Abla L. Hamilton, M.S.

abla at redfirefly.com
(415) 503-1248

8+ years of user-centered design career focusing in the information architecture and interaction design field with experience in web and multimedia application development.

Ability to think critically around the design challenge at hand, provide multiple design alternatives and stay engaged with both business and technology partners.

Strong communication skills between multi-disciplinary teams ranging from technology partners to business clients to executive level.

March 2007 - present
Rhapsody America, San Francisco, CA
Senior User Experience Designer, Rhapsody Music Service
Develop user experience requirements and interaction design documentation for Rhapsody client software and Rhapsody.com web site. Adjusting design process from waterfall to agile development processes.

Coordinate customer research efforts including in-home interviews, persona development and usability test planning.

May 2006 - March 2007
Bank of America, San Francisco, CA
Interaction Design Manager, eCommerce User Centered Design and Research team
Managed and mentored small team of interaction designers while acting as team lead on strategic planning and design for Online Banking redesign effort.

Acted as lead organizer and helped identify action items for the associate council action team for improving associate satisfaction related to workload and organization in the eCommerce division.

Focused on process and standards improvements for the User Centered Design team.

May 2002 - May 2006
Bank of America, San Francisco, CA
Senior Interaction Designer, eCommerce User Centered Design and Research team
Manage wide range of projects through the user-centered design processes within the Online Banking application, Touch Screen ATM and a Client Relationship Management (CRM) application.

Develop site architecture, page flow and wireframe schematics and specifications based on business requirements provided by the Online Banking product management team.

Acted as team lead for Design for Six Sigma group that focused of process improvement. All team members have been certified Six Sigma Green Belts.

Mentor junior interaction designers on the team.

October 2000 - May 2002
Interactive Planet, Inc. , Atlanta, GA
Information Architect
Guide the user-centered design process by focusing on usability and developing personas and user scenarios based on user interviews and demographics research.

Assist our development teams with research, requirements gathering, proposal development, resource planning and proof of concept prototyping.

Develop site architecture and navigation schematics working for wide range of clients including Bank of America and Publix Super Markets.

June - December 2001
Environmentalism Text Book & CD-Rom, Atlanta, GA
CD-Rom Producer
Worked closely with the client developing project requirements and specifications focusing on educational technologies, usability, and cross-disciplinary approaches.

Created modular architecture, storyboards, design and production of the prototype.

Responsible for video editing and multimedia development for the prototype.

January - May 2000
Griffith in Context CD-ROM, Atlanta, GA
Production Assistant /Public Relations Coordinator
Provided video and sound production assistance for the CD-ROM.

Planned and coordinated publicity strategy for promotions for the CD-ROM.

Maintained the Griffith in Context web site information and images.

August - December 1999
Silent Screen CD-ROM , Atlanta, GA
Lead Interface Designer
Management and coordination of design teams in the areas of interface, usability and aesthetics.

Creation of interface design and implementation of design from storyboards to final prototype.

Provided detailed reports to the project manager during all stages of development.

Highly skilled in: Visio, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Microsoft Office Suite
Working knowledge of: Heuristic Evaluation, Persona and Scenario Development, Contextual Inquiry, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects, Director, Flash, SoundEdit, Sound Forge

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
M. S. , Information Design and Technology
Graduated: 2000


Pomona College, Claremont, CA
B. A. , Studio Art
Graduated: 1992

Hamilton, Abla & Revah, Suzan "The Challenges and Realities of Merging Online Banks". Case Study presented at the Designing User Experience conference (DUX), November 2005, San Francisco, CA.

References to my work:
Forrester Report, "Best and Worst Kiosk Software, 2005", January 2006

Adaptive Path, "Leveraging Business Value: How ROI Changes User Experience" July 2004