With a deep command of interaction design principles and a keen grasp of user research practices, I fuse user needs with business requirements to produce solutions that engage and compel.

Download a PDF copy of my resume. (43k)

While my research efforts for the last 18+ years have been steeped in the world of commerce and enterprise offerings, my grounding in traditional, rigorous academic research means I bring a very robust understanding of what makes for good user research and the best way to undertake it.

As a result, I deliver comprehensive, effective test design, deployment, execution, documentation, and analysis. My reporting—direct and easily consumed—is geared to support evidence based decision making, as this 2.3Mb PDF screen capture of an online research outcomes report shows.

Ethnographic/Field

Classic participant observation investigations of people where they work, are entertained, and shop is where my roots in anthropology rise to meet business needs. In traditional field research, understanding why people do what they do requires keen observation and open conversations based on empathy. Learning the motivations, expectations, and behaviours of people using digital resources is deeply enhanced by taking a similar approach. I’ve integrated this approach with other sources of user insight, like data analytics and testing, to establish the context necessary to create relevant and meaningful experiences.

Task Analysis (remote/in-person)

Sometimes called “usability testing,” these one-on-one sessions have come to form the foundation of much research into people’s needs and behaviours. I’ve designed and administered moderated, un-moderated, remote, and in-person versions of these investigations for ecommerce, financial services, government intranet, customer service, and enterprise offerings. In all cases, I’ve surfaced insights that vitally improved target audience satisfaction due, not just in part, to my methodical approach and ability to surface crux points in user feedback.

Eye Tracking & Heatmap Studies

Working with the Tobii system, I’ve supported and administered eye tracking studies for content heavy resources and consumer sites. By taking a broad, comprehensive approach to user behaviour research, I’ve identified those times when eye tracking could deliver the best value, effectively balancing utility and cost.

A/B (un/moderated, remote/in-person)

I’ve deployed A/B testing both as a stand alone examination of a single interface element and an integrated component within other research techniques to develop deep, layered cross-sectional user profiles. Employing both live channelling and rapid prototyping, I’ve managed A/B tests in real time, responding to trends as they emerge.

Focus Groups (remote/in-person)

More than marketing style focus groups, I’ve directed remote and in-person usability focus groups that explore people’s behaviours and mindsets, not just their preferences and impressions, when interacting with a product. By positioning this kind of research in the early stages of design, I’ve driven product conception and requirement gathering to solutions for explicit user needs, not imagined possibilities.

Cluster Analysis/Card Sort (un/moderated, remote/in-person)

Whether for content parsing, information architecture, or strategic planning, I’ve customised cluster analysis sessions to surface the most cogent data for decision making.

Surveys/Questionnaires (remote/in-person)

Be it System Usability Scale style questionnaires integrated with other research, targeted inquiries focusing on specific interfaces, or complex compare-and-contrast explorations with multimedia embeds, my surveys get to the heart of what people are thinking and feeling.

"I am happy to recommend Daniel to anyone looking to improve the user experience on their products. I worked with Daniel on a large and complex intranet product where he was a senior member of the user experience team. Daniel brought a wealth of experience, expertise and rigour to the team’s activities and led the whole project team to evidence-based decisions about the user interface and experience. He was particularly effective at demonstrating where small changes requiring little development effort would lead to substantial improvements for our users."

David McGough, Product Manager - OTMM, OpenText

“I always appreciated Daniel’s strong focus on championing the user needs behind every decision made. He brought a wealth of experience and theory to the team. Always creating and thinking through very tough design and usability problems under very tight timelines. He’s a thorough guy, detailed-oriented, always looking for new ways to do things better. Not bound by the status quo or old, tired processes, Daniel takes ideas and runs with them, always ready to lead change. I would have no reservations recommending him anytime!”

Steve Smith, Manager, Enterprise Intranet at Treasury Board Secretariat - Communications Branch, Government of Ontario

“Daniel brought a wealth of experience, expertise and rigour to the team’s activities and led the whole project team to evidence-based decisions about the user interface and experience. He was particularly effective at demonstrating where small changes requiring little development effort would lead to substantial improvements for our users.”

David Tallan, Senior Manager, Enterprise Web Development, Government of Ontario

“Daniel is an incredible UX talent. He has been a key member of our team, leading the charge on new user interfaces. He can take apart a UI, dissect it, optimize it and come back with something much better than you ever expected.”

Randar Puust, Director-Platform, OrderDynamics

“Daniel's deep knowledge of Web user experience, coupled with his passion for research and his ability to effectively apply both of these to shape the direction of our project quickly made him an essential, go-to asset for the team.”

Tom Sommerville, Scrum Master, Government of Ontario

“Daniel was a valuable member of our team at Echoworx.... Technically, he was excellent at understanding the requirements, implementing a new creative interface, and presenting to the group... Daniel is an asset to any team that wants a dedicated, forward-thinking individual.”

Sarah Happe, Encryption Software Product Expert, Echoworx

“Daniel was an exceptionally talented member of our team…. He integrated quickly with our development team, working efficiently and pragmatically to produce fantastic quality work right from day one. He would always challenge our pre-conceptions, creating flows that would improve the experience for users, all while working with our teams to integrate UX as a process within the existing Agile development cycle.”

Michael Hazelden, VP-Product, OrderDynamics

“Daniel is a well-respected, knowledgeable, creative, and professional Creative Design Manager. His leadership in the areas of information architecture, interaction design, user research/insight, and online strategy - greatly contribute to his clients’ success and satisfy end users’ expectations. Daniel is an excellent mentor.”

Yvonne Shek, Owner & Principal Consultant, Integri Consulting

“Daniel is a skilled and extremely knowledgeable interaction designer - he is an expert in usability and user centred design. He was the greatest single contributor in growing the creative domain at Sapient…. ...excellent with clients and coworkers alike - his professionalism and acumen greatly contribute to the success of any engagement.”

Marc Schwartz, Digital & Marketing Strategy Leader

“Daniel has a wide array of skills that span all the buzz words in user experience: Information architecture, usability, service design, etc. Having worked with him, he's definitely the right guy for any job.”

Tai Toh, Senior Director-Product Management, Kobo

Challenge

Spearhead the user experience behind a new enterprise intranet meant to integrate over 120 separate sites while establishing a user experience practice focused on advancing evidence based design in a highly hierarchical, heavily regulated organisation.

Doing so required simultaneously:

• solutioning an extensible, user focused, rapidly deployable resource delivery framework,
• supporting migration of content from myriad sources to a standardised presentation layer,
• advancing long-term strategic product planning, and
• managing contributions from multiple resources.

Solution

Applying a modular approach informed by extensive user research, the new intranet emphasised support for direct paths to high demand information and resources. New features and functionality was guided by an evolutionary approach that built on user input and business needs.

Value

Routinized user research

The schedule of ongoing interface testing and user needs analysis I created constituted the first sustained, enterprise directed user research programme in the Ontario Public Service. It has set a pattern and has influenced the Cabinet Office’s Digital Government programme.

Expanded user centred design thinking

Working with project leadership, modifications to the development process afforded concrete opportunities for inserting testing and design iteration that became central to feature development.

Contribution & Collaboration

I directed interaction design throughout the project and was solely responsible for user experience research and testing.

Working in an Agile environment with designers, developers, and other stakeholders, I worked with a second resource, organising and scheduling deadlines and division of labour.

Skills & Tools

Interface design was supported by a blend of Photoshop and Illustrator, while Axure was used for creating interaction specifications.

Challenge

Take the requirement to "re-design the existing check-out, ensure it's responsive, and see it through to deployment" – in five months.

This meant not just making the existing solution mobile friendly, but tearing down the check-out process and replacing it with one that eliminated other issues I identified, like:

• onerous number of steps to completion
• lack of adequate in-cart editing
• poor support for shipping options

Solution

Assuming a mobile first approach and a Bootstrap framework, my solution reimagined not only the process of adding items to the cart/basket, but the check-out process as well. In so doing, check-out was streamlined to a single page. Entering shipping/pick-up address, billing, and discount/coupon information appeared in an elastic, but anchored position, flexing to the customer's needs.

Based on the framework established by my design, retailers became able to operate in mobile environments, extending their reach and securing revenues.

Value

Optimized mobile delivery

Whereas the pre-existing framework could not easily accommodate mobile devices, my redesign assumed a 'mobile first' approach that increased client's digital profile, leading to increased revenue.

Streamlined revenue flow

Quick order processing and 'one-click' account creation reduced cart abandonment and increased repeat buying.

Improved institutional memory

Re-designing the check-out process revealed a gap in knowledge surrounding the architecture and functionality of the existing solution. At my prodding, the re-design acted as an impetus for the organisation to adequately capture rules and workflows, lost through normal turnover of personnel coupled with occasional time constraints, not just for on-boarding new developers, but as client support tools as well.

Challenge

The immediate challenge was to re-design an existing solution and create a more efficient way to identify health care resources available to a user. This included surfacing an appropriate level of detail to facilitate quick, accurate decision making.

I could see a re-design needed to address several shortcomings in the existing solution, including:

• repeated requests to accept terms and conditions
• difficult to understand information
• cryptic information mapping

Solution

Whereas the existing solution forced users through a multi-step process, I designed an integrated flow, providing immediate feedback throughout. Input anticipation, in the form of progressively narrowed addresses for example, was also implemented. Furthermore, service provider types were explicitly tagged so they could be easily interpreted.

Value

Increased ease-of-use

Streamlining increased opportunities for broader user adoption.

Integrated resource location options

Offering the option to narrow search results according to service need empowered users to easily customise information.

Contribution

The sole user experience designer on the project, I drove the design and was responsible for the solution’s viability.

Collaboration & Collaboration

Working with a single senior resource, I iterated revisions based on feedback.

Skills & Tools

Axure was the primary tool for wireframing and prototyping (example from the design process). I brought such skills as collaboration, managing difficult conversations, and assertiveness to bear during the design process.

I’ve established user experience practices in a variety of environments and directed successful pre- and post-sales projects. Integrating user experience into Enterprise Agile evolution has been part-and-parcel of that process.

Interaction Design

Prototyping/Wireframing

High and low fidelity prototypes and wireframes for multiple stakeholders.

Site Mapping

Multi-layer mapping for content sites and online applications with cross-document integration.

Content Cataloguing

Broad experience identifying & controlling content for a variety of online projects.

Accessibility

Experience with WCAG 2.0 (A + AA) and AODA including mobile.

Requirements Mapping & Capture

Requirements Gathering and Evolution

Thorough business, user, and system needs identification and refinement. Regular requirements gathering andf refinement training & certification:

• Teamwork and Collaboration Certificate. Rochester Institute of Technology, 17.Apr.2019.
• Agile Meets Design Thinking Certificate, University of Virginia. 14.Feb.2019.

User Story Development

User story development and production for new functionality and existing system integration.

People Management

Supervisory

Teams of three to seven.
Strategic and tactical policy, procedure, and protocol creation & implementation.

Software

General Productivity

MS Office (Extensive work experience)
Keynote (Work experience)
FileMaker Pro (Work experience)

Prototyping/Wireframing

Axure (Extensive work experience)
Balsamic (Exposure)
OmniGraffle (Extensive work experience)
UXPin (Exposure)
Zeplin (Exposure)
Marvel (Exposure)
Visio (Extensive work experience)

Graphic Design

Illustrator (Work experience)
Photoshop (Work experience)
GIMP (Work experience)
VectorDesigner (Work experience)
Acorn (Extensive work experience)

Operating Systems

Macintosh (Extensive work experience)
Windows (Extensive work experience)

Development Languages

Mark-up

HTML5 (Exposure)
CSS3 (Exposure)

Scripting

Javascript [Angular, JQuery] (Exposure)

Analytics

Google Analytics Certified

Industry Knowledge & Exposure

Commercial

Automotive
Retail

Service

Legal
Call centre

Financial Services

Banking
Investing
Insurance

Communications

Telecommunications
Entertainment

Healthcare

Pharmaceutical
Primary care management and delivery

Public Service

eGovernment

NGOs

Public service organizations and charities
Industry associations

I've established user experience practices in a variety of environments and directed successful pre- and post-sales projects. Integrating user experience into Enterprise Agile evolution has been part-and-parcel of that process.

A regular schedule of anonymous peer evaluation helps me suss out how to continually improve the ways I support co-workers and other stakeholders.

Here's how that's shaken out over the last several years…

As a User Experience resource, Daniel...

Challenge

Create an online questionnaire that presents complex relationships simply while accurately capturing people’s responses to multiple options.

This meant moving respondents through sets of contrasts that, while mutually informing, focused on different aspects of a site’s organisational model. Questions would be straightforward, but ensuring participants accurately understood the context well enough to provide accurate feedback would require careful attention to multiple information design demands.

Solution

Overview

Replicating page flows and highlighting areas where the user’s gaze would fall was facilitated by video captures of a prototype interface. Narration re-enforced what was happening while leading participant’s to focus on those considerations relevant to the study. Questions were kept to a minimum so as to avoid too large a load on the participant’s memory and cognitive limits. By combining all these elements, my solution ensured study participants understood:

• a workflow that progressed through a site many of them had not used,
• which aspects of the interface to compare and contrast, and
• the feedback being asked of them.

Value

High engagement

Every participant who began the survey completed it.

Comprehensive understanding of content

Not a single participant reported challenges understanding the multi-media embeds or corresponding survey questions. Furthermore, responses contained no outliers, suggesting participants understood the content well enough to engage with it in a shared conceptual set.

Effective insights

Responses from the survey revealed clusters in user expectations that could be incorporated into the site without ambiguity.

Contribution & Collaboration

The sole user experience researcher on the project, I drove the design and was responsible for the solution’s viability.

Skills & Tools

Camtasia was used for video capture and editing. The Wordpress plug-in Formidable controlled survey display and results capture.