CEO of Optimal Usability
New Zealand
- Current
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- Director at Optimal Experience
- Director of Marketing and Communications at Usability Professionals' Association
- Director at Optimal Products
- CEO at Optimal Usability
- Past
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- Technical Lead at Last.co.nz
- Freelance software developer (Self-employed)
- Software Engineer at Unisys
- Education
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- University of Waikato
- Recommended
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3 people have recommended Trent - Connections
-
500+
connections
- Industry
- Information Technology and Services
- Websites
Trent Mankelow’s Summary
http://twitter.com/trentmankelow
Trent Mankelow is the co-founder and director of Optimal Usability, New Zealand's leading usability consultancy company. Since 2002 Optimal Usability has observed over 3,500 people interacting with websites, software, cellphones, automated phone systems and consumer electronics for 130+ clients in 17 industries such as Trademe, Vodafone, Navman, Westpac, Yahoo!, ACC and many others.
Trent is the CEO of the Optimal group of companies, including Optimal Usability, Optimal Products (the product development arm), Optimal Experience (Australian subsidiary, with offices in Sydney and Canberra).
His role includes client management, people management, marketing and leadership (including strategy, vision, values).
He is the President of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) in New Zealand, and Director of Marketing and Communications for the worldwide UPA board. Trent has a computer science degree from Waikato University and is (relatively) fluent in Spanish.
Trent Mankelow’s Specialties:
Usability, user experience, UX, user-centred design, accessibility, customer experience, CX, business strategy, human factors, human-computer interaction, HCI, information architecture, interaction design, experience design.
Trent Mankelow’s Experience
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Director
Optimal Experience
(Information Technology and Services industry)
2008 — Present (1 year)
Optimal Experience is the newest in the Optimal group of companies. It operates in Australia from two offices in Sydney and Canberra, and focuses on the strategic side of the user experience (UX), including building internal teams, setting the UX vision, and mentoring and training.
My responsibilities as a Director include:
* Strategy
* Sales and Marketing
* Leadership -
Director of Marketing and Communications
Usability Professionals' Association
(Information Technology and Services industry)
January 2008 — Present (1 year 7 months)
As Director of Marketing and Communications my primary responsibility is to advise on branding and marketing for all UPA projects and initiatives. I am also responsible for ensuring that UPA member communications are consistent, suit an international audience and have the right level of frequency.
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Director
Optimal Products
(Information Technology and Services industry)
2007 — Present (2 years)
Optimal Products is the product development arm of Optimal Usability, that we created in 2007 to commercialise software tools for user experience professionals. Our first product was Optimal Sort, which has been used by more than 3,500 customers worldwide including many Fortune 500 companies. In early 2009 we launched two new products - Chalkmark and Treejack.
In my role as Director I operate at a strategic level, helping to set the direction of the company. -
CEO
Optimal Usability
(Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)
October 2002 — Present (6 years 10 months)
Please see summary above for more information.
My responsibilities include:
* Usability and strategic consultancy (including project management)
* Client and account management
* New business development
* Marketing
* Financial management and reporting
* Long-range strategic planning and reporting
* Staff development
* Writing and running usability training
* Quality control -
Technical Lead
Last.co.nz
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
May 2002 — October 2003 (1 year 6 months)
Working for a start-up company in Wellington, New Zealand, that never quite got off the ground.
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Freelance software developer
Self-employed
(Self-Employed; Myself Only; Information Technology and Services industry)
October 2001 — May 2002 (8 months)
Various consulting software development and consultancy projects.
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Software Engineer
Unisys
(Public Company; UIS; Outsourcing/Offshoring industry)
January 2000 — September 2001 (1 year 9 months)
Worked as a software engineer on a number of innovative telecommunications projects for Unisys, for domestic and international clients.
Trent Mankelow’s Education
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University of Waikato
BCMS , Human Computer Interaction, Software Engineering , 1996 — 1999
Graduated with First Class Honours
Additional Information
Trent Mankelow’s Websites:
Trent Mankelow’s Interests:
Building businesses, tramping, DJing, Spanish, South American culture, Argentina, reading, listening to music, international travel, productivity techniques
Trent Mankelow’s Groups:
Usability Professionals Association (UPA), UPA NZ, New Zealand Computer Society, New Zealand Institute of Management, Unlimited Potential, CHINZ, CreativeHQ
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Usability Professionals' Association International (UPA-I) -
Boxes and Arrows -
PDMA-NZ -
Wellington, NZ -
The ICEHOUSE -
UXalliance
Trent Mankelow’s Honors:
Deloitte Fast 50, Fastest Growing Exporter - Wellington Region, 2008
Deloitte Fast 50, Fastest Growing Services Company - Wellington Region, 2008
Deloitte Fast 50, Fastest Growing Services Company - Wellington Region, 2007
Deloitte Fast 50, 27th Fastest Growing Company, 2007
Incubators Association of New Zealand, Hall of Fame, 2007
Incubators Association of New Zealand, New Zealand Start-Up of the Year, 2006
Wellington Gold Awards, Finalist - Emerging Gold, 2006
Unlimited Potential Life Member, 2004
Trent Mankelow’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
