
Freelance interaction designer & consultant at www.purecaffeine.com
Canberra Area, Australia

Freelance interaction designer & consultant at www.purecaffeine.com
Canberra Area, Australia
I am seeking Canberra-based full-time or casual employment, contract and off-site freelance roles in web user experience and interaction design for work ranging from conceptual design, modelling and prototyping through preparing UI specifications and wireframes to HTML/CSS/JS implementation.
Over the past nine years in both private and public sector I have become a highly competent and experienced user interaction designer specialising in front-end web development with a diverse range of supplementary skills and experience from system administration, web content writing, website management, project management and general administration through to social media and Government 2.0.
As an interaction designer I conceptualise, model, prototype, test, design and implement complex rich internet application (RIA) interfaces applying user-centered design (UCD) techniques. I validate my designs through peer consultation, user testing (on-site/contextual, group, surveys), expert heuristic and end user usability and accessibility testing. I am adept at standards-compliant HTML development, CSS and JavaScript including AJAX, YUI and jQuery. My implemented interfaces are W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines compliant – both WCAG 1.0 and 2.0.
accessibility, blogging, brand monitoring, cross-browser compatibility, css, google analytics, html, ixd, javascript, mysql, online community management, php, project management, prototyping, social experience design, social media, sql, usability, user experience design, user interaction design, user interface design, user interface specifications, user testing, user-centered design, ux, w3c, web content writing, web design, web development, web front-end development, web statistics, wordpress
(Information Technology and Services industry)
October 2009 — Present (2 months)
Imagine Innovation is a new start-up in Canberra that specialises in technology solutions, frameworks and processes that support innovation primarily in government but also the private sector. My business partner Rae Buerckner and myself as strong supporters of the Government 2.0 initiative in Australia and whilst continuing our community involvement we will be developing the capacity to be able to provide government with advise and assistance in implementing web 2.0, social media, open data and citizen-centric service delivery design.
(Self-Employed; Information Technology and Services industry)
September 2009 — Present (3 months)
I am seeking Canberra-based full-time or casual employment, contract and off-site freelance roles in web user experience and interaction design for work ranging from conceptual design, modelling and prototyping through preparing UI specifications and wireframes to HTML/CSS/JS implementation, front-end development, W3C compliance & accessibility, usability evaluations and social media strategy development & deployment.
(Public Company; OTEX; Computer Software industry)
September 2009 — October 2009 (2 months)
During my four-week fixed contract to Open Text I provided HTML, CSS and JavaScript front-end development and testing services to their client Optus at the Optus Campus in Sydney.
I took two Vignette-based web application products and developed a consolidated, integrated and extensible web user interface framework which used a range of rich, dynamic features including several jQuery UI plugins.
I also provided W3C WCAG accessibility compliance and usability recommendations as well as a style guide.
I cut structural HTML markup and CSS by over 50%, implemented unobtrusive JavaScript and increase the maintainability and performance of the UI.
(Government Agency; Government Administration industry)
May 2007 — September 2009 (2 years 5 months)
At DEEWR I worked on the Training.gov.au project and facilitated iterative design sessions through paper and whiteboard prototyping through to user testing and co-produced high-fidelity HTML, CSS and JavaScript prototype interfaces for a complex data management tool and later oversaw and assisted with the implementation of the production-grade interfaces including conducting accessibility and usability testing.
I started off working at DEEWR as a website manager responsible for the National Training Information Service (NTIS). When I started at the Department the website was not meeting business and user requirements due to performance issues and business process issues. I worked with the Department, stakeholders, the software development services provider and hosting provider to make system configuration changes to increase performance and institute new business processes which resulted in a very high increase in website content throughput and accuracy for publication.
At DEEWR I also performed in the role of a project manager and conducted risk assessments, wrote stakeholder engagement, communication and social media strategies, user testing and training reports, functional and non-functional requirements, vendor services contracts and web analytics implementation plans.
(Sports industry)
November 2008 — February 2009 (4 months)
I worked as a part-time freelance designer and front-end developer on this new start-up company to implement web user interfaces using HTML and CSS that integrated with the KickApps CMS.
(Information Technology and Services industry)
May 2002 — September 2007 (5 years 5 months)
I started this business when I was 18. It was a part-time on-the-side freelancing operation I conducted in addition to my full-time job at Catalyst Interactive, the AFP and Dept. of Health and Ageing although I did bring on subcontractors for various projects, mainly graphic designers. I did all the interaction design, front-end development, information architecture, back-end coding, client liaison and project management.
Clients included a local cosmetics retailer, international aid project management agency, environmental lobbyist, clothing and accessories retailer, children's athletics group, mobility equipment retailer and more.
I closed down the business in 2007 after it became untenable to continue, having unsuccessfully attempted to bring on-board business partners.
(Government Agency; Government Administration industry)
November 2006 — April 2007 (6 months)
I worked with the development team for Aged Care Australia and facilitated web user interface implementation by providing advice and contributing my CSS design skills. I also provided advanced content development skills to the Seniors portal.
(Government Agency; Law Enforcement industry)
January 2004 — October 2006 (2 years 10 months)
At the AFP I worked on information architecture, content and deployment of the intranet AFPHub, then worked on the corporate website MySourceMatrix CMS deployment and integration. I also ran the WebTrends web analytics instance. I designed, developed and deployed the Australian High-Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) website also on MySourceMatrix.
(Privately Held; E-Learning industry)
January 2001 — May 2003 (2 years 5 months)
As a developer at CI I worked mainly with web technologies to build and deliver both web-based and CD-ROM-based e-learning applications, internet and intranet sites for clients including Qantas, Optus, Department of Defence, ANZ and the ATO.
Cert IV Assessment and Workplace Training , 2004 — 2004
Diploma , Information Technology (Multimedia) , 2000 — 2000
web, technology, innovation, open democracy, government 2.0, music, photography
Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA), Web Standards Group (WSG), BarCampCanberra, Web Directions, Free Australia Wireless. Web Essentials 05 conference, Web Directions South 06, 07 and 08 conferences, BarCampSydney, Web Directions South Government 08 conference, Edge of the Web 08 conference, CTUB, Social Media Club Canberra.