Related Experience
| Avenue A | Razorfish | User Experience Lead | 7/2007 - present |
Pershing, LLC
As the User Experience Lead for the upcoming launch of the new Pershing web site, I worked closely with the creative team to create a new web presence for this top-flight financial services firm.
Details of the design effort will be released upon site launch.
| Aquilent, Inc. | Principal Consultant | 9/2002 - 7/2007 |
USA.gov and Español.gov
As User Experience Lead, I was responsible for improving the user experience of USA.gov, the official web portal of the United States federal government and its Spanish language counterpart, Español.gov.
The discovery phase included a user research effort aimed at users of both sites. This resulted in the development of eight English speaking personas, four Spanish speaking personas, and one bi-lingual persona. I also led three rounds of usability testing, with the second and third rounds being performed on a high-fidelity clickable prototype.
During the design phase, I overhauled the information architecture of both sites, including improvements to the navigation of both sites, improved search capabilities, and a bi-directional toggle between English and Spanish pages.
The new USA.gov and Español.gov won many public accolades and awards, including inclusion on Time Magazine's 2007 list of 25 Sites We Can't Live Without.
Department of Veterans Affairs
As Lead Information Architect of the VA Enterprise Content Strategy Framework project I led an exhaustive analysis of VA's 800,000 content assets including internet sites, portals, intranet sites, call center systems, and knowledge management repositories. I also led the user research stage of this project, interviewing more than 100 stakeholders, including VA officials, content managers, healthcare providers, and veterans.
The final result of this project was a roadmap report that outlines a multi-phase strategy for improving enterprise content management at VA over the next two years.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
As User Experience Lead for the content overhaul of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission website, I led user research, content analysis, wireframing, sitemapping, and taxonomy strategy.
Office of Justice Programs (OJP) – Department of Justice
As Project Manager for the Percussion Rhythmyx CMS implementation at OJP, I led the development of a multi-faceted taxonomy, content model, and content reuse strategy. I also led the technical configuration of the CMS, delivering content to multiple platforms, including OJP's employee-facing Plumtree portal.
| M-Cubed Information Systems | Web Application Developer | 3/2001 - 9/2002 |
I helped develop government-wide financial reporting systems such as the Federal Agencies' Centralized Trial-Balance System (FACTS II) and the Treasury Report on Receivables (TROR).
| The Adrenaline Group | Information Architect | 11/2000 - 3/2001 |
I performed rapid prototyping for first-of-kind, best-of-breed web applications such as m-Portal and BroadWorks.
| M-Cubed Information Systems | Web Application Developer | 1/1999 - 11/2000 |
I developed government-wide financial reporting systems such as the Federal Agencies' Centralized Trial-Balance System (FACTS II) and the Treasury Report on Receivables (TROR).
| AT&T Solutions | Research Associate | 04/1996 - 12/1998 |
I developed custom knowledge management, learning management, and document management solutions.
Education
Bachelors of Arts, English Literature, University of Maryland at College Park, 1989-1993.
Additional coursework, Computer Science, University of Maryland University College, 2002-2003.
Skills
Languages: Velocity Template Language, ColdFusion MX, ASP, JSP, PHP, C++, SQL, VBScript, XML, XSLT, XHTML, DHTML, Javascript, CSS, and AJAX.
Software: Microsoft Visio, Altova XML Spy, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, Crystal Reports, Microsoft Excel, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Plumtree Portal 4.6, Percussion Rhythmyx 5.7, and Percussion Rhythmyx 6.1.
Public Speaking
The Chicken or the Egg: Synchronizing agency website redesigns and CMS implementations. The Gilbane Conference. June 2007.
Content Strategy Framework, a half-day seminar on planning and executing successful CMS implementations. March 2007.
Content Modeling at the Office of Justice Programs. Percussion Rhythmyx User Group Meeting. November 2006.
CMS Boot Camp, a two-day crash course in Web Content Management for Aquilent consultants. October 2006.
Content Modeling 101: A Cross Agency Study. The Gilbane Conference on Content Technologies for Government. June 2006.
Content and Taxonomy for the Long-Haul. Co-presented with Joseph Busch of Taxonomy Strategies. May 2006.
60 Seconds with a CMS Vendor. Digital Government Institute's Web Content Management Clinic. Moderated by Tony Byrne of CMSWatch. December 2004.
Papers
Content Analysis for a Successful CMS Implementation, a featured seminar publication from the Digital Government Institute's Web Content Management Clinic in December of 2004.