Periodicdesign

The following is a sampling of work I’ve done in the past three years for both contracting and freelance work. My realm of expertise spans both print and web, but my focus over all is making communication of data easier for the user to understand. Communicating effective content is key to a better user experience in all forms of communication media. While this is a portion of my body of work, it does not encompass my entire portfolio and is only a highlight of projects.

NNSA

NNSA Documentation Repository

The NNSA was in dire need of a way to display all of their documentation more effectively. Their current method was a horrible means of document management of poorly formatted Word documents and PDF’s. Data was hard to find and at times impossible due to poor search features in the software. They required a more centralized means of getting to the data at hand. Using web standards and a little PHP knowledge, I have been building them a means of centralizing the data and keeping it in a format that is more portable, accessible and usable.

NNSA Web Design and Redesign Process

While working on the NNSA’s redesign, I found they had no documented process in place showing the correct way to design a web site or application from start to finish. Using the knowledge from several books I’ve read and professional experience, I embarked on the task of developing such a guideline. The entire living document is well over 100 pages and details all processes from beginning to end, including all tools needed for user studies, wireframing, content inventories, etc.

NNSA’s Public Facing Web Site

The agency was in dire need of a redesign when I came aboard late in November of 2004. Their current site, while rendering well in most browsers, suffered from horrible usability and accessibility issues. The portal was barely built on HTML 3.02 and even with a proper DOCTYPE being used, the site didn’t come close to validating against the W3C standards for the semantic web. With a horrible frame based design and improper mark-up wrapping the data in static form, I knew I had my hands full. In a matter of months, I propelled the agency forward with new ideas and ways of presenting and using data in the workplace. While they are still using document management for their infinite repository of PDF’s, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and the like, their web presence has become much stronger. The push to XHTML and CSS for structure and mark-up is now being utilized, although not all pages are valid, it is a push in the right direction. ALthough I’m not completely happy with the architectural outcome of the site, it is a step in the right direction.

NNSA Search Documentation

The NNSA’s search capabilities were not the best when I came aboard and I was assigned to document and research the most cost effective and best way to implement search on their web site, both public and internal facing. I created a visually pleasing document that guided our clients through the process of implementation and choosing the best search product.

Freelance

Elementary School Poster

This project was purely pro bono and was for a friend of mine who is a teacher at Cardinal Forest Elementary School in Northern Virginia. She needed a poster where she could post assignments for her students that would be easy for them to understand when conveying them for homework use. Another requirement was to make the poster a “fun” addition to her classroom. She wanted something that blended in with all of her other posters and teaching tools, without being an intimidating tool.

FHWA

StaffNet

While with FHWA, I had the pleasure of working with Thomas Vander Wal. He and I took on the task of redesigning their intranet, otherwise known as StaffNet. The entire site was well over 8,000 static web pages and was in dire need of a redesign. While Thomas focused on the Information Architecture, I was busy making wireframes and mockups. In the end, Thomas helped solidify the design and I was responsible for the visual elements from color theory to iconography.

StaffNet Icons

These are a sampling of the icons I created for the StaffNet redesign at FHWA. We tried going for a Microsoft Windows look and feel for the icons. We found that users were very familiar with the operating system and by trying to take what they did internally online and mimicking their surroundings with what they were familiar with, made for a better user experience.