MARCI IKELER 70 Saint Marks Place, Apt. 4R New York, NY 10003 917-604-3769 marci@designmartini.com ----------------------------- SUMMARY ----------------------------- I have worked in the web and software industry since 1999. I’m passionate about creating usable, engaging interfaces for business and interactive projects. I have experience in the following areas: * Project Strategy – I strive to balance user requirements with business goals, leading to a result that is efficient, effective, and profitable. * Project Management – I work with clients to determine project strategy and follow through by creating statements of work, project plans, and budgets. * Interaction Design – I design interactive solutions using a variety of user-centered design practices, including contextual inquiry, usability testing, and heuristic reviews. By working with diverse mediums and industries, I have acquired extensive knowledge of best practices and design patterns. * Communication — I appreciate the importance of refining words until they communicate the right message to the right individual. I create all types of written deliverables, from technical functional specifications for software developers to executive level marketing summaries. ----------------------------- SKILLS ----------------------------- * Interaction design * Project Strategy * Project management * User interface design * Web development * Usability * Contextual evaluations * User research * Business analysis * Information architecture * Communications ----------------------------- OPERATING SYSTEMS ----------------------------- * Macintosh OS 9 - X * Windows 2000, XP ----------------------------- SOFTWARE ----------------------------- * Visio/ Omnigraffle * Microsoft Office * Microsoft Project * Photoshop * Illustrator * InDesign/ Quark * Dreamweaver * ImageReady * Flash * Acrobat * Axure ----------------------------- CODE ----------------------------- * XHTML/ CSS * XML/ XSLT * PHP/ ASP * .NET Framework * JavaScript/ DOM * SQL ----------------------------- EXPERIENCE ----------------------------- Freelance (Self-Employed), New York, NY USER EXPERIENCE CONSULTANT 7/2007-PRESENT * createthe group: Information Architect – Assisted with the information architecture, including site maps and wireframes, for high-fashion clients including Stella McCartney and Cusp. * Inertia Beverage Group: User Interface Designer – Assisted this wine e-commerce provider with an extensive redesign of their back-end software product, creating design patterns and standards for a sustainable and extensible design. * R/GA: Interaction Design Lead – Led the interaction design for a variety of projects for Discover Cards, spanning social media to web advertising. * Poke New York: User Experience Designer/ Project Manager – Performed user experience design for a startup web property called LoyalTV. Additionally, managed a team of designers and worked with a marketing company to refine the design strategy. * Needham : User Experience Designer – Performed business analysis and user experience design for an internal client and commission management system for this investment bank. Additionally, wrote training materials to support the released application. Roundarch, New York, NY SENIOR INFORMATION ARCHITECT 8/2006-6/2007 * User experience lead – managed teams of Information Architects for high-profile projects at Citigroup Prime Brokerage; * Usability specialist – conducted international contextual inquiries and usability tests and synthesized the results into pivotal strategic documents; * Interaction designer – created rich internet designs for complex displays of financial market data, utilizing the capabilities of technologies such as Flex, Laszlo, and Ajax; * Design strategist – worked with technical teams, business stakeholders, and project management to determine project strategies and ensure the success of the end products; * Internal thought leader – educated colleagues on user research methods, software tools, project methodologies, and design deliverables. Carbon Consulting Group, New York, NY SENIOR INTERACTION DESIGNER 3/2004-7/2006 * Interaction designer – created comprehensive designs and functional specifications for multi-million dollar software and web applications; * Business analyst – worked with users and clients to gather requirements and identify pressure points; * Usability specialist – performed heuristic reviews and iterative user testing to optimize the user experience of all products; * Design team manager – led the creation of all user-facing materials, including user interfaces, help, and training; * Business strategist – delivered pitches to new clients to market Carbon’s strengths, successfully expanding the company’s business. Goldman Sachs, New York, NY WEB DESIGN AND USABILITY CONSULTANT/ TECHNICAL LEAD 3/2002-3/2004 * Enterprise user-experience advocate – worked with senior management to integrate a design phase into all projects; * Interaction designer – designed and documented use cases for financial tools, market data resources, and content-driven web sites; * Usability specialist – performed heuristic reviews and iterative user testing to optimize the user experience of all products; * Technical lead– maintained a client-side framework used by all applications, using web technologies to develop Ajax style interactions; * Web standards evangelist – created an extensive library of web standards and design patterns which was heavily used by the development team. Shoplet.com, New York, NY WEB DESIGNER AND DEVELOPER 8/2001-2/2002 * Web designer and developer – successfully redesigned a 9 million+ page web site to update the company’s image, improving sales; * Product marketing manager – created highly profitable email mailing list, targeting over 800,000 opt-in users with weekly newsletters; * Graphic designer – completely redesigned the company’s corporate ID while still maintaining brand recognition; * Business strategist – created presentations for third-party investors such as 3M and Dell, developing the company’s business and increasing its influence. CarbonMedia, Inc., New York, NY WEB DESIGNER AND DEVELOPER 9/1999-9/2000 * Web designer and developer – designed and implemented client web sites, ranging from complex e-commerce to online company brochures; * Print designer – created client branding and printed advertisements; * Multimedia designer and developer – created interactive Flash animations and interfaces using complex ActionScript. Honeywell, Inc., Phoenix, AZ WEB DESIGN INTERN 5/1999-8/1999 * Web designer and developer – created Honeywell's largest intranet web site, controlled by a Content Management System, for an engineering team; * Continuity advisor – developed extensive guidelines and training materials on site maintenance to insure continuity. ----------------------------- EDUCATION ----------------------------- New York University, New York, NY 9/2001 BACHELOR OF ARTS - VISUAL ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY MAGNA CUM LAUDE ----------------------------- PORTFOLIO ----------------------------- http://www.designmartini.com/portfolio Please note that, due to the propriety nature of many of the projects I have worked on, some of my most recent work samples are not available online. However, I am happy to provide them in an interview setting.