christophermears

As a User Experience Designer I am responsible for all the interactions the user has with a website/system from the very beginning of the project through to it's completion as a finished web page.

This can involve a number of things, including, but not limited to:

• Wireframing (interactive and non-interactive)
• Functional specifications
• Site maps & process diagrams
• Running card sorting excercises
• Interaction & UI component design
• Front end CSS/XHTML coding
• User experience testing

Whilst not a designer by trade, I have many years in the field of front end development which, along with keeping up with the latest research and techniques in the field, enable me to accurately judge which design patterns and UI controls/components are most effective for users in any given situation.

During the past two years I have been working as part of an Agile project methodology. Some of my responsibilities included:

• Providing a variety of UX/IA deliverables such as personas, user journeys, flow diagrams, scenarios and high-level conceptual models
• Providing wireframes based on product owner's requirements and user testing and research
• Working with the Designer to provide suitable and usable UI components to implement the wireframes whilst keeping the overall UX vision in check
• Mentoring and advising a team of front-end developers to implement accesible and clean XHTML/CSS templates
• Usability testing the finished product with both external and actual users and reporting and actioning recommendations for improvements

For low-fidelity wireframing I use Balsamiq. This tool fits perfectly into the Agile methodology as it enables quick, fast and simple mockups of the underlying data structure and information flow of a website.

When required, for higher level prototyping I use the industry standard tool Axure, or in the case of Flex applications I will sometimes use Adobe Catalyst.

CSS/XHTML

100%

Wireframing Tools (Balsamiq / Axure / Catalyst)

100%

Adobe Photoshop (6 - CS4)

100%

Javascript/JQuery

70%

• Working within an AGILE project process.
• Running the daily front-end developer SCRUM.
• Management of a small team of front-end developers.