Karl G Vochatzerkarl.vochatzer@gmail.com

(512) 940 9392

Two decades of user-centered design utilizing broad expertise in research, design and evaluation

Emphasis on Browser-based and Windows-based enterprise-level applications

Working within Agile and interdisciplinary teams, start ups, large enterprise, consultancy, agency, and freelance

Founded upon research design methodology in Experimental Cognitive Psychology (MS degree)

User-centered iterative methods and techniques

◦ Focus on actual users of the product and the tasks they do

Adaptive and evolving versus rigid and static

◦ Suiting long or short time frames with full or light resources

Accommodates business needs, goals and outcomes

Involves:

◦ Discovery Research and Ideation

◦ Information Architecture and Interaction Design

◦ Feedback, Evaluation and Iterative Redesign

The product◦ A data center application to gather, store and manage software

update files and packages for all data center and client hardware

My role◦ The sole UX Designer, Researcher and Usability Engineer within

an Agile development process

Challenges◦ Create new UX framework to eliminate design issues and solve

usability problems while incorporating new business goals while reusing as much legacy code as possible for maximum efficiency

My high-level DESIGN APPROACH

◦ Win over product owner, development lead and whole team

◦ Assess issues and brainstorm solutions

◦ Gather insights through user-based research studies and customer site visits

◦ Iterate on the UX design framework by usability testing and validating design direction with existing users

◦ Adapt to unexpected changes in direction, requirements and scope

◦ Collaborate on new visual design style to complement my design, information architecture, and page-by-page layout

◦ Exit: Leave team with a design direction

Snapshots of the LEGACY VERSION◦ Lots of room for improvement

The starting point of the app

An opened repository

A task wizard

Some ISSUES to resolve in old version:◦ Separate versions for data center hardware (server,

storage and network) and client (laptop and PC)

◦ No central storage of repositories (no database)

◦ No clear starting point for the user

◦ Poor layout and organization of interface elements

◦ Lack of object and visual consistency

◦ Filter pane issues

Always present even when nothing to filter

Poorly associated with objects being filtered

Often mistaken as navigation

First steps, some IDEATION: ◦ Early whiteboard sketches of possible concepts and solutions

The beginning of something…

… that continued to evolve

Next, gather USER INSIGHTS through user studies◦ Results redirected team plans and ideas

◦ Maximized success by involving team members

A page from my focus group results that tested assumptions and informed design

Define INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE for the Dev Team

A page from my high-level design doc that structured the app and guided sprint planning

WIREFRAME mockups:◦ Iterate on UX design as new insights learned, requirements

and platform are set (and changed)

Snapshot views of my design as it evolved into a final design framework

DEMONSTRATE elemental changes from the old version to the new

A page from my documentation defining the refactoring of the UX

Refine the design based upon USABILITY RESULTS (both quantitatively and qualitatively)

A page from my results presentation of an 8-participant usability test

COLLABORATE on visual design from layout to branding

A page from my wireframe…

… and the Visual Designer’s final treatment

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT during sprint demos/reviews

◦ Catch errant implementation during build releases and reiterate the design intentions

A page from my sprint review

ADAPT to new requirements and changes

◦ A new Welcome page introduced users to the new version

A page from my UX design wireframe addendum

INVESTING in the future of the Repository Manager

◦ Although reassigned to support other Dell products, I left the team with design direction for future improvements

Pages from my sketch notebook for the team’s next release

A success story:

◦ Downloads went up 250% from the previous version

Second highest application download rate at Dell

◦ Highly rated by customers

Qualitative feedback that it’s “much cleaner and easier to navigate” than previous versions

What worked well?◦ A good user experience design process

That included identifying problems, gathering insights with users, devising solutions, iteratively mocking-up and testing designs with users, and staying involved throughout the whole development life cycle to maintain the integrity of the design

◦ Conducting research with the team’s involvement

That led to team cohesion and cooperation (i.e., less time justifying design and more time refining and implementing it)

◦ Co-location within the marketing and development team

That facilitated close communication, shared vision, collaborative ideation and problem-solving

Lessons learned◦ Executives throw some wicked curve balls!

Expect the unexpected through strategic planning and prioritization

Fortunately, the requirements and the design held their integrity when an Executive mandate significantly scaled back the scope of the new version

◦ Account Executives are guarded about their customers

When access to users at customer sites is essential for gaining insights, requirements and validating designs (and when is it not?!), win over AE’s early because old habits of guarded mistrust die hard and can slow down or block some of the feedback loops with users

Fortunately, I conducted ample research during the Agile Planning process with some key stakeholders and users

Dell Advanced Infrastructure Manager◦ Company acquired by Dell◦ Browser-based application to manage data center

infrastructure (e.g., unified resource management, disaster recovery, failover protection and workload migration)

My Roleo Usability Program Steward of the acquisition

Challenges◦ Execute on a usability plan at a tactical and strategic

level to alleviate usability problems and to refactor it into the Dell Enterprise family of products and brand

Conduct design reviews◦ Review evolving development builds for design issues and

provide solutions to themA page from my UX design review

Manage the usability process◦ Formulate plan of action for research and usability

The introduction to my usability research plan for the project

Facilitate brainstorm sessions ◦ Concept ideation through team brainstorming

The session yields a dashboard concept for more exploration

Results◦ 90% success rate of implementing usability

solutions to improve the user experience of AIM

◦ Kick-started the research process that led to the final designs of dashboard interfaces across all enterprise apps

Company acquired by Dell

Stand-alone software: ◦ Browser-based application for back up, replication and

recovery of enterprise data utilizing hardware systems across vendors

◦ My role as Usability Program Steward Establish a process of usability testing to uncover issues and to

plan for future road map solutions

Appliance product: ◦ The browser-based application modified and bundled with

Dell hardware as an appliance

◦ My role as UX Designer Modify existing application by integrating new requirements for

configuring the appliance system and provisioning storage

Dell AppAssure Stand-alone Software◦ Conduct usability evaluations

A page from my usability test results presentation

Dell AppAssure Stand-alone Software◦ Communicate detailed results for more in-depth analysis

A table of detailed results from my usability test presentation

Dell AppAssure Appliance◦ Design appliance specific GUI and define its behaviors

A page out of my annotated

UX design wireframe for provisioning

appliance storage

Create proof of concepts as research tools

A snapshot from my UX storyboard for testing a new product idea

Serve as a process leader within UX◦ Addressing variations in testing procedures within the department

A page from my presentation establishing a unified methodology

My detailed annotations of designs at LSI (circa 2008)

A page from my design specification for improving a storage application

iChime Instant Messenger for the i-Opener Internet device (circa 2000)

◦ The challenge: How to handle multiple IM sessions into a single-window interface [NOTE: I may have been the first to design IM conversations

into a tabbed interface. Prior to iChime, all IM apps at that time used separate windows for

individual conversations.]My initial sketch of the i-Chime interfaceMy functional flow diagram

What a few colleagues have to say about working with me◦ Ray Hebert – Sr. Product Marketing at Dell

“As the Product Manager for a product that has a dated look and feel, it is always good to have someone on your team that hasthe experience and knowledge to lead the development of a new User Interface with an eye towards making the product more intuitive for the end user. Karl stepped in and took control, without his leadership the product would not be half as user friendly as it is now.”

◦ Brian Taylor – Sr. UX Researcher and Designer at Dell

“Karl is a talented and highly knowledgeable user experience designer and researcher. As a colleague, Karl was skillful at developing and executing a user research strategy, interpreting the results, and creating impressive designs and well-thought out research read-outs. We worked together on several programs Dell, and I always enjoyed Karl's passionate and collaborative approach to improving the usability of even the most complex products.”

◦ Jenny Loza – Principal UX Architect at Eucalyptus Systems

“Karl is a dedicated and passionate UX designer who works hard to achieve designs that are both easy to implement and easy to use. He works well in collaborative atmospheres and has an easygoing personality that makes him a pleasure to be around everyday. He was able to quickly grasp the intricacies of designing for a complex technology like RAID storage and turn out simpleyet meaningful designs. I would not hesitate to hire Karl to work on any UX design project.”

◦ Matthew Weprin – Sr. UX Designer at HP

“Working at LSI (and prior at Prudential) with Karl I found him as a person with great skills and deep proficiency of UX and Human Factors. Karl is one of the most valuable people I have ever met and the second organization working with Karl. Insightful, result driven, user oriented and efficient designer - that's him! Loyal, honest, precise and great team player whom you can always trust. It's amazing to work with such a wonderful person and I was lucky enough to do so twice.”

◦ Amy Van Wyngarden – Marketing & Customer Experience Consultant

“Working in a startup environment with Karl, I saw him deal very well with change, ambiguity, and aggressive deadlines. No matter how challenging the situation, Karl remained composed, professional and committed. And, he readily stepped up to take on more work and responsibilities. Regarding his approach to his work, he was very methodical and thorough despite the time constraints. The end results were always solid and based in sound UI principles. Karl is a great communicator and collaborator so working with him was always a pleasure. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Karl again.”