Work Experience

Self-Employed, December 2008 – present

Freelance Web Designer, UI Designer, Content Strategist, and Writer

Indianapolis, Indiana

I perform contract work as a web and software UI designer, copywriter, content strategist, and information designer. Clients include Enduring Investments, StonyCreek Golf Club, Circle City Athletics, Gamma Code, and DB Services.

Carnegie Mellon University, January 2007 – May 2008

Research Assistant / Instructional Designer

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I worked with Professors Suguru Ishizaki and Stacie Rohrbach to develop an eLearning program to teach communication design to non-designers. My role was establishing measurable learning goals, designing movie tutorials, and performing user testing to ensure students were learning the intended material. Tasks included researching and applying multimedia learning techniques, editing scripts, and developing a user testing protocol.

Young|Wells Marketing • Communications, October 2005 – June 2006

Traffic Manager

San Francisco, California

I managed design projects with budgets totaling $5 million annually. I researched and implemented firm-wide project management software to allow easier budget oversight, project scheduling, and greater agency-to-client transparency. Additional responsibilities included gathering vendor estimates and ensuring on-time deliverables.

CDS Strategy Consulting, January 2002 – August 2005

Communication Strategist

Palo Alto, California

I worked in concert with attorneys and the CEO/Creative Director to distill complex information into clear and compelling stories for judges and juries. My primary duty was synthesizing and simplifying legal, scientific, and technical arguments into logical stories using plain English. Developing trial strategies occurred in week-long brainstorming sessions that covered risk assessment, rebuttals, and case-in-chief development. Case exposure ranged from a few million dollars to multi-billion dollar lawsuits.

Education

Carnegie Mellon School of Design, January 2006 – May 2008

Master of Design, Communication Planning & Information Design

My program of study was a human-centered design degree combining writing and communication design with additional coursework in multimedia learning, interaction design, service design, and design research.

Indiana University – Bloomington, August 1996 – December 1999

Bachelor of Arts, General Studies, Arts & Humanities

My program of study comprised of coursework from many different disciplines, including writing, history, sociology, and fine art.

Accomplishments

Recently launched a website re-design that is delivering a 500% increase in page views and rapidly growing their email address database

Wrote and designed courtroom communication strategies for some of the largest lawsuits in U.S. history

Part of a small team that designed, developed, and tested the first eLearning program for communication design

Published in two design conference proceedings for work in developing the first eLearning program for communication design

Won a logo and identity system design contest for a new philanthropic organization, The Fine Foundation

Designed and developed an eLearning prototype to help beginning designers learn to identify typefaces

Presented on presentation design to undergraduate and graduate classes at Carnegie Mellon

Chosen by Carnegie Mellon faculty to represent the student body on the committee to find a new Head of the School of Design

Chosen by classmates to be the Carnegie Mellon graduation day speaker for the School of Design