Jon Lesser

Current

• Web Application Developer at University of California, Berkeley

Past

• Teaching Assistant at University of California, Berkeley
• User Researcher (intern) at Dabble
• Lab Manager at School of Print Media, RIT

• Web Developer at JazzTimes
• Editorial Assistant at Umbrage Editions
• Research Assistant at RIT’s Digital Media Library Task Force
• Multimedia Producer at Rochester Institute of Technology
• Intern at Finlay Printing

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5 more...

Education

• University of California, Berkeley
• Rochester Institute of Technology

Connections

101 connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

• My Website

Jon Lesser’s Summary

I am a creative technologist with experience in both the design and implementation of web applications. I am interested in how people interface with technology and how to design technology that people can use.

Jon Lesser’s Specialties:

Qualitative and quantitative usability methods. Programming experience with Java, Python, and PHP. Web development with HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript (jQuery). Solid visual design skills. Expert knowledge of Photoshop and InDesign, experience with Maya. Experience with machine learning and natural language processing. Formal training and practical experience in project management.

Jon Lesser’s Experience

• Web Application Developer

  University of California, Berkeley

  (Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)

  January 2007 — Present (1 year 9 months)

  Working with Professor Coye Cheshire, I designed and built software for an NSF funded experiment that explores the importance of the form of exchange in developing trust within an online network. I coded the application with a combination of XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Django, a web framework written in Python.

• Teaching Assistant

  University of California, Berkeley

  (Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)

  September 2006 — December 2006 (4 months)

  As a teaching assistant for "Distributed Computing Applications and Infrastructure", I developed and led lab sections on Java programming and graded assignments on networking and cryptographic protocols. I also held regular office hours.

• User Researcher (intern)

  Dabble

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  May 2006 — August 2006 (4 months)

  Dabble.com allows people to find and collect online video hosted anywhere on the internet. During my internship, I wrote SQL scripts to identify and characterize active users and then engaged several users in semi-structured interviews. I provided design feedback and usability recommendations based on my work. I also evaluated functional testing tools for quality assurance.

• Lab Manager

  School of Print Media, RIT

  (Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Printing industry)

  September 2002 — June 2005 (2 years 10 months)

  Working with another manager, I was responsible for managing twenty-five lab assistants and administering their quarterly evaluations. To improve the lab's efficiency, I designed and built a web application with PHP and MySQL that replaced several paper-based procedures and greatly improved information sharing between lab assistants.

• Web Developer

  JazzTimes

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Publishing industry)

  May 2004 — August 2004 (4 months)

  I redesigned the navigation of JazzTimes.com and then sketched and implemented a new visual design. I worked to improve the ColdFusion backend by migrating presentation code from HTML to CSS and integrating a system of headers and footers.

• Editorial Assistant

  Umbrage Editions

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Publishing industry)

  June 2003 — August 2003 (3 months)

  Umbrage produces high-quality visual books, traveling exhibitions, and multimedia projects. I set and proofread copy, finalized QuarkXPress documents for press, and managed thousands of original photographs. I am credited in three books: "Pandemic: Facing Aids", "The Last Paradise", and "2-4-6-8".

• Research Assistant

  RIT’s Digital Media Library Task Force

  (Educational Institution; 1-10 employees; Libraries industry)

  March 2003 — May 2003 (3 months)

  Collaborating with librarians, professors, and technical staff, I researched dozens of software packages and digital library standards. I also helped to develop and administer a needs assessment survey of faculty.

• Multimedia Producer

  Rochester Institute of Technology

  (Educational Institution; 1-10 employees; E-Learning industry)

  September 2001 — May 2003 (1 year 9 months)

  I worked with Professor Bob Chung as an undergraduate assistant to produce multimedia content for online courses in color science. I used Final Cut Pro to capture, edit, and compress video. I then used PDF to combine laboratory instructions with video demonstrations.

• Intern

  Finlay Printing

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Printing industry)

  July 2001 — August 2001 (2 months)

  Between high school and college, I took an internship with Finlay, a medium-sized, sheet-fed printer. I rotated throughout the facility experiencing each aspect of their workflow from prepress to bindery. I also did some development using FileMaker Pro and created PDF proofs for client approval.

Jon Lesser’s Education

• University of California, Berkeley

  MIMS, Information Science, 2005 — 2007

• Rochester Institute of Technology

  BS, New Media Publishing, 2001 — 2005

Additional Information

Jon Lesser’s Websites:

• My Website

Jon Lesser’s Interests:

typography, photography, making electronics, printing (screen and letterpress), drumming, recording (audio and video), visiting museums, backpacking

Jon Lesser’s Groups:

Association for Computing Machinery

•    UC Berkeley School of Information
•    Obama for America
•    RIT Alumni Group - Rochester Institute of Technology
•    Rochester Institute of Technology - College of Imaging Arts and Sciences Alumni

Jon Lesser’s Honors:

SIMS Graduate Fellowship
Rochester Institute of Technology Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar
Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholar
International Newspaper Group Scholar

Jon Lesser’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch