University. He has worked with a wide variety of clients, from startups to Fortune 100s, designing Web sites, applications, and devices. Dan is on the Board of Directors of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA). He is also a member of AIGA and IDSA.
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design
Lucinio Santos
For the last eighteen years, Lucinio has been a user experience architect, working on IBM software offerings. During his tenure, he has led, managed, and contributed to usability and design initiatives for systems management, application development, middleware, and portfolio management software. He holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Experimental Psychology from the University of New Mexico.
Specialties: UX Design, Interaction Design, User Interface Design, Usability, User Research
Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | Usability | User Interface Design | User Research
Maura Schreier-Fleming
President of Best@Selling
As President of Best@Selling, a sales training and consulting organization in Dallas, Texas, Maura Schreier-Fleming works with business and sales professionals on real-world skills and strategies, so they can sell more and be more successful in business. Her clients include MBNA, Fannie Mae, and Fujitsu. She is the author of the book Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and writes the column Selling Strategies for the Insurance Record.
Subscribe to Maura’s free monthly
Selling Newsletter.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting
Paul J. Sherman
Paul is currently Director of User-Centered Design, at Sage Software in Atlanta, Georgia. In the 1990s, he was a Member of Technical Staff at Lucent Technologies in New Jersey. As a consultant, he has conducted usability testing and interface design for accounting and tax preparation applications, Web-based financial planning and portfolio management applications, and eCommerce Web sites. Paul is Vice President of the Usability Professionals’ Association, was the founding President of the UPA’s Dallas/Fort Worth chapter, and is a Full Member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. He is also the editor of Usability Success Stories: How Organizations Improve by Making Easier-to-Use Software and Web Sites, published by Gower in October 2006. Paul received his Ph.D. in Human Factors Psychology in 1997 from the University of Texas at Austin.
Column on UXmatters: “Envision the Future—The role UX professionals play”
Specialties: Usability | User Interface Design
Kevin Silver
User Experience Designer, at Clearwired
Kevin is an empathetic champion of users and a strong proponent of user-centered design. He strives to design digital products that are simple, elegant, and easy to use. Involved in desktop application design and development since 1995, he started tinkering with HTML in the late 90s—just in time for the flurry of growth on the Web before the big .com bust. Kevin has worked on a diverse range of projects, including designing applications for Indian Health Services (a federal agency), Envision Utility Software, University of New Mexico, Anchor Computer, the United States Air Force, and Web sites for Norwegian Cruise Lines, Dr. Martens, Buck Knives, Museum of the African Diaspora, and Adobe, to name a few. One thing Kevin has learned through all of these engagements is that satisfying the needs and goals of users is central to a successful experience. He is a member of IXDA, IAI, and ASIS&T and has presented at the IA Summit.
Kevin blogs, infrequently, at www.kevintsilver.com and more frequently has something to say at The Loop.
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | User Interface Design | User Research
Janet M. Six
Principal of Lone Star Interaction Design
As Principal of Lone Star Interaction Design in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Janet M. Six helps companies design easier-to-use products within their financial, time, and technical constraints. For her research in information visualization, Janet was awarded the University of Texas at Dallas Jonsson School of Engineering Computer Science Dissertation of the Year Award. She was also awarded the prestigious IEEE Dallas Section 2003 Outstanding Young Engineer Award. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications and the Kluwer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science. The proceedings of conferences on Graph Drawing, Information Visualization, and Algorithm Engineering and Experiments have also included the results of her research. Janet is the Managing Editor of UXmatters.
Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Interaction Design
Joe Sokohl
Joe has more than 15 years of experience in user experience-related fields. He has concentrated on crafting excellent user experiences, using information architecture, interaction design, writing, and user research. At Keane, Joe acts as an advocate for user experience consulting: information architecture, user research, interaction design, and usability evaluation, along with visual design and Web design. He manages the careers and education of 35, mostly offshore, information architects, visual designers, technical writers, and Web developers, mentoring them in skills competency, along with general business consulting practices. He also evangelizes best practices in UX among both internal and external clients. Previously, Joe held UX positions in Hamburg, Germany; Richmond, VA; Chicago, IL; and Durham, NC. Once upon a time, he’s also been a soldier, a cook, a radio DJ, a road manager, a teacher, and a reporter.
Read Joe’s blog, at facetime.blogspot.com.
Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Management | User Research
Daniel Szuc
Principal Usability Consultant, at Apogee Usability Asia Ltd.
Daniel is based in Hong Kong and helps companies in Asia like PCCW, HSBC, CSL, China Light & Power, Sunday, Cathay Pacific, Marriott, ADB, and Yahoo! China make their products easier to use. He has also worked with Telstra Australia and IBM. Daniel has spoken on Usability in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, United States, and Australia, helping to develop new groups of interest in the region. He recently co-wrote and released the Usability Kit with Gerry Gaffney. Daniel is a founding member and President of the UPA China Hong Kong Branch, co-founder of the UPA China User Friendly conferences, and holds a BS in Information Management from Melbourne University Australia.
Specialties: Consulting | UX Strategy | Usability
Todd Warfel
Founding Partner, at Messagefirst
At Messagefirst, Todd focuses on research and design of consumer and b2b products. A recognized leader in the design research and usability fields, Todd speaks regularly at universities and industry conferences and contributes to industry publications. With over 14 years of industry experience and a background in English, cognitive psychology, and product design, he has worked on over a dozen industry-first products. Todd has done work with a variety of clients, including Albertsons, AT&T Wireless, Bankrate, Bank of America, Comcast, Cornell University, Dell, GSK, IntraLinks, Palm, Sallie Mae, Splenda, SBC, SUNY, and Tufts University.
Blog: toddwarfel.com
Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | Usability | User Research
Ben Werner
As part of the Usability Engineering group, Ben is responsible for conducting user research, providing human factors guidance, and leading a transition to user-centered design at RightNow Technologies—a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) vendor handling over 1 billion customer interactions in 2007. He holds an MS in Human-Computer Interaction and is a board-certified Associate Human Factors Professional.
Specialties: Human Factors | UX Strategy | User Research
Joost Willemsen
Joost has been an interaction designer since 2000. Working with Lost Boys, he designed successful solutions for clients like KLM, Postbank, and Nuon. His initial focus was on information architecture, with a preference for big, complex projects. Over the years, his expertise has expanded to encompass interaction design and user experience design. Joost joined Backbase—a leading provider of Ajax software, in Amsterdam—to be in the forefront of Rich Internet Application design. At Backbase, Joost is developing prototypes for RIAs. Clients include ABN AMRO, D-Reizen, and KPN. Joost loves his work as an interaction designer, because it combines analysis, creativity, and client contact.
Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design
Russell Wilson
Currently the Director of Product Design at NetQoS, Russ reports directly to the CEO and is responsible for the company’s R&D budget and interface design for all NetQoS products. He redesigned their flagship product, SuperAgent. Previously, Russ was the VP of Engineering at HyPerformix, a simulation and modeling company. Before joining HyPerformix, Russ founded a successful startup that generated over $4 million in revenue. As both CEO and CTO, he prototyped all interfaces for the company’s products and worked closely with clients to improve usability. Russ has extensive experience in interaction design, rapid prototyping, and usability and holds a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Software Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Russ is the Austin Local Ambassador for UXnet and an Austin representative for IxD, as well as a member of ACM, IEEE, SIGCHI, UPA, ASIS&T, and AIGA.
Read Russell’s blog, Dexo Design.
Specialties: Interaction Design | Usability
Luke Wroblewski
Principal, at LukeW Interface Designs
Currently a Principal Designer on the Search team at Yahoo!, Luke is also Principal of LukeW Interface Designs, a user experience design consulting firm he founded in 1996. Luke has authored a book on Web interface design principles, Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability (Wiley & Sons, 2002) and many articles on interface design. Previously, Luke was a Lead User Interface Designer at eBay, where he led user experience strategies for eBay Europe and the eBay Platform. He also worked as a Senior Interface Designer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), birthplace of the first popular graphical web browser, NCSA Mosaic, and taught interface design courses in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Luke has presented his research on Web-based interface design at national and international conferences. He is on the Board of Directors of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA).
Read Luke’s Webzine/blog, Functioning Form.
Column on UXmatters: “Communication Design—Musings from the merger of medium & message”
Specialties: Consulting | User Interface Design | Visual Design