Resume

Am I a user experience designer, or a web developer? I don’t really know. I do know that I love to architect and engineer — design and develop — web content management systems, particuluarly Drupal. Figuring out the right way to support the intersection of users, code, and content is often a challenge, and, dare I say it, fun.

My earlier work in the user experience design field has enabled me to collaborate successfully with information architects and user experience designers. I am able to speak their language, understand their artifacts, and address their concerns regarding the user experience of a public-facing website, regardless of how it has been built.

On the other hand, my more recent work as a Drupal developer and maintainer of well-built and not-so-well-built CMS systems has given me both insight into the process of architecting and building a CMS, along with challenges faced by clients or other website maintainers when they go to use the system that has been built for them.

Looking for help with your next Drupal project? Get in touch!

Contact

anna@annakalata.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/annakalata
Chicago, IL

Experience

Owner and Lead Drupalista: Lytical Design

February 2011 to present

  • Drupal 7 training
  • Drupal 6 and Ubercart support

User Experience Designer: Symmetri Marketing Group

July 2009 to January 2011

  • Managed the development of Drupal-based websites, including:
    • Defining content types, views and other functional requirements
    • Developing themes
    • Training clients on how to use their system
  • Maintained Drupal-based websites, including:
    • Content updates
    • System maintenance
    • Web analytics monitoring
  • Developed a Drupal wireframing/prototyping tool for quick development of “interactive wireframes” that support design exploration and facilitate client understanding

User Experience Designer: freelance

August 2008 to July 2009

  • Analyzed survey results to generate visualizations of user responses across various demographic segments
  • Supported user research activities for portal and intranet IA

Information Architecture Intern: EightShapes

May to August 2008

  • Assisted in the creation of wireframes and documentation system assets
  • Synthesized secondary research into summaries for clients
  • Conducted competitive analyses of pattern and component systems for clients
  • Organized the inaugural UX Deliverables Workshop
  • Developed standards-compliant website from provided visual redesign (not yet launched)

Research Assistant: Usability Testing and Evaluation Center (UTEC) at IIT

February 2007 to May 2008

  • Developed usability test plan
  • Coordinated focus group activities
  • Facilitated usability testing and group interviewing
  • Wrote final reports

Information Architect and User Experience Researcher: Banner Web Project at IIT

June to August 2007

  • Collected surveys from stakeholders and compiled results
  • Performed competitive analyses of other university websites
  • Assisted with user research
  • Developed document design for final report

Inter-Professional Projects team Co-Advisor: IPRO 333: Interactive Website Module Design for the Museum of Science and Industry

August 2007 to May 2008

  • Acted as client liaison between team and the museum
  • Assisted student User Experience team in testing modules with users
  • Provided guidance and direction to the student team as necessary

Education

Master of Science in Technical Communication and Information Design

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)
December 2008

Bachelor of Science in Professional Communication

Concentration: Computer Programming
State University of New York at Farmingdale
May 2006

Technology Proficencies

Web Programming
Standards-based, semantic XHTML and CSS
Accessibility for screen readers, text browsers, and mobile devices
Progressively-enhanced JavaScript (including jQuery and JSON)
Knowledge of PHP and XML
Software
Adobe Creative Suite: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Dreamweaver
Microsoft Office Suite: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Visio, Project, Access
Apple iWork Suite: Pages, Numbers, Keynote
Operating Systems
Macintosh OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) and 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”)
Microsoft Windows XP