Consult on or teach design of compelling, innovative, and marketable websites and applications that are easy to
use
Summary of Qualifications
25 years experience human
factors work in all phases of web and application design: lead generation,
problem analysis for enterprise and project levels, proposal writing,
project planning and management, client interaction, training and
mentoring, managing meetings, usability testing, document creation, and managing
project time.
Skills include situation
analysis, goal-identification, group problem-solving in workshop settings,
extensive user interface design (web and applications), enterprise
planning and consulting, instructional design, computer-based training,
and facilitating stand-up training with interactive, engaging style.
Diverse consulting experience
across private, public and enterprise sectors including financial
brokerages, insurance, medical equipment, manufacturing, national chain
management, health, military, eCommerce, intranet, customer service,
education, information, point-of-sale kiosk interaction, telecommunications
and travel, among others.
Excellent organizational, team
and project management skills. Wrote proposal and led National Institutes
of Health web redesign project, winning “Best of the Fed” award for
largest dollar project at HFI up to that time.
Professional Experience
Human Factors International, 1988 – 2008
HQ in Fairfield, IA
The largest and leading
international web and application design consultancy www.humanfactors.com, with emphasis on
training, cost-effective consulting, and institutionalization of sound
usability practices for Fortune 500 companies, government, and enterprises. HFI
began testing usability practitioners in 2002 for “Certified Usability Analyst”
recognition, now an industry standard.
Project
Director
Insured usability of web and
applications designs. Touched on all aspects of the design and testing
life-cycle (given above). Supervised one or more specialists including
successful mentoring of off-shore HFI employees.
Engagements often represented
$5 million -$15 million total software development investment by the
client and affected 500-15,000 end users or more. E.g., enterprise design
and standards projects include Pershing (Workstation), Reuters (Income
3000 traders station and DAC permissioning system), Electronic Joint
Ventures (EJV) (UniView bond analysis tool) and the Institute for
Neurological Disorders and Stroke public web site (see www.ninds.nih.gov). This latter
project included accessibility design and standards, as well (see http://accessible.ninds.nih.gov/
).
Writing projects include credit
application forms for Volkswagon, bill re-design for Sprint, seminar
scripting for Social Security Administration, consumer product
instructions for Avery-Dennison (over 20 sets of printing instructions).
Wrote design standards for enterprise B2B and B2C clients such as
Platinum, Allen Bradley (now owned by Rockwell Collins), J&H/KVI
(employee benefits services), McKesson-HBOC, Prodigy, World Span and
others . Created the first paper and web-based generic Web and GUI
standards offered by HFI as a stand-alone product.
Produced video product of HFI
founder Eric Schaffer instructing on GUI design.
Employee of the Year Award.
Project and publication list
available upon request to userexperience@sorflaten.com.
Lead
instructor
Successfully taught all HFI
seminars over 20 years in the U.S.,
U.K., Netherlands, Germany,
France, Norway, Mexico,
Philippines and India. Addressed
cultural differences for instruction.
Seminars included User Centered
Analysis (3 days), Usability Testing (2 days), Web and Application Design
(3 days), Putting Research into Practice (2 days), Practical GUI Design (2
or 3 days). Often incorporated client design challenges into the course
offering. Encouraged workshop atmosphere.
Selected to present video courses
for in-house HFI training as well as for the HFI flagship training product
“Essentials of Usability”.
Developed topics on usability methods
such as “winning at usability politics”, “active listening”, “online
testing” and “faceted navigation in support of decision-making”.
Received evaluations of “best
instructor” and “very engaging interaction”. Unedited evaluation reports
available upon request. Graduate of leading student-centered training
method taught bywww.bobpikegroup.com
Organized panel session on popular
and well-received “Winning at the Politics of Usability” for the 2008
Usability Professionals Association meeting. For this slide set and other
presentation materials seehttp://www.slideshare.net/johnsorflaten/NewBestPractice/
.
Trained in HFI’s pertinent
new course “How to Design for Persuasion, Emotion and Trust”. An approach
to discovering and promoting motivational drivers for user engagement. Seehttp://www.humanfactors.com/PETcourse.asp
Atrium Group, Fairfield, IA
1987-1988
Business
Development Executive
Evaluated client requirements
and recommended product solutions from line of microcomputer inventory
management software.
International Trading Group (ITG), Fairfield, IA
1987
Account
Executive
Obtained FINRA Series 3
certification for selling commodities and options (scored high at 94%).
Created easy-to-use
documentation manuals and demos. Received excellent reviews in PC Magazine
for documentation of application subsequently acquired by Computer
Associates.
Used “information mapping” to
write DB2 best practices standard for Ford Motor, Inc.
Re-designed nationally promoted
3-day seminar on computer-based training design.
Global Integration Technologies, Inc, Fairfield, IA
1983 - 1985
Training and
R&D Specialist
Invented ergonomic optimization
for Japanese word processor that resulted in a 40% decrease in training
time and a 10% increase in typing speed.
Invented software designs to
automate touch-typing task analysis and instructional sequencing. Co-wrote
computer-based-training specs and manual. Test participants typed faster
than the prior-year Japanese touch-typing champion. Co-applicant on
several patents.
San JoseStateUniversity, San Jose, CA
-- Lecturer in TV Production and Broadcasting
US. Air Force, Orlando and Tampa, FL; Vietnam –
Motion Picture Production Officer, Captain, Unit Commander at U.S. Strike
Command (top secret clearance).
Certifications and Professional
Memberships
Certified Usability Analyst, Human
Factors International, 2002 -
#220
Certified Professional
Ergonomist, HFES
Member of UPA
Education
PhD, Instructional Design and
Technology, University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA
MA, Foundations of Education,
MUM, Fairfield, IA
BA, Cinematography, University of Southern
California, Los
Angeles, CA
