MARIA ESPINO KNOLL CEO AND PRINCIPAL
Having nearly thirty years of design/development experience and experience with top-notch programs in the field allow me to successfully complete full designs promptly and efficiently. I have beginning working knowledge of ASP.NET, C++, C#, Java2, JSP, PHP and CGI web programming technologies. Understanding the basic methodologies of these programming elements makes me the perfect median between developers and internal business clients.
In the last twenty-seven years, my expertise in the area of human behavioral studies has proved to be quite useful for me. User centered design and usability assessment of web applications, corporate websites, and intranet portals has become the defining difference between competitors on the ‘net. Having a flashy design and eye-catching graphics simply just isn’t enough. To really set yourself apart, you must embark on a discovery of hidden relationships between your vision and ideas and those who will ultimately put those ideas to practice. That is not an easy gap to bridge and requires the special skills of knowledgeable people that understand, study, and implement usability.
My experience in business and project management aids me in developing organizational standards for myself in any new project that I encounter. It also educated me on the meaning of teamwork and to understand that it’s the whole that makes progress. I learned valuable management, marketing, and financial skills that I now implement in my web-developing and management career. I am most interested in combining my usability expertise, management experience, and design skills to fulfill such responsibilities as:
- Evaluating current websites and applications for usability flaws.
- Running and managing user focus groups to promote user-centered design.
- Detailing reports on gathered data for presentation and overview.
- Technical writing of business requirements and high level design documents.
- Coordinating with developers to implement better accessibility.
- Engaging collaboratively and flexibly with team members in prototype scenario development and flow charting of the user experience.
- Communicating and effectively conveying ideas to cross-functional technical and non-technical teams.
- Developing strong relationships with clients.
- Resolving project issues in innovative and collaborative ways.
- Providing strategic consulting services to the client executives and assuming the role of internal client advocate, therefore ensuring client satisfaction.
- Managing multiple functional teams.
- Determining staffing/team structure for new clients and projects.
- Allocating resources appropriately and ensuring client satisfaction.
- Ensuring successful delivery of project in conjunction with Business Partners, Project & Team Managers, and Development Team Members.