CUA of the Month – January, 2012

Never Stop Improving

by Sheldon Kreger

The best web developers did not gain their skills on accident. Just like any kind of art or technical job, it takes years of work, dedication, and experience to reach a high level of performance in the Internet industry. Vipin Maheshwary has been pursuing ways to become a better Information Architect and UX Strategist since his career started 12 years ago.

As time passed, it became clear to Vipin that there is a bottom line to any software development process – delivering a product that people find useful. With experience as an information architect for several different companies, he started to see a common thread: Many projects had to be re-worked not to fix technical bugs, but to better meet the needs of the users who interacted with the software on a day-to-day basis. It was with this epiphany that Vipin started learning about usability.

"I was a Lead of the content management team. We were migrating content using content IDs for header, footer, global navigation, left and right navigation and page body. During this time, we migrated the content for many sites. Naturally, I became curious about why certain content could go only in certain regions of the page. This made me read more about usability design concepts. My seniors at that time also helped me out answering lot of the question I had. After gathering enough understanding about usability, I started working on real projects as an information architect successfully".

But, these problems aren't unique to the world of software and web pages. Later in his career, Vipin saw these issues emerge even in embedded systems designs. While working on user interfaces, which were not on typical laptop or desktop computer screens, Vipin suggested some changes to security camera viewing systems, that helped make video playback and recording more user friendly.

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"The whole consumer buying and product usage trend is changing. There was a time when people did not mind paying more for a product which had more features. But, now people are looking for products that have better usability, and don't mind paying more for a product that is well designed. These products may not have a whole lot of features: The iPhone and iPad are very good examples of that."

I would like to thank Steve Jobs for inspiring me to design solutions and not design features. That basically means fewer features, but the end state is always a better product

Today, Vipin serves as a Lead Information Architect / UX Designer at Lowe's. His responsibilities include usability analysis, usability testing, information architecture and defining UX Strategy.

With such a variety of work on his plate, Vipin enjoys the unique challenges of the software world. He believes that it is years of experience, dedication to excellence, and proactive educational supplementation that gives him the ability to manage his projects effectively.

"I am highly passionate about User Experience Design. I have gathered most of my knowledge through hands on experience designing for user's tasks and workflow. My desire to formalize my learning, understanding, and knowledge, lead me to become a CUA. I am extremely proud of this accomplishment."

But, the earning his CUA is only one of countless accomplishments Vipin has earned. In fact, his track record of excellence and dedication to the development of usable tools has proven to be endlessly rewarding. Below is a brief summary of Vipin's work experience and specializations.

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• 12 years of extensive experience in managing and designing embedded interface products and web applications for a world's leading Home Improvement Retailer, Video and Security Systems manufacturing company and some of the top financial Institutions of the world.
• An Information Architect / Interaction Designer, Usability Analyst and a Project Manager well experienced in various phases of traditional SDLC and Agile / SCRUM methodology, ranging from client interaction, team development and management, business and user requirements gathering and analysis, implementation, maintenance and software development.
• Successfully managed and delivered multiple projects with offshore teams and remote team members across different time zones at international locations including USA, Netherlands, Singapore and India.
• Responsibilities include Interaction Design, Information Architecture, Usability Analysis, User Centered Design, Usability Testing, Content Management and Project Management.
• Technically strong, self-motivated, excellent communication skills, a good Leader and an outstanding team player.
• As an Information Architect and a UX Strategist, roles and responsibilities included making sure that the requirements are analyzed first from a user's perspective that included prototyping and usability testing to ensure a good usable solution.
• Providing special emphasis on GUI design by taking design aesthetics and UI standards into consideration before getting the same implemented to full fledged applications.

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