Resume

Summary of Qualifications

• Five years experience in user-centered web design for a major non-profit organization of 35 million members dedicated to social change, and two years in a leadership position as Art Director.
• MFA in Art and Visual Technology (George Mason University, January 2010); BA in English (Grinnell College, 1998).

Experience

• Led an 18-month project team made up of department-level executives from five different teams.  Facilitated the team members' key issues, enabling the team to develop a website which serves each of their unique needs and the broader goals of the organization, to communicate with professionals instrumental to changing public policy.
• Created a new and more powerful website for AARP's professional audience.  Reviewed known issues with the current site and examined features on peer sites, identified possibilities for future growth, and integrated these into a new site structure.  The new site tested extremely well, showing a 99% success rate with common tasks.
• Designed a system for making large, existing web sites accessible and fully usable for blind and vision-impaired users, building on Section 508 guidelines.  Abstracted basic components of accessibility from available research, and evaluated areas for improvement in usability.  Worked with technical staff to produce a model, which improved access to the website for an estimated one million vision-impaired members, and even more potential members.
• Presented AARP's new approach to web accessibility for the blind and visually impaired before three major professional conferences with a total attendance of over 850 people.  Educated internal staff on new changes and best practices via presentations tailored to their levels of expertise, thereby increasing the availability of this knowledge and helping to enhance AARP's reputation as a leader in usability issues for older adults. 
• Developed a new methodology for assessing information structures. Incorporated aspects of two established techniques and worked with a usability practitioner to identify and resolve potential issues with the methodology.  The new approach saved money by allowing us to conduct several sessions at once.  We also gained data that would otherwise have been unavailable by using the established techniques.
• Modelled a new approach to content on AARP.org, combining two traditionally separate content sources.  Observed that visitors who use the message boards report higher satisfaction with their membership, and so recommended presenting AARP-written and member-generated message board content together in site navigation.  The team projected increased traffic to the message boards and improved membership affinity.

Papers and Presentations

• “The Blind Leading the Blind: Theorizing a Web for the Visually Impaired” – Breaking New Ground, Fifth Annual ASIS&T Information Architecture Summit, February 2004 (Austin, TX); also presented at Connecting Communities, Conference of the Usability Professionals’ Association, June 2004 (Minneapolis, MN)

Employment History

• George Mason University
• Instructor, Potomac Arts Academy: 2009-current
• Adjunct Faculty: Spring 2009
• Teaching Assistant: 2007-2008
• Freelance
  • Conscious Woman (eBook template): 2008
  • Gura & Possessky, P.L.L.C. (website design): 2007
  • ViaTech (print and web newsletter templates,  proposal design and editing): 2006-2008
  • AARP (website user testing): 2006-2007
• AARP
• Art Director: 2003 - 2005
• Web Designer: 1999 - 2003

Education

• MFA, Art and Visual Technology, George Mason University: 2010
• BA, English, Grinnell College: 1998

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