Design Project

D ominika Ruszkowski

** ******* **., ********, *******, L6S 3P2

Phone: 905-***-**** E-Mail: *********@*****.*** References available upon request.

My objective is to secure a user research or user experience position continuing to expand my passion for human computer

interaction by cultivating my user behaviour research, user centered design and evaluation, interaction and interface design skills.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Strong user research experience from planning and executing user studies, analyzing user data for master thesis work

studying user behaviour with input devices and for text input on a mobile device developed by MSR Cambridge.

Exemplary communication, analytical, problem solving, and leadership skills from applying user centered design

methodology towards product design at Harris and IESO.

Excellent design skills acquired from prototyping and defining interface specification documents.

Works well individually and in a team environment; reliable, dedicated, and open-minded.

Fluent in English, French and Polish.

View Online Portfolio at www.cs.toronto.edu/~druszkow

EDUCATION

University of Toronto September 2009 to August 2010

M.Sc. in Computer Science specializing in Human Computer Interaction

Masters thesis focused on analyzing user behaviour using multiple input devices (mouse and touch) on a desktop.

Planned and executed task-based user studies, to evaluate and analyze behaviour we utilized interviews, questionnaires,

think-aloud, and observational methods.

Executed task-based user study to evaluate the learning curve for a mobile device entitled RearType where the keyboard

is fastened on the reverse of the device, which included user pre-screening, user observation, and task based studies.

Interesting courses taken: Autism and Technology, Critical Issues in Anthropology, Developmental Psychology, and

Knowledge Media and Design

University of Waterloo September 2004 to June 2009

Bachelor in Computer Science with Business Option, Co-operative Program (Honours)

Interesting courses taken: Human Computer Interaction (HCI), User Interfaces, Distributed Systems, and Geomatics

Skills acquired from HCI course included interviewing users, developing personas, task analysis of user s current

practices, scope definition, prototyping, heuristic evaluations, and poster presentations.

PUBLICATIONS

Scott J., Izadi S., Rezai L., Ruszkowski D., Bi X. Balakrishnan R. (2010) RearType: Text Entry Using Keys on the Back of a

Device. In Proceedings of the Conference on Human Computer interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 171-180.

COMPUTER PROFICIENCY

Excellent working knowledge of HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash.

Experience with JSF, JSP, Servlets, XML, and JasperReports including iReport.

Familiar with Java, C++, C, and Visual Basic.

Exceptional knowledge of MS Office 2003 and 2007: including Visio, Access, SharePoint, and Macro Programming.

Good understanding of the Windows Environment including Windows Touch in Windows 7; exposure to Unix, and Mac.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario September 2009 to April 2010

CSC318-Winter 2010 The Design of Interactive Computational Media

Mentored students in the user centered design process, user interviewing, task analysis, prototyping, and evaluating.

CSC180-Fall 2009 Introduction to Computer Programming (Language C)

Research Assistant Supervised by Ravin Balakrishnan

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario April to September 2009

Performed background domain research on mouse and touch input devices.

Planned and executed an exploratory user study to survey user reaction when combining direct and indirect input devices.

Program Manager

Microsoft, Redmond, Washington September to December 2008

Managed conference related materials such as hands on lab data and manuals, and Product Pavilion demos for Windows

Touch for the Professional Developers Conference.

Gathered and analyzed sample touch data in order to tune the multi-touch engine in Windows 7.

Aided to drive usability studies focused on Windows Touch in Windows 7.

Project Management Analyst

TELUS, Scarborough, Ontario January to April 2008

Completed product process quality assessments for Sales Channels Project Management Office on schedule, which

allowed the audit team to keep on top of assessments.

Developed macros that resulted in real time saving and improved accuracy for auditors when reporting assessment results.

Designed a Family Feud PowerPoint game for the Team Games Day, which provided a fun look and feel to the event.

Programmer Analyst

Independent Electricity System Operator, Mississauga, Ontario May to August 2007

Produced thorough scope document, system requirements, and test plan documents providing a comprehensive

communication medium for all entities involved in the project.

Prototyped web based user interfaces and corresponding data flow charts that served as an iterative design approach,

which highlighted issues earlier in the project life cycle.

Acquired knowledge of the JasperReports reporting tool, which allowed for quick design and integration of report

templates into the web application.

User Experience Designer

Harris Corporation, Waterloo, Ontario January to December 2006

Defined and captured requirements, which allowed the User Experience Design, team to understand the user's needs.

Specified thorough scope documents, use cases, interface specifications, software components and behaviour that aided

design and development of interfaces more efficiently.

Monitored and controlled the development against the specifications that helped the communication flow from the users

through the User Experience Design team to the product team.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Varsity Figure Skating Athlete

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario September 2009 to February 2010

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario September 2007 to February 2009

Gr8 Designs for Gr8 Girls for more information see http://web.cs.toronto.edu/dcs/gr8.htm

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario May 2009 and June 2010

Women In Math Undergraduate Committee Web Master, Women In Math Day

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario September 2005 to June 2009

INTERESTS, HOBBIES, AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Sports Achievement Awards for Gold: Interpretative, Dance, Skills, City of Brampton 2002-2004.

Sports: Figure Skating, Skiing, Tennis, and Swimming.

Leisure: Photography, Hiking up North, and Travelling.

Contact this candidate