Maggie T. Law

mlaw@recumbo.com

 

Professional Profile

I am comfortable in the role of user advocate, and enjoy working with customers and cross-functional development teams to create software end-user experiences that are innovative and satisfying to use. I am experienced with all phases of the software development cycle, and am a proponent of the user-centered design methodology. My professional and academic experience includes research and design projects in the areas of:

- Enterprise-scale supply chain management web applications.
- Public-facing promotional and informational web sites.
- Web-based virtual community and intranet sites.

Portfolio

Available online: http://www.recumbo.com/portfolio.html

Skills

- Programming and mark-up: (X)HTML, CSS; familiarity with JavaScript, Java, SQL, XML, UML diagramming.
- Web site production: Dreamweaver, Flash (incl. Actionscript), Homesite.
- Graphic design and flowcharting: Photoshop, Illustrator, Inspiration, PageMaker, QuarkXpress.
- Productivity: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Project, Visio; Lotus Notes; FileMaker Pro.
- Operating systems: Windows, Mac; basic UNIX proficiency (incl. vi).

Education

MIMS, School of Information Management & Systems, University of California, Berkeley

- First prize winner of the 2003 Dr. James R. Chen Award for The SF Muni Map final Masters project.
- Mitchell Departmental Fellowship recipient.

BA, Classical Languages, University of California, Berkeley

Experience

SAP AG

UI Designer, 02/2005 - present

As a member of the Design Services Team (DST) working out of the Office of the CEO, my project assignments are sponsored by SAP’s CEO and Executive Board. The charter of the DST is to practice and evangelize a user-centered design methodology (adapted from a curriculum by industrial design firm IDEO), and demonstrate the value of understanding end-user needs early in the software development process. I work closely with internal teams, employing numerous techniques (contextual inquiry, interviews, observations, participatory design, team brainstorming, and others) to produce designs through user advocacy while promoting a model of best practices for the company as a whole.

Oracle/PeopleSoft

Senior Interaction Designer, 09/2003 - 02/2005

As a member of the user experience team for PeopleSoft's Supply Chain Management product line, I supported three web applications: Purchasing, Strategic Sourcing, and Supplier Contract Management. I collaborated with teams of Software Developers, Product Managers, Functional Analysts, and Usability Engineers, incorporating customer and end-user research, to improve product usability and satisfaction. I conducted and participated in field research (on-site and remote), user interviews and surveys, competitive analysis, and product artifact analysis, and produced wire frames, interaction flows, and high-fidelity mockups. In addition, I played an active role in corporate initiatives related to the improvement of standards, guidelines, design patterns, and Section 508 compliance.

The CIO Collective

Webmaster and Designer, June 2000 - present (part-time contract)

I designed, developed and currently maintain a public informational site, and a members-only community networking site. The community site combines elements both of 3rd-party origin (a Perl-based message board and a search engine) and of my own creation (a self-service and annotated document library, a research request interface, and a member directory). I manage online research requests from associates in good standing; maintain digital document library (including selection and submission qualification, descriptor tagging, and composing executive summaries); moderate discussion board forums and manage access levels; and maintain membership records.

University of California, Berkeley

Graduate Tutor and Course Webmaster, 01/2002 - 05/2003

- Information Systems 213: User Interface Design & Development (Spring 2003, Prof. Marti Hearst)
- Information Systems 246: Multimedia Information (Spring 2003, Prof. Marc Davis)
- Information Systems 202: Information Organization & Retrieval (Fall 2002, Prof. Ray Larson & Marc Davis)
- Information Systems 214: User Needs & Assessment (Spring 2002, Prof. Nancy Van House)

In support of the above graduate-level courses, I was responsible for assignment assistance (in-class and homework), critiquing and grading; providing ongoing student consultation; attending instructional team meetings; and guiding student project work. I designed and developed original course websites for InfoSys 214 and InfoSys 246.

KMERA Corporation

Staff Consultant, 11/2000 - 12/2002

I consulted with clients; provided competitive research and analysis; designed and developed websites for internal and external publication (including a "virtual library" intranet site and an animated and interactive process mapping framework); and developed KMERA's corporate website.

Documentum, Inc.

Knowledge Resource Analyst, 04/1999 - 02/2000

As a member of internal IT web-based application team concerned with improved internal information distribution, I was responsible for performing business analysis (requirements, target users, information attributes and architecture, publishing needs and usability). I developed an HTML UI prototype of a next-generation system; supported the current system; pitched a multi-phase project roadmap; and managed cross-functional team discussions about features, training modules and content management issues.

Relevance Technologies

Office Manager, 5/1997 - 04/1999

I held primary responsibility for all aspects of office operations, including management of vendor accounts, payables, monthly financial records, HR and payroll service providers, banks, legal counsel, insurance, and loan representatives. I mentored and supervised a staff assistant.

Sumeria, Inc.

Operations Coordinator, 08/1995 - 05/1997

I established and maintained business relationships with distributors, resellers and foreign partners; supervised a Sales Manager; coordinated and contributed artwork for product disc labels, retail boxes, catalog graphics, brochures, and screen shots; and prototyped first company web site.

Presentations, Awards, and Publications

Forthcoming article for boxesandarrows.com

I am currently writing an article, to be published on boxesandarrows.com, detailing appropriate uses of first- and second-person pronouns ("my" vs. "your", etc.) in web-based service sites and web applications.

PeopleSoft Outstanding Contributor Award

I received a PeopleSoft Outstanding Contributor Award for Q2 2004.

Brown bag presentations at PeopleSoft

I have presented multiple times to internal teams of developers, functional analysts, strategists, and fellow User Experience colleagues on the topics of Excel-based UI prototyping and cascading style sheets.

Advisory committee member for the CIO Collective's 2004 Amy B. Kahn Award

I was invited to serve on the advisory committee for the 2004 Amy B. Kahn "Women in IT: Excellence in Leadership" Award. In this capacity, I reviewed, ranked, and annotated nominee packets, helping to determine the finalists and winners awarded 09/2004. (Announcement: http://www.cio-collective.com/topics/amy.html.)

SIMS guest lecture

I was invited by SIMS professor Nancy Van House to speak to the Information Systems 214 class on the topic of "Needs Assessment and User-Centered Design at PeopleSoft, Inc.", 03/2004.

Compendium article for IWPI

I authored an article on the topic of Personal Knowledge Management for the Information Work Productivity Institute (IWPI), 10/2003.

White paper for KMERA Corporation

I authored a white paper entitled "The KM Conundrum: History Lessons Point to a Brighter Future for Knowledge Management," 08/2001, which served as collateral for corporate consulting services.

Affiliations

Member, Association for Computing Machinery
Member, BayCHI, Bay Area ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction
Lifetime Member, Order of the Golden Bear, a service organization of U.C. Berkeley

Excellent professional and academic references available upon request.