Manager Project

Susan Fowler *** Franklin Ave.

Staten Island, NY 10301

***/***-****

abpobq@r.postjobfree.com

Summary:

Team leader on multi cultural and international design projects ranging in cost from $8 million to

$812 million.

Recognized expert in user interface and information design. Author of three software design books.

Consultant to major organizations.

Twenty years experience developing and providing software related consulting and training in the

financial, telecommunication, and biomedical industries.

Software Design Experience:

Keynote Systems, Inc., New York, NY, May 2006-April 2007

Website usability and marketing analyst using remote, unmoderated usability testing software

(Vividence) and statistical analysis tools for major U.S. and European firms. Also wrote customer

training manuals and expert evaluations. Acted as web design mentor within the New York office

and helped California marketing staff better address usability customers in promotional materials.

FAST Consulting, Staten Island, NY, 2002-current

Sole proprietorship started in 1987. Company designs web and knowledge systems for small and

large corporations. Technical communication projects for Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan (database

keywords manual), Reuters Analytic Group (online help), McGraw Hill/Platts (user interface advice

and manual), Salomon Brothers ( Yield Book reformatting and printing).

Currently working on websites for the alumni association of the Episcopal High School in

Robertsport, Liberia; the Tug Pegasus Project; and Church of the Ascension (Staten Island). A few of

our finished or ongoing projects are:

South Street Seaport Museum, August 2007-current

Volunteer coordinator. Revised volunteer/intern application form. Developing volunteer job

descriptions and screenings for educational and sail programs; creating database of volunteers, skills,

hours spent. Daily: Interview potential volunteers; find volunteers to help with department projects;

act as liaison between staff and volunteers and between the museum and sources of volunteers

(VolunteerMatch, NYCares, etc.).

National Cancer Institute, Feb.-March 2006

Developed test plans and ran usability tests for a public cancer risk website. See

http://understandingrisk.cancer.gov/.

Ithaka Harbors, Inc., Princeton, NJ, 2005-2006

Wrote user interface specifications for the Aluka project, a not for profit international collaboration

of educational and cultural institutions. Aluka s mission is to build a high quality scholarly resource

of materials from and about Africa. See http://www.aluka.org. Hired for the project by an ex

colleague from Telcordia Technologies.

DoubleClick, New York, NY, August-December 2004

Worked on a six member team to develop usability test plans, ran and recorded tests using Morae,

analyzed the data, and wrote reports for managers and developers for a consumer website (which

eventually became http://shopwiki.com). Hired for the project by ex manager from Telcordia

Technologies.

Staten Island Community Supported Agriculture, 2005-current

Created and currently maintaining the website, http statenislandcsa.org. Optimized the site for

search engines.

Susan Fowler page 2

Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore), Piscataway, NJ, 1998-2002

Senior usability engineer. Project leader responsible for the graphic toolkit modules of an $812

million system that was designed to be used to run, manage, and troubleshoot one third of the U.S.

telephone network. Collected requirements from six different software product teams within

Telcordia and developed a solution that all six teams and the customer s representatives accepted.

Was part of a 12 member team that ran preliminary usability tests with the customer.

Designed two geographic map applications working with a combined local and off shore

development team (membership varied between four and ten, depending on the project phase). Co

wrote a 300 page standards book in 1998, which is still being used and adapted to new programming

environments.

EJV Partners, L.P. (bought by Bridge Information Systems), 1991-1995

Senior technical writer. Responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of a 1,000 page

online financial knowledge database for an $81 million bond pricing system. Glossary is still being

used and maintained (online at http://www.ejv.com/bp/html/EJVGlossary.html). At the system

administrators request, created system administration guides and troubleshooting materials. Edited

marketing materials.

Software:

Dreamweaver, Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Corel PaintShop Pro, Visio, Morae, Camtasia

Studio, ZoomText (for testing accessibility), WebEffective (Vividence)

Selected Publications List:

Web Application Design Handbook, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, June 2004

A 600 page guide to designing complex data intensive web applications. With Victor Stanwick. Won

award of merit from the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Society for Technical

Communication.

GUI Design Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1997

A guide to GUI components and their uses, organized alphabetically, for programmers and interface

designers. Includes when to use and when not to use each type of component. Co authored with

Victor Stanwick. Online at http://fast consulting.com.

The GUI Style Guide, Harcourt Brace, 1995

A reference book that describes and explains the rationales behind user interface design rules. Won

award of excellence from the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Society for Technical

Communication. Went through two printings. Co authored with Victor Stanwick.

Invited Speaking Engagements

World Usability Day, Moscow, talk on e government, workshop on web application design, Nov. 8 10,

2007.

Washington D.C. UPA User Focus Conference, What s Better? Moderated Lab Testing or Unmoderated

Remote Testing? Oct. 12, 2007.

Audio Educator, Top 10 Secrets to the Perfect Travel Website, phone conference,

http://www.audioeducator.com/industry_conference.php?id=223

GISMO NY, New York, NY, Lies and Confusion: How to Make Sure People Don t Understand Your

Maps, January 18, 2005.

Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ, How to Predict the Future, January 4, 2005.

UPA 2004, Minneapolis, Yeah, I Hear You: Why Aren t There More Sounds and Graphics in Our

Interfaces? (workshop).

Susan Fowler page 3

Volunteer and Professional Associations

Christ Church New Brighton, Staten Island, NY, 2000-current

Chair of Plant & Equipment Committee. Manage restoration and repair projects for a 100 year

old church, from defining projects, getting grants, and hiring contractors to supervising and

signing off on the work. Wrote the successful application to place the church on the National

Register of Historic Places and successful grant applications to the NY Landmarks Conservancy

Sacred Sites program and the Property Support program of the NY Episcopal Diocese.

With the committee, made the church and parish hall accessible to people in wheelchairs with

ramps and a wheelchair lift.

Wrote job descriptions and structured interview questions, and interviewed candidates for office

manager and sexton positions. Member of the employee quarterly review team.

South Street Seaport Museum, 1982-1991, 2006

Ship Wavertree: Cast iron maintenance (chipping and needle gunning) and tool management and

repair from 1982 1991.

In 2006, helped with the first one day Ship Wavertree Volunteer Alumni fundraiser at the

museum, which brought in $7,600.

ACM SIGCHI

Member of SIGCHI and writer for Computing Reviews. Profiled reviewer at

http://www.reviews.com/todaysissue/todaysissue_featured.cfm?reviewer_id=110063 and

interviewed in the March 2001 issue of interactions.

User Experience, October 2004-current

Volunteer managing editor of User Experience, the association s membership magazine, from

2004 2006. Now an editorial board member. The magazine is a four color quarterly. Doubled the

size of the magazine in two years by helping the team meet deadlines, mentoring new editors,

adding board members from around the world, and raising the quality of the articles. Also set up

a press release system for publicizing issues once they were in print.

Won a volunteer recognition award at the national conference in 2005:

http://www.upassoc.org/about_upa/for_the_press/press_releases/press.050615.html.

Society for Technical Communication

President of metropolitan New York chapter, 1990 1991. In that year, membership jumped from 100

to 400 members; the chapter won the international STC s top Chapter Achievement award in the 400

members or over category for 1990 1991. Also ran public relations for the STC international

conference in 1991. Current member of the Usability SIG and was profiled in the February 2005

newsletter at http://www.stcsig.org/usability/newsletter/0502 fowler.html

Education:

Fairleigh-Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ: May 2004

MAT in English as a second language.

University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT: May 1975

BA in English.

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