User Interface Architect/Interaction Designer,
Gateway Computers
Optimize redesign of Corporate Purchasers ecommerce site.
October 2003 to December 2003, Poway CA. - Contract
About Company: Gateway Computers is a multi-billion dollar computer manufacturer.
My Assignment: I was contracted to optimize a new release of the Gateway Corporate Purchasers site, used by large organizations such as the US Army, and the University of California System. The Corporate Purchasers site had not been updated for four years. IBM was contracted to create the back end functionality with WebSphere portal, and I was to design task focused interfaces, within the functionality exposed by WebSphere, in order to create an optimal user experience.
The purchasing process for large corporate clients was a unique situation for
Gateway. Gateway had core competence in consumer sales, but had not focused resources in optimizing the purchase process for larger clients, including designing experiences to facilitate these transactions.
I started this engagement by analyzing what their current offerings
were, then did a best of breed analysis with other competitive
offerings. I interviewed internal stakeholders and external
purchasers to gain context and understand their needs better.
After the analysis phase, I developed a feature strategy, organizing tasks
and linking them to initial requirements and competitive features. From this task centric strategy, I developed feature flows and wireframes within the limitations of WebSphere Portal and resource constraints.
Finally, I negotiated design decisions with the development team to ensure the optimal solution given team dynamics and constraints.
Techniques Used:
- Competitive analysis development,
- Feature Strategizing and subsequent Presentation and Negotiations on these features
- Task Flow and Page Flow design
- Wire Frame development
- Strategic development of software from Beta to First release.
Examples of work at Gateway:
Gateway Esource site before redesign:
Gateway Esource site after redesign:
