Executive Profiles

Dr. Eric Schaffer is the founder and CEO of Human Factors International, Inc. (HFI). In the last quarter century, he has become known as the visionary who recognized that usability would be the driving force in the "Third Wave of the Information Age" following both hardware and software as the previous key differentiators. Like Gordon Moore's insight that processor power would double every 18 months, Dr. Schaffer foresaw that the most profound impact on corporate computing would be a positive online user experience &ndash the ability for a user to get the job done efficiently, easily, and without frustration.

Dr. Schaffer's book Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-by-Step Guide provides a roadmap for companies to follow in order to make usability a systematic, routine practice throughout their organization. Dr. Schaffer also co-developed The HFI Framework™, the only ISO-certifiable process for user-centered design, built on principles from human-computer interaction, ergonomics, psychology, computer science, and marketing.

Dr. Schaffer has completed projects for more than 100 Fortune 500 clients, providing user experience design consulting and training. He has extensive experience in the financial, insurance, manufacturing, government, healthcare, and telecommunications industries.

Dr. Schaffer is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and a Certified Professional Ergonomist.

Jay has been at HFI for 17 years, initially as VP of Marketing and Sales, and since July, 1999, as President. HFI is Jay's third consulting company. His entire career has been focussed on how to consistently grow consulting companies.

Jay's favorite endeavor is the promotion of usability and improving the user experience. He is a great proponent of HFI's technical team and is very supportive of innovative marketing initiatives. Providing HFI's customers with strong customer service and sales support is a top priority.

Jay has an MBA from San Francisco State University, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Susan Weinschenk has over 30 years experience as a consultant worldwide and is Chief of UX Strategy, Americas at Human Factors International. Her areas of expertise include persuasive interface design, neuropsychology, user centered design, and generational differences.

Dr. Weinschenk has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Susan has published 4 books on user experience. Her most recent book, Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click?, published by New Riders, is in its second printing.

She is a highly rated workshop and keynote presenter.

Apala is a world-renowned expert on Contextual Innovation – the discipline of creating breakthrough product concepts and adapting existing products, services, and technologies to new markets. HP Labs, adidas, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, NCR, and Intel are just a few of the companies that have benefited from Apala's innovative, pioneering techniques in this exciting and growing field.

Apala and her CI team have helped designers, marketers, product managers and ethnographers apply her innovative techniques to develop exciting new concepts and products. She systematically guides the ideation process to uncover subtle patterns in ethnographic and market data to reveal the exciting breakthrough ideas that can drive your business and generate more revenue and profit.

Apala has been with HFI since 1999 and is currently Vice President of Asia, managing offices in India, China, and Singapore, and a Contextual Innovation lab in Bangalore. An award- winning designer (International Audi Design Award), Apala has led teams spanning design, development, testing, and deployment of software products. In addition, she is ACM SIGCHI's Vice Chair for local chapters.

The last 7 years April has managed, designed and evaluated numerous user interface projects. Breadth of experience includes web and GUI applications, internet/intranet web sites and hardware devices (e.g., medical imaging equipment, vehicular infotainment systems, home appliances). Domains include financial, government, ecommerce and medical information systems for hospitals and home health agencies.

Prior to that, April spent more than 20 years in human factors and usability in telecommunications research (voice and data). She even goes back to the scary days of designing Unix and DOS command-line interfaces! She has worked in the areas of auditory localization, custom calling services, data network management, UIs for multi-modal collaboration and VOIP telephony services such as advanced voice messaging. Along the way, there've been several side trips into the world of quality assurance, system testing and systems engineering as well. Aptil is the recipient of several US Patents for a collaborative multimedia interface design.

Jeff Horvath has been working in the field of usability for more than a decade. His background in psychology and his experience in the business world provide a combination of skills and perspectives that can help your organization design solutions for end users that are usable AND that meet your business goals.

Jeff's customer list includes Sprint, Motorola, Lands' End, and American Family Insurance. He has helped them successfully integrate user centered design best practices at their organizations.

At HFI, Jeff defines and oversees solutions for clients, and manages and mentors HFI's technical staff. Jeff has a doctorate in educational psychology from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Nigel has been with HFI since 1993, when he began as a regional sales manager. During this time, he advanced to Director of Business Development and established long-term relationships with clients throughout the western United States and Europe, including Bell Canada, Chevron Texaco, Hewlett Packard, Intel, and Sun Microsystems. He is now Managing Director for HFI's operations in Europe.