Al Abut

Interaction and UI Designer

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Employment

Interaction Designer

Ludic Labs

(October 2007 - present)

• Designing new and existing features using task analysis diagrams, personas, iterative visual prototypes and other user-centered design principles.
• Conducting usability tests in the field with sample users and creating review documentation.
• Designing web pages and related creative assets using Fireworks, OmniGraffle and Photoshop.
• Coding web pages into HTML and CSS with Django templates.

Senior Designer

Social Media

(August - October 2007)

• Created prototypes, designs and markup of Facebook apps for an application network with millions of daily users.
• Projects included games, boutique sites, advertising banners and website redesigns.
• Worked closely with a cross-functional and geographically-dispersed group from project inception to completion to define and create satisfying user experiences.

Web Designer & Flash/Flex Developer

Asterpix

(March - August 2007)

• Prototyped and built the UI for a Flash/Flex video-playing client, implemented with Fireworks, Actionscript 3.0 and Flex.
• Created website: logo design, branding, HTML/CSS and Django templates.

Flash Developer

Wagerworks

(December 2005 - March 2007)

• Created online casino games for the UK market.
• Programmed in Actionscript using OOP (prototype-based classes) and XML.
• Worked on a multi-disciplinary team of artists, Flash developers and Java programmers.

Founder/Owner

alabut.com

(October 2004 - December 2005)

• Freelanced for a year, specializing in standards-compliant XHTML/CSS and Actionscript-heavy Flash.
• Companies included design firms and advertising agencies.

Programmer/Analyst I/II

University of California San Diego

(December 2000 - October 2004)

• First webmaster of the Division of Biological Sciences, created and redesigned their websites, with XML/XSLT for data-heavy sections, and made Flash slideshows for special occasions.
• Lead web developer for an environmental research initiative, the Superfund Basic Research Program.
• Made Flash documentaries about scientists doing environmental research and used video, audio, pictures and text to tell engaging narratives.

Skills, applications and technologies

Lots of experience:

HTML, XHTML, CSS, W3C standards, UI design, information architecture, iterative prototyping, usability testing, interaction design and task analysis, Fireworks, Flash, Actionscripting 1.0

Less experience:

Flex, Actionscripting 2.0/3.0, Javascript/AJAX, PHP, MySQL, Ruby/Rails, Python/Django, XML/XSLT

Conferences/workshops

• Adobe MAX 2006: large annual event focusing on upcoming Adobe developments, with an emphasis on Flash, Flex and AIR.
• DUX 2003: joint conference on interactive digital design (June 03)
• AIGA Experience Design: Sixth Advance for Design Summit (June 03, presented short talk on case study implementation)
• Adaptive Path: The Business of Experience Design (June 03)
• Edward R. Tufte: Presenting Data and Information (Jan 03)
• Adaptive Path: Designing for the User Experience (Oct 02)

Education

Undergraduate: University of California San Diego, Political Science