Awesome Expert

Seeking Full-Time IA / UXD Permanent Employment!

Hello, welcome to my Website! I am so thrilled you are here, and I am here to assist you with my awesome skills. Where do you want to go? What do you want to achieve? What do you desire to co-create together? This very moment I am looking for a solid employment opportunity that is full-time, meaningful, and profitable.

Prefer San Francisco or Palo Alto, for a position as an Information Architect (IA), User Experience Designer (UXD), Researcher, Manager, Mentor, Director. Send along your job order and description to my email. Please set up a time to consult with me. I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn, so send me an invitation (updated June 1, 2013).

Information Architect,
User experience designer,
Interaction designer,
Design research,
Navigational systems,
Wayfinding,
User-centered design,
Project manager,
Technical and professional writer,
Usability expert, and
Director.

---

User-Centered Design Improves Productivity

With great confidence, my experience also extends far, deep into Information Architecture and Design research, user experience design or experience architecture, navigational systems design, interaction design, usability testing, project management, including being a director; FAQ; Testimonials.

I work with clients on developing excellent blueprints (conceptual designs promoting user-centered design principles), taking a systematic approach on projects. Doing design research and card sorting helps to establish user-centered design for a Website (Figure 1).



Figure 1


Other things that may be done using Axure: Site Maps, Widgets, Choose and Search Widget Libraries, Anchor Links, Tab Control, Flyout Menus, Account Login, Auto-Tab Fields, Required Fields, Photo Carousel, Drag & Drop Images, Setting Text on Droplist Selection, Tip Calculator (Example), Auto-Rotating Banner, Pass Text to Next Page; eCommerce Websites; Mobile Websites; Mapping and Diagramming and other items. It is also important to work on Web page layout for Websites, doing wire frame mockups using Axure (Figure 2).



Figure 2


Developing Information Architecture that works right—integrated correctly into products (qualitative research, quantitative research; methods-of-design research; Synopsis of Skills.

This helps end users to successfully use online products, when it is applied correctly to improve usability of products. Of course, taking a systematic approach really helps to get the job done right!

---

Systematic Approach / Agile Environment

Excerpt from White Paper, taking a systematic approach:

Synopsis The IA Model
Excerpt from White Paper, The IA Model.pdf
White Paper, The IA Model.pdf

The IA Model (design is an iterative process):

1. Design Research,
2. Concept Generation,
3. User Scenarios,
4. Wire Frame Mockups,
5. Prototyping,
6. Usability Testing,
7. Implementation, and
8. System Testing.

Taking a systematic approach adds value because designing Websites that work both effectively and saves end users time. In the long run, this saves corporations money.

---

Mottos

“Information Architecture is the structure of user-centered design and usability—it has to be strong.”

“I love what I do and what I do loves me back.”

---

Team Leadership / Director Skills

Leadership skills are really important for successfully directing and mentoring peers. These skills all add value to various phases of projects, including: art direction, design direction, interface design direction, graphic design and typography, branding, logo design, project management direction, Information Architect and User Experience Design direction.

All the projects I have worked on included all the phases and components of extensive IA documentation, doing Information Architecture and valuable deliverables: technical and professional writing, editing, reports, needs assessments, competitive analysis, Website audits, heuristic evaluations, navigational systems design, mapping and diagramming, HTML coding, project management, team leadership—successfully accomplished and completed—to final implementation.

Other director skills include being entrepreneurial, resourceful, analytical, creative, and good at solving user-centered design and experience design problems, including usability testing and designing effective strategies for design research and brainstorming events (experience and education qualify me for employment opportunities).

---

Qualifications / Education / Expertise

Curriculum:
IA MAEd @ San Francisco State University (SFSU)

“The curriculum covers cognitive and learning theories, needs assessment, instructional design models and strategies, visual and web-based designs, information architecture, usability testing, knowledge and performance assessment, and project management (source: ITEC Program.)”

---

About Majors
Specialization in Information Architecture—
Corporate Training, Technical & Professional Writing

Comprehensive List of Textbooks from Educational Programs

Courses included research (How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education, by Fraenkel & Wallen), design, usability testing (Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, by Rubin), social media, focus on emerging cinemas and documentary film (electives), interface design, information architecture (Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites, by Morville & Rosenfeld; Ambient Findability, by Morville), human-computer interaction, interaction design, user experience design, instructional design, corporate training, ADDIE model, curriculum development, e-learning (e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning, by Clark & Mayer; Designing World-Class E-Learning: How IBM, GE, Harvard Business School, and Columbia University Are Succeeding at e-Learning, by Schank), distance education, instructional technologies, instructional systems design (The Systematic Design of Instruction, by Dick & Carey), learning theory and instruction: radical behaviorism, cognitive information processing, meaningful learning and schema theory, situated cognition, cognitive and knowledge development, interactional theories of cognitive development, biological bases of learning and memory, motivation and self-regulation in learning, learning and instruction, constructivism (Psychology of Learning for Instruction, by Driscoll), needs assessment training design/usability, instructional videography, Adobe Creative Suite, instructional Web authoring/Website design (HTML, XHTML, CSS, Javascript, graphics; updates), psychology of learning for instruction, multiple projects: learning by doing, management (Managing Performance Improvement Projects: Preparing, Planning, Implementing, by Fuller; Project Management Competence, by Frame).

The program courses are grouped by subject category:

Analysis
Design & Development
Evaluation
Theory
Design
Implementation & Practice
Culminating Experience


Thesis Report
An Online Tutorial for Instructional Designers to Learn about Information Architecture; IA MAEd


Certification
Technical & Professional Writing Certification, SFSU, (equivalent to BATPW) with emphasis in Information Architecture (source: TPW Program)

Courses included technical and professional writing, editing, writing software documentation, proposal and grant writing, individual and team writing, desktop publishing (Adobe Creative Suite), advanced topics for professional writers, usability testing, card sorting, graphic design, typography.


Work Experience
Work experience gained from successful completion of multiple internships, certifications, and vocational training.

“The Design and Industry Department offers a strong, well rounded, interdisciplinary education to a diverse population with an emphasis in Design and Technology, Visual Communication, Industrial Technology, and Product Design and Development. Our program prepares students to make valuable contributions to their fields through communication, innovation, function, management and production. We strive for a global approach towards design that includes social, ethical and environmental responsibility (source: DAI Welcome; DAI Program).”

---

About Majors
Specialization in Information Architecture—
Graphic Design, Internet Design & Technology, Management; GPA 3.93; undergraduate SFSU GPA 3.78; graduated Cum Laude

Synopsis about programs: Did double major at undergraduate-level, Information Architecture and graphic design, including: colloquium, design, applied graphic design (other design courses), typography (Typographic Design: Form and Communication, by Carter, Day & Meggs), drafting and sketching, color theory (Principles of Color Design, by Wong; Principles of Form and Design, by Wong; Basic Visual Concepts and Principles for Artists, Architects, and Designers, by Wallschlaeger & Busic-Snyder), collage design, exhibit design, signage design, illustration, photography, multimedia, focus on emerging cinemas and contemporary filmmakers (electives), interface design, user-centered design, usability testing, product design, digital design for online products and multimedia products, industrial communications (technical writing), industrial visuals, history of industrial and technological design (Graphic Design a New History, by Eskilson), Website design and management (information architecture, navigational systems design, interface design, research, competitive analysis, usability testing, heuristic evaluations (Usability Inspection Methods, by Nielsen & Mack; Universal Principles of Design, by Lidwell, Holden & Butler), task analysis, user-centered design, mapping and diagramming, wire frame mockups, flow charts), industrial development (research), general education courses, multiple projects: learning by doing, management.

Epsilon Pi Tau, Honorary for Professions in Technology
Golden Key National Honor Society


Thesis Report
An Online Tutorial for Digital-Media Designers to Learn about Web Navigational Systems; IA MAIA


Certification
Internet Design & Technology Certification, The Multimedia Studies Program, SFSU, (supplemental to graduate-level program; vocational training program and additional certification) with a strong, comprehensive emphasis in Information Architecture and interaction design.

Courses included Information Architecture, information design, interaction design, research, usability testing, user-centered design, taxonomy, computer/Web programming, interface design, multimedia design, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver (Adobe Creative Suite), Website design, management.


Additional Education
AS & Award of Achievement, Graphic Communications and Graphic Design (double major; vocational training program)

Award of Achievement

Courses included the complete graphic design program, prepress production, printing, Adobe Creative Suite, management, and internship.


Work Experience
Work experience gained from successful completion of multiple internships, certifications, vocational training, and work experience from a related industry.

“It is one of the premier fine arts and design institutions in the United States and a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of thirty-six leading art schools in the United States and Canada. CCA is also widely regarded as one of the leading art and design institutions in the world (source: CCA Program).”

---

About Major
Graphic Design

Courses included art history (30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space, by Editors of Phaidon), drawing, graphic design, 2D; general education courses already completed from previous programs (since I already had university degrees, I did not continue on in this program—though, I appreciated learning more about design).