
Designing interactive human experiences based on story and biological neural processes ++ben.sykes@gmail.com
San Francisco Bay Area

Designing interactive human experiences based on story and biological neural processes ++ben.sykes@gmail.com
San Francisco Bay Area
My experience design career started in the kitchen, designing edible interfaces. Little did I know my fine dining experience, coupled with my desire to tell great stories would turn me into the experience designer I am today.
I'm a "hands on" dev/design hybrid with 14 years experience designing / dev'ing positive human experiences for rich internet applications, desktop / soft clients and web sites.
o User Experience Design & Leadership
o Usability Testing and Contextual Inqury
o Neuro Design
o User Experience Evangelism WorldWide
o Motivation and People Management
o Iphone Application Development
o Facebook Application Development
o User Research
o Neuromarketing
o Heuristic Evaluation
o Human Computer Interaction
o Web 2.0 Application Development
o Interactivity in RIA’s utilizing technologies such as HyperVideo and interactive flash video.
(Internet industry)
2009 — Present (less than a year)
• Experience & interaction design consulting
• Interactive video / hypervideo widgets
• Mobile application development / Iphone UI design
(Public Company; CSCO; Computer Networking industry)
2008 — 2009 (1 year )
• WebEx & WebEx Connect
• Cisco Unified Personal Communicator
• Enterprise Instant Messaging Clients
• Web 2.0 Management Portal
(Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)
2006 — 2008 (2 years )
• GFS/MSN Ignition Portal - Microsoft Sharepoint
• TSP Plug-in for Visual Studio (VSTF)
• Microsoft Online Suite (saas)
(Internet industry)
September 2005 — August 2006 (1 year )
• Social network for fans and artists separate from the TV show, yet under the American Idol brand
• Print collateral (Rolling Stone, Music Connection)
(Military industry)
October 2001 — 2006 (5 years )
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Provided humanitarian support.
• Part of the "21 Days to Baghdad" documentary..
• Made decisions under extreme pressure and noise
• Combat Leadership
(Privately Held; Internet industry)
2004 — 2005 (1 year )
• Search engine: Information.com
• BlogSource - Social blogging platform
(Privately Held; Computer Software industry)
January 2001 — January 2004 (3 years 1 month)
• Project Director – EMTM (Interactive Training)
• Sr. Web Developer – Digev Corporate Web Site
• Project Manager / Dev – Corporate Intranet
• Sr. UI Designer – Sony APG Intranet
• UI Designer – Nissan Brand Performance System
• Flash Developer – The Zenith Insurance
• Lead Developer – Hewlett Packard CRM Site.
(Internet industry)
March 1995 — 2004 (9 years )
• 200 + client base
• Warner Brothers Music • Oracle • 5G Wireless
UCLA Portal • Siderean • NASA • NSA • Many More
(Entertainment industry)
December 1998 — February 1999 (3 months)
• Provided all panaflex video monitor feeds for the Director Sam Mendes, Writer: Alan Ball, and producers.
• Worked closely with the 1st & 2nd A.C.'s and Director of Photography Connie Hall.
• I M D B http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003777/
(Entertainment industry)
December 1993 — January 1994 (2 months)
• Director: Marc Rocco
• Production Company: Three Marks Productions
• Northridge Crew
(Entertainment industry)
June 1993 — August 1993 (3 months)
• Filled in during the double episode season.
• Assisting in managing of the production office, and acted as a fill-in liaison to cast and crew for production team.
(Entertainment industry)
1991 — 1993 (2 years )
Films Include:
o Money for Nothing - Dir. Ramon Menendez
o Blind Spot - Hallmark Hall of Fame
o The Fire Next Time - CBS Entertainment
o The Cemetery Club - Dir. Bill Duke - Touchstone Pictures
o Hoffa - Dir. Danny Devito - Jersey Films
o Citizen Cohn - Dir. Frank Pierson - HBO Pictures
o Innocent Blood - Dir. John Landis - Warner Brothers
o Striking Distance - Dir. Rowdy Herrington
Neuromarketing, Interactive Advertising, Prototype Development and Filing Patents!, SCUBA, Paint Ball, Video Production, Chroma Keying (green screen post), Fine Dining.
o UPA – Usability Professionals’ Association
o AIGA – American Institute of Graphic Arts
o ACM SIGCHI - Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction.
o HFES – Human Factors & Ergonomics Society
o STC – Society for Technical Communication
1. Numerous design awards.
2. Awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.