Andrea Nelson

andrea at andreanelson dot com
Portfolio: andreanelson.com
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SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Highly creative and conceptual interaction designer and information architect who excels in creating custom user experiences that reflect the intersection of brand identity, business requirements, and customer goals and objectives.

• Expertise in user-centered design process, delivering projects from inception to implementation.
  
• Experience in leadership roles providing oversight and direction to creative team.
  
• Superior communication skills.
  
• Strong presentation capabilities; adept at leading and delivering comprehensive presentations.
  
• Strategic skills in fostering collaborative client relationships.
  
• Extensive experience in creating highly-detailed design deliverables:
  
  • Wireframes and storyboards
    
• Site architecture
  
• Personas and scenarios
  
• User experience flows
  
• Work flows
  
• Metadata, taxonomies, and faceted classification
  
• Interactive click-through prototypes
  
• Usability test design and usability reports
  
• Interviews and user surveys
  
• Heuristic evaluation
  
• Five years’ information architecture and interaction design experience.
  
• Five years’ project- and account management experience.
  
• Ten years’ visual design experience.  

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Fluid, Inc. | San Francisco, CA
Senior Interaction Designer, January 2008 — Present
Interaction Designer, May 2006 — January 2008
Junior Information Designer, May 2005 — May 2006

Responsible for all aspects of interaction design and information architecture from inception to implementation for ecommerce web sites, custom configurator applications, and product technologies. Report to the Director of Information Design and Usability. 

• Own the conceptual development and architect the customer experience.
  
• Develop richly branded customer experiences that embody brand values and fulfill business requirements while delivering an appropriate solution for the target audience.
  
• Deliver impeccable, highly annotated design documents including wireframes, site architecture, user experience flows, workflows, heuristic analyses, survey design, personas, taxonomies, usability prototypes and reports.
  
• Collaborate with project and account managers, visual designers, and engineers to define and communicate each client's business requirements, design constraints, and customer needs.
  
• Internal leadership: as creative lead, direct interaction and visual designers throughout the design phase; contribute to account strategy by helping to identify internal business objectives and prioritize project goals; initiate and produce a creative "win plan" for each account.
  
• External leadership: foster collaborative client relationships, lead presentations, and represent the creative vision and project goals.
  
• Social media: develop proprietary social networking product technologies; devise and incorporate social media strategies appropriate to each client and their audience.
  
• Implementation: design for search engine optimization within rich Flash-based websites; integrate third-party software platforms such as Demandware and Power Reviews.

Additional responsibilities:

• Creative Director of The North Face account. (April 2009 — Present)
  
• Leader and organizer of weekly, company-wide internal status meetings.

Clients include:

• Coty Fragrances / Calvin Klein International; Theory; Reebok; The North Face; Charles Schwab; Chefs Catalog; Netshops; Fine Stationery; Bare Escentuals; San Rio.

Freelance Information Architect | San Francisco, CA
Design and Consultation, January 2008 — Present

Conceptualize, design, and deliver comprehensive customer experiences for ecommerce and marketing web sites.

• Advise and educate clients regarding ecommerce best practices.
  
• Create highly annotated site architecture, schematics, user experience flows, workflows, personas, and taxonomies.
  
• Collaborate closely with creative directors, project managers, and engineers.
  

Yahoo! Research Labs | Berkeley, CA
User Interface and Interaction Design Intern, July 2005 — January 2006

Founding intern in the design lab for social media technologies. Designed user interfaces for mobile devices as part of the User Experience team. Reported to the Director of Research Operations.

Freelance Graphic Designer | San Francisco, CA
Print and Web Design, October 2004 — October 2005 

Art directed and produced the book, Document Engineering: Analyzing and Designing Documents for Business Informatics and Web Services, published by MIT Press. Adhered to brand guidelines and precise production specifications, delivering press-ready files for direct-to-plate printing.

Priority Architectural Graphics | San Francisco, CA
Account Manager, September 2002 — August 2004 

Managed and developed new sales accounts for the San Francisco distributor of an Australian sign manufacturing company, serving as the exclusive west-coast account manager. Reported to Priority's CEO and the manufacturer's Vice President. Maintained full-time telecommute position.

• Consistently met monthly sales goals of $18,500; developed supporting sales strategies.
  
• Produced precise sign schematics to scale that illustrated exact specifications for fabrication, painting, and installation.
  
• Managed entire project life cycle from sale to installation; ensured scheduled delivery and installation of interior and exterior signage.
  
• Coordinated multiple projects and schedules.
  
• Oversaw sign production while managing fabricators, subcontractors, and vendors.
  

Concord Records, Inc. | Concord, CA 
Project Manager & Art Director, September 1999 — May 2002 

Managed the production, art direction, and printing of 40 CD releases per year for internationally distributed, GRAMMY-winning jazz record label. Reported to the Vice President of Product Development.

• Coordinated all aspects of production for CD packaging, catalogs, marketing collateral, and web sites from each project's inception to final manufacturing. 
  
• Conceptualized and designed projects for both print and web: CD packaging, websites, corporate logos, and catalogs. 

Clients included:

• Rosemary Clooney; CBS Broadcasting, Inc.; Playboy Enterprises International; Tito Puente; Charlie Byrd; Keely Smith; Chick Corea; Michael Feinstein; The Estate of Marilyn Monroe.

Recognition:

• GRAMMY-nominated semifinalist, Best CD Packaging; Art Director for the soundtrack Blonde
  
  
  

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Adobe Creative Suite CS4: Fireworks, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, Acrobat Pro; Microsoft Office: Visio, PowerPoint, Word, Excel; Java; Eclipse Platform 3.0; Oxygen XML Editor 5.0; XML; HTML; AliasWavefront Maya; OSX, Windows, & Linux platforms.
  
  

 
EDUCATION

• Master's of Information Management & Systems; University of California, Berkeley, California, May 2006.
  
• Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Communications; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, May 1999.

ACADEMIC AWARDS AND HONORS

• Winner, Dr. James R. Chen Award, 2006 Master's Project Competition, School of Information Management & Systems: "Mycroft: Distributed Micro-Cognition;" design and implementation of a system of knowledge exchange based on social incentives and micro transactions.
  
• Academic Fellowship, School of Information Management & Systems; University of California, Berkeley, 2004.
  
• Jens Memorial Scholarship in Fine Art; Washington University, 1995.