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Michele Howard |
Professional Experience
Lighthouse Interactive/Blattner Brunner, 1998 - 2001
Manager of Interaction Design and Editorial Design
- Responsible for the quality of the user experience for client projects.
- Mentor and creatively motivated interaction designers.
- Kept abreast of innovative experience design trends and methodologies.
- Identified, hired and managed an outstanding interaction design team.
- Lead interaction design development on individual client projects.
- Encouraged collaboration between peers of different disciplines within
Experience Design as well as
the agency at large. - Worked on various initiatives (B to B, B to C, and application development)
for companies such as: PPG, GlaxoSmithKline, Daily's Cocktail Mixes,
Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh Corning, American Eagle Outfitters, EDMC, and
Swedish Match.
Art Institute of Pittsburgh, 1999
Instructor of Information Design Course
- Responsible for creating course structure; instructor for 26 students.
Westinghouse, Product Control Division, 1998
Information Designer – Internship
- Used RoboHELP, HTML and Microsoft Word to organize and program Help Screens.
Nationwide Insurance, 1996 - 1998
Insurance Agent
- Created marketing plan; built and serviced client pool, wrote and issued policies.
State Farm Insurance, Franklin, PA 1995 - 1996
Office Manager
- Trained and supervised employees, managed daily activity, provided customer service.
Smather's Insurance Agency, Clarion, PA 1993 - 1995
Agent, CSR
- Representative between insurance companies and clients, managed review process.
State Representative David Wright, Clarion, PA 1992 - 1993
Internship as Public Relations Coordinator
- Established and carried out promotional campaign.
Education
Art Institute of Pittsburgh, 1998
Associate in Specialized Technology Degree, Majoring in Multimedia
Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 1993
Bachelor of Science Degree, Majoring in Communication
Awards and Recognition
The following were awarded to Lighthouse Interactive / Blattner Brunner during my employment. I served as an Information Architect and Content Manager on these projects.
Pittsburgh Advertising Club, 2000
ADDY – American Eagle Annual Report (Print and CD-ROM)
Certificate of Merit – Daily's Party Mix Web Site
Adweek, 2000
Lighthouse Ranked 91 of the Top 100 Interactive Agencies
Web Marketing Association, 1999
PPG.com – PPG Industries Resource Centers
Summit Bank Pillar Funds Web Site
Advertising Age, 1999
Lighthouse Ranked 90 of the Top 100 Interactive Agencies
Pittsburgh Advertising Club, 1999
ADDY – Civic Arena Web Site
Several years of applied experience in the areas of interaction/information design, interface design and usability testing, along with a strong research and strategic background. Exceptionally strong design, analytical and problem solving skills, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
PAST CLIENTS & PROJECTS
Art Institutes,
Web Admissions
Daily's Cocktail
Mix
PPG Industries
MSA – Mine Safety Appliance
Acosta – ASSET
Iron Age/Knapp Shoes
American Eagle – CD
SEI Investments – M@xweb
Armada Funds
Giant Eagle Party
Planner
Pittsburgh
Corning Glass Block
SKILLS
Information Architecture
Human Interaction Design
Use Case Documentation
User Profile Development
Target Audience Research
Content Strategy and Creation
Usability Testing
Quality Assurance
Project Management
Process Design
Web Marketing and Promotions
Technical Writing
Search Engine Optimization
TOOLS
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Office
Dreamweaver
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Macromedia Director
Authorware
Quark Xpress
Adobe Premiere
Inspiration
QuickTime
Sound Edit 16
Fractal Design Painter
3-D Studio Max