David Rosen
Manager, Usability Services
As the Usability Services manager, I am the primary contact for project managers, Web designers, business analysts, marketing coordinators, course developers, instructors, and researchers who want to design and develop user interfaces that will be easy for their target audiences to use.
I work closely with the usability consultants on my team to select appropriate methods for an individual client team and to kick off the usability project for that team. Our aim is to provide the methodology and usability facilitation to make each usability project a positive and motivational learning experience for the project team members, based whenever possible on providing the team members with first-hand observation of their users' experience.
My team provides consulting and lab services to Web design teams, online course developers, and researchers:
- Usability evaluations supplemented with real-time eye-tracking, to assess user interface designs
- Terminology reviews, to assess link names, field names, and other terminology for understandability
- Content categorization card sorts, to learn how users would organize content into high-level categories
- Focus group sessions, to learn about users' needs and preferences through informal group interaction and brainstorming
- Accessibility reviews, to learn whether a user interface design will be usable by users with various types of disabilities
- Eye-tracking studies, to analyze eye-tracking data and predict what users will see on a page design
- Lab support and equipment for researcher-led projects
- Eye-tracking assistance for researcher-led projects
Usability Services' primary clients include enterprise project teams from the University's central units, collegiate and departmental project teams, and research teams.
Involvement with the Usability Lab Partnership
The usability lab is the result of an innovative partnership between the Office of Information Technology and the Digital Technology Center, to build and operate a usability lab to be used for improving the University's administrative software, assisting colleges and departments with their Web sites, providing a research facility for researchers, and promoting the value of usability within the University community and the Twin Cities business community.
I work with researchers from our academic stakeholder departments when they want to do usability-related or eye-tracking related studies, teach one of their class sessions in the lab, have their students use the lab on class projects, or bring their students for a usability lab tour. These departments include:
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering
- Department of Design, Housing and Apparel
- Department of Writing Studies
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication
- School of Kinesiology
As part of the Usability Lab Partnership's activities, outreach activities over the past year include our participation in the following University-sponsored events relating to usability and accessibility:
- Citizen-Centered Government Web sites: The User Experience, E-Democracy and Web 2.0 conference
- World Usability Day 2008 Program (presentations and lab tours)
- Exhibit at MinneWebCon
- iTunesU Accessibility Group
- Monthly Usability Lab Open House events
Background
I graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in 2004 with a degree in Scientific and Technical Communication. I interned in Usability Services as a usability consultant in the summer of 2004, and was brought on as a full-time usability consultant after completing my internship. I worked in that position until March 2009, and was involved in a large number of projects affecting the University's various web products.
In March 2009, I transitioned into the role of Usability Services Manager where I work to grow and refine our business while enjoying the opportunities that I have to meet people from different areas of the University who work in a wide variety of different roles.
I’ve been happy to have the opportunity to appear on an episode of Tech Talk as well as to present at World Usability Day each year that we have held the event. Usability testing is something that I really believe in, and it is always rewarding to be involved in that kind of outreach and education.
Outside of work, I’m involved in a pool (billiards) league, I’m an avid Minnesota sports fan, and I’m a new homeowner (which involves more of my time than I would have previously imagined). I also love music and going to concerts, so don’t be surprised if you see me out and about at various venues (although I don’t get to as many as I used to).
Contact Information
| E-mail: | rose0414@umn.edu |
| Phone: | 612-624-9365 |
| Office: | 660 West Bank Office Building |
