Project Manager Management

Deanna L. Walsh

*** **** **** . ****, ** ***** . cellular: 860-***-**** . home:

860-***-**** . email: *********@*******.***

user experience/user interface design/information architect

summary

Concentration in User Experience/UI Design/Information Organization in a

corporate communications or IT capacity for Fortune 100, Publishing,

Finance and Insurance Industries. Extensive experience working in

collaborative environments (IT, business, SMEs, stakeholders, business

analysts, designers, project/program managers, QA teams, compliance, off

shore teams, etc.), integrating user-centered design, technology, and

business strategy. Excellent Project Management and organizational skills,

working simultaneously on several projects from conception to production.

Possess outstanding organization, attention to detail and processes, multi-

tasking, communication skills, focus, and diplomacy. Vast understanding of

creative department from print to electronic communication. Creative eye

and a progressive attitude, able to thrive in an ever-changing, fast-paced

industry.

. Current projects:

o ING Life Insurance Re-design. Use of iRise Studio Simulation

Software.

o ING Corporate Website Re-designs. Web Content Lead. Use of

Drupal CMS. Keen Interest.

o Professionals Website Re-design - Websphere Portal & Oracle

CMS System technology.

o ING Re-Insurance site decommission. Project Manager.

o Using Google Analytic & Google Webmasters tools for metrics

and SEO. Keen interest.

o Creating a UX Team SharePoint site whereby the UX team can

host documentation, project information, processes, guides,

team calendars, etc. Ongoing project.

. Software/Web App Experience:

o Proficient in Photoshop, Homesite, Illustrator, Visio,

Fireworks, Adobe Sound Forge, iRise Studio, Sharepoint,

Balsamiq, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Acrobat Reader &

Distiller.

o Light Dreamweaver, Flash, Pagemaker, NetInsight, Google

Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools.

Specialized content management software: familiarity Oracle

Stellent. In-depth understanding of integrating content

into Websphere portal Framework.

. Programming Experience:

o HTML, DHTML (css), light scripting, light PHP - in

prototyping websites (themes)

o Soft cross plat-forming experience.

. Online Experience:

o Site category:

. Internet (public)

. Intranet (Internal/Employees)

. Extranet (specialized sites)

o Site type/style:

. Information-based (professionals, internal users,

public)

. Transaction-based (customer, internal users)

. Application-based (internal and vendor created

applications)

. Portal-based (IBM Websphere Portal Technology)

. Industry Experience:

o Finance

o Publishing

o Insurance

o Hospitality

. Areas of Concentration:

o Corporate branding and standards.

o User experience, information organization & navigation,

user interface design & consultation.

o Web best practices, web standards and guidelines.

o Protoyping (iRise, html, css), wireframing (Balsamiq,

html) and analyzing information/content.

o Project management or project lead.

o Content Management - Oracle CMS, Drupal CMS, lite Sitefinity

experience

ING, Windsor, CT

Lead Information Architect/User Experience, E-Business/Web Competency

Center 2/2006 - Present

. Information Architecture/Interface Design/User Exprience:

o Design user interfaces for information, transaction, and

application-based websites for internal and external users.

o Solution taxonomy, information hierarchy, sitemaps, wireframes,

static storyboarding (mock-ups) and html prototyping utilizing

Macromedia Homesite, Visio, iRise & DHTML (css).

o Keen understanding of site organization, consistency issues, and

nomenclature.

o Troubleshoot and solution tough usability issues, making

recommendations to business and working with our IT counterparts

to implement.

o Assist in creation and dissection of use cases & requirements

documents based on user, business & stakeholder needs.

o Creation of initial sitemap or skeletal site using Visio, iRise,

Balsamiq, html, or hand.

o Create wireframes or clickable simulation, based on functional

specifications, requirements docs, and use cases, keeping in

mind web best practices, protocols and IT limitations.

Wireframes built from initial site map.

o Build and maintain clickable demo/prototype of stylized sites

from wireframes, using html, css or iRise to simulate.

o Involved in business, stakeholder and technical walk-throughs

o Collaborate with IT, stakeholders, business, SMEs, BAs,

consultants, and designers on daily basis until the project is

in Production.

o Created and Maintain User Interface Guideline. Guideline

consists of the various UI guidelines each ING site follows, per

web and corporate best practices and style guidelines. Examples

include the 'how-to's' of, site messaging & placement,

nomenclature, searching criteria, form layout, breadcrumbing,

pop-ups, drop downs, steps involved in a transaction,

convenience links, table formatting, decimal placement, tool

tips, date formatting and calendar widgets, graphic usage,

result formatting, pagination, site maps, and more.

. Branding/Look & Feel/Style Guidelines:

o Created branding guidelines along side graphic designer, based

on ING Corporate's branding policies in Europe. Guidelines

include styles for our Internets, Extranets, Intranets,

multimedia and in the process of creating guidelines for ING

Applications. Policing ING USA websites for brand compliance,

interacting with the Web Designer and Branding director in

Amsterdam.

. ING Corporate Redesign:

o Current state analysis of existing site and creating sitemap

o From UX perspective, collaborated with team on future vision of

new website.

o Organizing buckets of content - information architecture for

future vision.

o Working with Design firm on look/feel strategy for the new site

o Collaborate with IT developers on New Drupal CMS system

framework.

o Create new content workflows.

o Gathered content ownership information, and worked with

individual contributors on their business requirements.

o Gather and manage actual content, keeping track of content that

needed updates, new content, or expired content, accounting for

all existing content.

o Set up training and documentation sessions of new CMS system to

be used by new contributors

o Unit tested in QA environments once content was contributed into

Drupal.

o Note: Worked under extremely aggressive timeline and managed to

keep all deadlines.

. Testing

o Proofing DEV & QA environments, style issues, site consistency

and usability, providing recommendations and entering defects

and recommendations into our defect tracker system.

o Working to ensure changes and designs & navigation were

implemented properly by IT.

o Cross browser lab testing of projects in: IE 6, 7 & 8, Firefox,

Safari, Chrome & Opera

. IBM Websphere Portal Conversion Project:

o Currently working on designing the user interface, migrating

existing websites into IBM Websphere portal environment for

professionals, customers, & internal user groups. Benefits of

this technology include personalization, sharing of information

& single sign-on.

o Involvement includes the analysis of requirements/use cases

documents, site mapping, wireframing and then prototyping, among

other tasks

. Project Management:

o Extensive PM work on our ING US Site, ING Reinsurance, ING

Lifeinsurance, etc

o Liaison with Business, Designers, Developers, Testers, Content

and DB specialists.

. Creative projects:

o Creation of Email Blasts & cooresponding story boards/mockups

using html email templates.

. Miscellaneous:

o Familiarity with technical issues versus design, around web

development and ability to work constructively and

diplomatically with IT teams. Web/UX 'go-to' person on our team.

o Podcasts - recording and editing audio sound bites, uploading to

web service and adding link online to website, utilizing Adobe

Sound Forge.

experience - Continued

Travelers, Hartford, Connecticut

Web Design Manager, Corporate Communications, Marketing Services 2000 -

2005

. Decision making on look & feel, information architecture, and content for

all Travelers & St Paul Travelers websites, employee portals and

affiliate companies.

. Lead web projects from conception to production.

. Project manager and liaison between the Line of Business Marketing,

designers and Technology Development functions.

. Troubleshoot tough usability and user experience issues.

. Designed interface for our intranet which utilized content management

system, Interwoven.

. Streamlined existing content and out-dated materials in efforts to create

effective user experience.

. Conducted customer needs analysis, taxonomy, information hierarchy,

sitemaps, wireframes, prototyping and user testing.

. Implemented corporate standards and branding on our intranet, extranet,

internet, print media and PowerPoint presentations. Created online style

guide booklet for designers and developers to use as reference.

. Performed HTML coding, PDF creation, Cascading Style Sheets, lite Java

scripting and DHTML, and trouble-shooting. Design and optimize

graphics/advertising for the web.

. Created and designed Logos and E-mail Blasts.

. Created and maintained logo usage guide and corporate branding web pages.

. Initiated the archiving, management and structure of web department

files.

. Supervised and train staff members relative to departmental standards,

technologies and design.

. Act as Art Director in his absence.

. Collaborated with print and web designers, product group associates,

legal department, managers and technology developers on a daily basis.

. General site updates and maintenance.

Salomon Smith Barney, New York, New York

Graphics Specialist / Web Designer, Media Arts Department 1996 - 2000

. Designed and maintained Salomon Smith Barney Access web site areas.

. Project Management, day to day web site maintenance, updating and trouble-

shooting.

. Coded HTML, created PDFs and optimized GIF and JPG graphics for the web.

. Archived and file management.

. Worked with marketing associates to determine the type of visual media

that best suits the needs

of the project.

. Photo-retouching. Manipulating images by utilizing Photoshop.

. Created presentations utilizing PowerPoint. Created style guideline

utilizing multiple masters.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, New York, New York

Desktop Publishing Specialist, Unit Trust/Municipal Bonds Department

1991 - 1996

. Designed all printed materials and presentation graphics.

. Designed two and four color print pieces, and created color separations.

. Designed flyers, brochures, newsletters, manuals, sell sheets, charts,

graphs, overheads, ads, invitations, annual reports, posters, labels,

mailers, widgets, PowerPoint presentations and PC screen presentations.

. Maintained and created vendor relations - printers, wholesalers, slide

and imaging bureaus, distributors as well as work closely with pre-press

vendors. Estimated and bid on print jobs.

. Worked with marketing associates to determine the type of visual media

that best suits the needs of the project.

. Installed and maintained users' software.

. Conducted software demonstrations and over-the-phone support.

. Researched, recommended and ordered new software and their upgrades

according to departmental needs. Evaluated software and upgrades.

. Maintained log of all software products, serial numbers and backup disks.

experience - Contract

Readers Digest - Contract Assignment, Pleasantville, NY

Coder/Prototype Creation, Digital Media Group 2005 - 2006

. HTML code/prototype from Photoshop or wireframe mock-ups on site redesign

www.rd.com

. QA work on site redesign, and compiling bug list utilizing Excel.

. Cross browser testing: IE for Mac & PC, Mac Safari, Netscape 6-7.0 &

Firefox

. HTML coder, light JavaScripting and CSS troubleshooting

. Coded e-mail Blasts

. Create and implement new styles to compliment new site look and feel.

. Scriptless left nav drop down menu using CSS

. Retrofitting old coded pages into new framework

. Utilizing Interwoven content management system - Teamsite

PME Events - Contract Assignment - ongoing, Hartford, CT

Web Designer, Developer & Site Maintenance 2005 - 2008

. Remote project, solutioning, creating and maintaining company websites

for a Conference Planning business.

. Conception to production web site creation.

. Working remotely with graphic designer, business, IT folks, and vendors

. Create and maintain unique CSS

education & certificate programs:

BFA Fine Arts: School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

BBA Marketing: Pace University, New York, NY

Studio Art & Italian Studies: Richmond College, Study Abroad Program,

Florence, Italy

New Horizons: Software Training

iRise: Software Training

Cooper Union: Studied Drawing and Painting

additional experience & skills:

. Fine Art talents include painting, drawing and metal work: bronze,

aluminum & copper

. Certificate classes in Illustrator, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, iRise,

Photoshop and Flash.

. Photography, color slide development, develop black and white

negatives, and black and white print making.

. Four color print ad for Fortune Small Business Magazine.

. Quick learner and once acclimated, fast worker.

. Proficient in written and spoken Italian.

. Attend regular job related webcasts and webinars

. Receive User Experience related email alerts and information to keep

abreast of current UI/UX topics

. GrokDotCom, Dalbar Reports, Gartner, Human Factors

International, Google Alerts, Jakob Nielsen's Alert Box, and

Forrester, Link

volunteer work:

New Britain Museum of American Art 2003 -

Present

. Annual Museum Fundraising Gala:

Duties Include:

. Black tie affair for over 300 people held inside of the

museum as a fund raiser for the Museums next years' budget.

. Acted as Stage Manager in charge of the Live auction room

keeping everyone on schedule, including speakers, director,

auctioneer, and additional volunteers.

. Acted as Live Auction room Leader, responsible for a room of

over 200 people. Communicated to event coordinator. Issues

included podium audio/visual problems, food & beverage, lost

bid numbers, general troubleshooting, etc.

. Acted as lead to the bid runners. Organized live auction

runners to obtain information from the winning bidders once

the auctioneer established the winner.

. During dinner and desert walked the perimeter of the room

checking on the guests.

. Every year I am called back to participate in these events.

. Annual Museum Wine Gala:

Same Duties as Fundraising Gala

Jerome House - New Britain

2008 - Present

. Volunteered by visiting guests with children at the Jerome Rest Home.

This newly created program, 'Smiggles' was designed to bring in

children to visit the rest home guests, as Alzheimer patience seem to

respond to this type of stimuli. This is a year round commitment.

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