Interaction Design
Afshan Kirmani
Afshan has been a UX professional since 2006. Currently, she is studying for her Master's in Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics. She has worked on Web sites, applications, and hand-held devices, enhancing cross-channel experiences. Her clients have included HSBC, Wells Fargo, Sony, Dolby, PepsiCo, Nokia, Unilever, and Kingfisher. Applying her knowledge across industries, Afshan has worked in domains such as banking, insurance, consumer goods and manufacturing, travel and transportation, media and entertainment, ecommerce and retail, health, education, and social networking. Afshan believes it is essential to connect with other experts in the global UX community and has contributed to talks at HCI and UPA meetings. In addition to writing for UXmatters, she has also written for Human Factors and Ergonomics.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | Usability
Ahmed Riaz
Ahmed is an interaction and industrial designer with a background in design research, expertise in visual thinking, and a passion for making objects that dissolve into behavior. His past design experiences include time spent as a design researcher for Gulfstream Aerospace, honing his skills as a professional napkin sketcher for the visual thinking company XPLANE, and reinventing ecommerce for the Internet pioneer eBay. He is currently studying for an MBA in Design Strategy at California College of the Arts.
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Specialties: Consulting | Industrial Design | Information Design | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | User Research
Anirban Basu Mallik
At Capgemini, Anirban is specializing in user interface design and information visualization for banking and financial services clients. Previously, as Senior Graphic Visualizer and User Experience Designer at Content and Design Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Anirban worked on projects spanning UX strategy, visual design, branding, creative writing, graphic design, user research, information architecture, interaction design, and design documentation. Prior to joining Cognizant, Anirban was Creative Head of Corporate Communications, at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). Anirban holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and is a Human Factors International Certified Usability Analyst (CUA). He is also a member of IxDA and HCI India.
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Specialties: Brand Strategy | Information Architecture | Information Design | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Visual Design
Corrie Kwan
As a user experience analyst at the IBM Toronto software laboratory, Corrie often works with users from different continents, doing all kinds of user research from requirements gathering to design validation. Her work also involves defining usage scenarios and designs for modeling tools and Web applications. She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics, majoring in Computer Science.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | User Research
Dan Saffer
Since 1995, Dan has designed products—including devices, software, and Web sites—and services that millions currently use every day. He has led projects for large organizations like Nokia and Time Warner and startups such as Ning and Foxmarks. His design innovations have received several patents. An internationally recognized thought leader and acclaimed speaker and author, Dan wrote the best-selling book Designing for Interaction, which one reviewer called “a bookshelf must-have for anyone thinking of creating new designs,” and Designing Gestural Interfaces. He has spoken at conferences and taught workshops on interaction design all over the world. His writings on design have appeared in BusinessWeek, Vitamin, and Boxes and Arrows. Dan was a founding Director of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and is also a member of AIGA and IDSA. He has a Masters of Design in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design
David Heller Malouf
A leader in the interaction design community, with a passion for evangelizing and teaching interaction design, Dave is currently Professor of Interaction Design
in the Industrial Design
Department of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD).
Previously, he was a Senior Interaction Designer for Motorola Enterprise Mobility, where he designed user interfaces for desktop, Web, and embedded software and hardware. Motorola was the last stop in his 15-year journey practicing interaction design, information architecture, and user interface design, working primarily in the enterprise space. Dave led the founding of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)
and was its first Vice President. In 2008, he co-chaired Interaction 08, in Savannah. He frequently writes, speaks at conferences, and teaches workshops on topics relating to interaction design.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Education & Training
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.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX 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.
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Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design
George Olsen
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.”
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design
Greg Nudelman
Founder of the San Francisco Bay Area UX design consultancy DesignCaffeine, Greg is widely recognized as an experience design and user research expert, specializing in search, social networking, business dashboards, and process redesign for mobile and Web platforms. Greg has published over 30 articles and speaks regularly to audiences around the world about how to design intuitive and elegant systems that improve the quality of people’s lives while creating abundant ROI. He has led design projects for Fortune 500 companies and creative startups.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy | User Interface Design | User Research
Isabelle Peyrichoux
With a passion for exploring users’ mental models and more than seven years working in user experience in the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, Isabelle specializes in user research. Isabelle works for Yahoo!, in Silicon Valley, where she conducts all kinds of lab and field studies to inform product strategy and design. With two certificates in psychotherapy, 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. Isabelle has a Masters degree in Information Science from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, in Paris, France. 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.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | Usability | User Research
James Kelway
James 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.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | User Interface Design
Janet M. Six
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.
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Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Interaction Design
Jen Hocko
Jen currently works at The MathWorks, where she manages a team that focuses on improving the usability of both custom-built and procured business software. In the past, Jen has been a Web developer, technical writer, and interaction designer at both large and small organizations. She has an M.S. in Human Factors from Bentley University.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Usability
Jin Li
At the IBM Toronto software laboratory, Jin’s work as a user experience lead encompasses the full software design lifecycle from user requirements gathering to beta testing. In particular, he gathers, analyzes, and translates user requirements and usage scenarios into software and user interaction designs for application development tools and Web applications. Jin holds a Masters of Science in Computer Science, with a Human-Computer Interaction option, from the University of Toronto. He is a member of ACM and UPA.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Strategy | User Research
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.
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Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Management | User Research
Jon Kolko
Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design, an educational institution in Texas, Jon was previously a Professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he was instrumental in shaping the Interaction and Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate programs. He has worked extensively in the professional world of interaction design, solving the problems of Fortune 500 clients. Jon’s work has encompassed the worlds of consumer electronics, mobile, Web, supply-chain management, demand planning, and customer-relationship management, and he has worked with clients such as AT&T, HP, Nielsen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford, IBM, Palm, and other leaders of the Global 2000. The underlying theme of these projects: the creation of solutions that are useful, usable, and desirable. Jon’s present research investigates the process of design, with a focus on design synthesis and the creation of meaning. Jon sits on the Board of Directors for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and is the Editor-in-Chief of interactions magazine, an ACM publication. He is the author of the book Thoughts on Interaction Design, which was published by Morgan Kaufmann. In late 2010, Oxford University Press will publish his forthcoming book, Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis.
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Specialties: Interaction Design
Joost Willemsen
Joost has been an interaction designer since 2000. Working with Lost Boys, he has 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.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design
Joshua Kaufman
As a consultant, Joshua focuses on cross-platform interaction design and UX strategy for Web and mobile applications. Previously at Tiny Pictures, Joshua created user-centered designs for Radar, a social media service that lets people engage in visual conversations using camera phone pictures and videos. He holds an M.S. in Human Computer Interaction from University College London, University of London, and has over 8 years of experience in both the United States and Europe. An active member of the UX design community, Joshua is the IxDA SF Community Manager, is a member of BayCHI, and was formerly the London Local Ambassador for UXnet.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Management | UX Strategy | User Interface Design | User Research
Keith LaFerriere
Keith leads User Experience at Arnold Worldwide, one of the most award-winning advertising agencies in the USA. His passion and persistence in advocating for user-centered design—whether offline or online—enables the achievement of both user experience and ad campaign goals. For over sixteen years, Keith has made interactive environments and complex Web applications easier to use, working for clients such as Carnival, Harvard University, IDC, DHL, Ocean Spray, Huntington Bank, Panasonic, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, and many more.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Management
Kevin Brooks
At Motorola, Kevin researches new user interface technologies and expresses them as connected user-centered experiences, using various media. Always interested in both computer science and filmmaking, he hungered for them to become more integrated. While researching how to use both to tell stories, he found the oral storytelling community in the Boston area. As Kevin developed and performed as a professional oral storyteller, then began coaching other storytellers, he learned a lot about storytelling as a pivotal part of the creative, performance, and design process. As a storyteller, Kevin tells humorous and poignant tales from his life for both adults and families, as you can hear on his CD Kiss of Summer.
He has been a featured performer at storytelling festivals and conferences and has given numerous storytelling workshops to engineers, designers, and other storytellers. As an undergraduate, Kevin studied engineering, computer science, creative writing, and film production, receiving a BS in Communications from Drexel University. He earned an MA in Documentary Film from Stanford University.
Kevin received his PhD in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab,
where his area of research was computational narrative and interactive cinema. Kevin has published several papers on storytelling and interactive story design. He is the coauthor, with Whitney Quesenbery, of the Rosenfeld Media book Storytelling in User Experience Design.![]()
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | User Research
Kevin Silver
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.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | User Interface Design | User Research
Laurie Lamar
Laurie Lamar was previously a consulting information architect and interaction
designer in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Her clients ranged from
Fortune 100 companies to nonprofits, government agencies, and
startups. Projects included 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.
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Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | Usability
Leandro Agrò
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.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | Usability
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.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design
Liya Zheng
Liya began her career as an interaction designer. Currently, she helps Liquidnet re-imagine the future of the equity marketplace, using a variety tools and techniques from a wide range of user experience practices. Previously, she worked for Respironics, a leader in respiratory monitoring and assistive technology, and helped them establish an internal experience design capability. Liya became interested in storytelling in interactive media through a position early in her career at Rockstar Games. She is member of the UPA, AIGA, and ACM. Liya earned a BS and an MS from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy
Luca Mascaro
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.
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Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Information Design | Interaction Design | UX Design | User Interface 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.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | Usability | User Interface Design | User Research
Matteo Penzo
At Consultechnology, an ITC company with offices in Milan and Lamezia Terme, Italy, Matteo conducted research projects that focused 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.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Usability
May Wong
As a user experience analyst at the IBM Toronto software laboratory, May’s work involves defining usage scenarios and designs for software quality tools and Web applications. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Toronto.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | User Research
Mike Myles
Working as a software designer since the mid-90s, Mike has designed a wide
range of Web and rich-client applications. Before joining Autodesk in 2007,
he led design efforts for several companies, including Bowstreet—since
acquired by IBM—Chordiant, and Unica. Mike studied electrical engineering
at Fairfield University before transitioning to computer science and software
design. He is an active member of IxDA, ACM, and the local New Hampshire
chapter of UPA. Mike is also an avid performing musician and songwriter.
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Specialties: Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Usability | User Interface Design | User Research
Nathanael Boehm
For more than ten years, Nathanael has been working primarily in the government sector of the Web design industry. He started off as a Web application developer before transitioning through front-end development into interaction design. His strong technical knowledge has helped him establish his credibility and act as a communication bridge between information technology and business teams within organizations. This enables him to design and implement high-quality, usable, and accessible productivity applications and information Web sites that align with both business objectives and user goals. Nathanael is also deeply involved in Government 2.0 in Australia—with particular attention to social interaction design and social-media strategy development and implementation. He is helping Australian Government agencies move toward a citizen-centric approach to service design and delivery.
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Specialties: Accessibility | Interaction Design | UX Design
Nicola Rovetta
After starting out in classic advertising, Nicola Rovetta moved on to design for Web marketing projects in 1996. For more than a decade, he’s been directing digital creative departments in international networks, often taking charge of interaction design, information architecture, and experience design. At present, Nicola is leading creative in TBWA\’s digital firm, Agency.com, in Italy. He’s been avidly following the rise of the Web from version 1.0 to 3.0, and he actively evangelizes the power of digital culture in Italy.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy | Usability | User Interface Design
Ollie Campbell
Ollie has led UX design projects for some of the biggest companies in Australia and around the world. He has a degree in computer science and is currently pursuing postgraduate study in psychology.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy
Pabini Gabriel-Petit
For more than 15 years, at companies such as Google, Cisco, WebEx, and Apple, Pabini has set strategic direction for user experience and led UX design and user research for Web, mobile, and desktop applications. With expertise in all aspects of UX design—including interaction design, visual interface design, information design, UI text, and information architecture—Pabini has designed innovative applications for diverse product domains, encompassing consumer and enterprise products. Previously, as VP of UX at scanR, Pabini led UX strategy and design for award-winning mobile and Web applications that let users scan digital photos of whiteboards and documents, then view and manage their scans. Formerly, as UX Manager at WebEx, Pabini led UX strategy, design, and user research for online meeting and collaboration applications. She designed the award-winning Meeting Center and Training Center, setting the industry standard for online meeting software. Clients of Pabini’s Silicon Valley consultancy have included GetJar, scanR, Google, Cisco, Tellme, WebEx, and Apple. In addition to bringing UXmatters to the UX community, Pabini is a Cofounder and former Director of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and is IxDA Local Leader for Silicon Valley, Co-Chair of BayDUX, BayCHI IxD BOF (Birds of a Feather) Leader, and a former Interactions Editorial Board Member.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Management | UX Strategy | Visual Design
Paul Bryan
Paul is a UX strategist and researcher who began designing ecommerce Web sites in 1995, in Barcelona, Spain. Since founding Usography in 2002, Paul’s consulting clients have included some of the most successful corporations in the world—such as The Home Depot, Coca-Cola, SAP, Delta Air Lines, Philips, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Cox, and GE. Paul manages the UX Strategy and Planning group on LinkedIn.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | User Research
Pedro ‘Adler’ Jorge
Adler is an interaction designer with a background in design, technology, and user research. He has designed Web-based collaboration tools and led international workshops on interaction design and participatory design. Currently, at Philips Design, he is working on multimedia devices and desktop applications. In his role as an interaction designer, Adler also questions current design processes and the integration of design, business, and engineering to improve the company’s UX strategy. Time permitting, he would like to continue his research work on design processes for collaboration as well as learn the piano.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Strategy | User Research
Peter Hornsby
Peter has been actively involved in Web design and development since 1993, working in the defense and telecommunications industries; designing a number of interactive, Web-based systems; and advising on usability. He has also worked in education, in both industry and academia, designing and delivering both classroom-based and online training. In his role as Senior Information Architect at Friends Provident, Peter works with a multidisciplinary team, including information architects, analysts, and accessibility specialists, setting standards for user experience and promoting a user-centered design process within the business. Peter has a PhD in software component reuse and a Bachelors degree in human factors, both from Loughborough University, in Leicestershire, UK. He has presented at international conferences and written about reuse, eLearning, and organizational design.
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Specialties: Human Factors | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Education & Training | Usability | User Interface Design | User Research
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 worked with Cingular, BET, Ask, Alltel, and other clients and was 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.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy | User Interface Design
Robert Barlow-Busch
At Quarry, Robert led 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 worked 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.
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Specialties: Brand Strategy | Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy
Robert Reimann
Robert has spent the past 20 years pushing the boundaries of digital products as a designer, writer, and consultant and has led dozens of Web, desktop, and device-based interaction design projects, for startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Robert was a Founding Director of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and became its first President in 2006. He has also held advisory board positions for AIGA Experience Design, the Information Architecture Institute, and UC Berkeley's Institute of Design (BiD) and is currently a board member of Design Museum Boston.
With Alan Cooper, Robert is co-author of two bestselling editions of About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Robert’s past positions include Associate Creative Director at frog design, Manager of User Experience at Bose Corporation, and Director of Design R&D at Cooper, where he 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 interaction design and UX methods and principles at major universities and to international industry audiences.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | User Interface Design
Russell Wilson
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.
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Specialties: Interaction Design | Usability
Sam Ng
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.
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Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Strategy | Usability
Sharon Harper
As a consultant, Sharon focuses on the information architecture aspect of user experience design. She is passionate about the information-seeking success of users across a range online platforms. Sharon holds an M.S. in Information Architecture & Knowledge Management—now User Experience Design—and an M.L.S. from Kent State University, and is an active member of several online UX and usability groups and the Northeast Ohio chapter of UPA. She writes about UX education, the usability landscape, and the structure and design of information.
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Specialties: Consulting | Information Architecture | Information Design | Interaction Design | UX Design | Usability
Steve Psomas
Specializing in Web application design and UI product management, Steve has eight years of experience in UX design and four years in UI component engineering at Workday, Responsys, Neoforma, Intuit, Clear Ink, and Maus Haus. He is currently responsible for managing UI requirements and interaction design at Workday. Steve has developed and presented an audio conference on Rich Interaction Design. In his work as a designer, he draws inspiration from his prior experience as a technical writer and teacher. Steve graduated from the University of San Diego with a B.A. in English. He is a member of UPA and SIGCHI.
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Specialties: Human Factors | Information Architecture | Interaction Design | UX Design
Todd Warfel
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.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | Usability | User Research
Traci Lepore
At Avid, Traci is responsible for helping to define the customer experience for the Web. While working as a consultant at InContext Enterprises, she worked on both enterprise and consumer projects across a variety of industries and domains. With over ten years of experience as an interaction designer, with a focus on user-centered design methods, Traci has experienced a broad range of work practices. Through her UXmatters column, Dramatic Impact, Traci hopes to infuse aspects of theatrical theory and practice into her design practice and bring a more empathetic and user-centered focus to her work. Traci holds an M.A. in Theater Education from Emerson and a B.S. in Communications Media from Fitchburg State College. She is a member of the Boston chapters of UPA and IxDA.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy
Whitney Hess
Based in New York City, Whitney is an independent UX design consultant. She helps make stuff easy and pleasurable to use. Whitney is a strategic partner with Happy Cog and UX consultant for boxee, among other startups, agencies, and major corporations. Prior to going independent, she was on the design team at Liquidnet. Previously, she was an interaction designer at the marketing agencies Digitas and Tribal DDB, where her clients included American Express, The New York Times, Allstate, Claritin, Tropicana, and EarthLink. Though she began her higher education in computer science, Whitney received a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Specialties: Consulting | Interaction Design | UX Design | UX Strategy | Usability | User Interface Design | User Research



