Mark Thompson-Kolar | Portfolio

• Guide Usability Team in successful completion of large portfolio of internal and external UX research/analysis projects.
• Project manage development of in-house usability heuristic knowledgebase.
• Evaluate web and mobile site usability using heuristic methods.
• Write and present usability reports to Fortune 500 or public sector clients.
• Provide best practice recommendations for content and usability improvements.

• Provided key support to ICPSR web and print publications and other communication vehicles, both print and web.
• Oversaw development of written, video, and social media content necessary to communicate and support the ICPSR mission.
• Developed of web information architectures; provided heuristic usability recommendations; managed communication assets; conducted article research; and developed written, photographic, and video content.

• Teach weekly sections of undergraduate psychology (Introduction to Psychology 111, and Ethnographic Writing 401).
• Provide all lesson plans and in-class materials, such as video segments, quizzes and assignment rubrics.
• Handle assigning, grading, and resolving of grade appeals.
• Collaborate with professor and other GSIs in course planning.
• Interact frequently with students in class, at office hours, and via electronic media.

• Wireframed/prototyped e-commerce store-administration web application in Axure.
• Recommended site improvements, and made bug/enhancement changes.

I facilitate a usability debrief meeting at Cengage Learning after a morning of testing sessions in July 2010. The testing used a modified version of the Steve Krug "Rocket Surgery Made Easy" process. (Photo by Sonali Mishra)

• Handled all aspects of preparation, execution and analysis of remote usability tests involving web applications in agile development atmosphere: Wrote test scripts, moderate sessions and recruit participants.
• Performed heuristic evaluations of existing products. Created site interaction maps.
• Took part in contextual inquiry interviews.
• Performed comparative analyses of database/research products.

• Key member of launch team for AnnArbor.Com print edition: Created InDesign templates and libraries.
• Coordinated daily print edition production for news and features sections.
• Edited content. Created mockups and performed hi-fidelity page design.
• Posted stories and images online to MLive.com statewide web site.
• Interacted with editors, reporters and production staff to ensure deadlines were met smoothly.

• Taught undergraduates about news writing and photography, and oversaw production of student publication.
• Created online edition of previously print-only publication using WordPress publishing platform.

• Assigned and edited news and features stories for two weekly editions.
• Posted stories, photos and graphics on MLive.com statewide web site.
• Mocked-up and designed hundreds of news pages for print editions.
• Trained new staff members on web production tasks.

• Created schedules for art/graphics/editing desk of 22.
• Oversaw complete redesign, including prototyping, staff training and creation of design stylebook.
• Worked closely with I.T. Department on all newsroom software, hardware and training initiatives.
• Trained 35 members of page production staff in Adobe InDesign during conversion from Quark XPress in 2005.
• Designed thousands of news and features pages on daily deadlines.
• Researched and wrote descriptive text for informational graphics.
• Directed publisher's Internal Development Task Force on companywide training.

• Coordinated research and production of maps, charts and graphics for large metropolitan newspaper.
• Managed staff of six news artists.

• Supervised 18-person Editing/Design/Website Department
• Created script-driven software process to translate all published text files from PC-based editing system into HTML code for newspaper Web site.
• Designed newspaper pages (primarily A1 and Business news); created infographics.
• Publication received nationwide Inland Press Association Front Page Contest top award 1995 and 1996.
• Wrote stories and briefs, selected wire copy and photos, designed daily and special section pages.
• Assigned breaking stories to reporters and planned centerpiece packages.
• Edited stories for content, style, and grammar.
• Oversaw production of daily pages and weekly tabloid.

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