USER INTERFACE DESIGN

In a sense, all graphic design is "user interface" design, but it took the interactive nature of Web design to make the importance of usability clear to me. I used to subscribe to the designer's imperative: "Make it new, fresh, the next big thing." In advertising, the first priority is to attract attention, so "new" and "fresh" make sense. But on the Web, this is not enough: you have to keep the customer's attention by giving them something they need. It becomes quickly apparent that communication is a two-way street.

Tasked with developing a Human Factors practice for eFORCE, I learned the principles of usability design from Jakob Nielsen, Donald Norman, Jared Spool, and Alan Cooper. I successfully completed usability consulting assignments for clients as diverse as Bank of America and Silicon Valley startups. Subsequently, I built a User Interface Services department to enable eFORCE to provide a UI product offering that was competitive with Sapient or Scient. Services included usability testing, information architecture/interaction design, visual design, and accessibility design (for disabled users). My group was an important usability resource for the Bank of America Interactive Banking Group, and we provided consultants to important projects with Janus, Visa, and other eFORCE clients.

Prior experience as a Siebel and Scopus consultant also gave me important insights into intricacies of enterprise software applications. As a trainer, I understand the importance of the user experience, because I have felt their pain. I have seen many examples of what works and what doesn't, and I understand the design principles that explain why.

My experiences over the past three years have honed my UI design skills to a fine edge. But more importantly, they have ingrained usability as the core value that infuses my approach to communications and design in all arenas.