Carmelo J Ayala 

User Experience Research Lead

Bazaarvoice - Austin, TX

November 2017 to Present

 

Currently, responsible for developing a new UX Research practice at Bazaarvoice, and educating the organization on the benefits of qualitative and quantitive research. Also working to build a permanent, onsite UX Research Lab.

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Day-to-day responsibilities involve working with Product, Marketing and Sales teams to define epic business goals, and facilitating the validation of these goals with our Brand and Retail clients, as well as consumers.

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UX Research methods/techniques being used are contextual inquiry, card sorting, A/B testing, usability testing, tree testing, Qualtrics surveys, persona development, persona mapping and journey mapping.

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UX Research tools/services being used are Optimal Workshop, Lookback, Morae, User Testing, User Interviews, and Qualtrics.

 

 

User Experience Lead (Contractor)

General Motors - Austin, TX
July 2017 to November 2017

 

Led the effort to develop an improved experience for GM’s end-to-end online vehicle purchase program across all GM brands (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GMC).

 

Facilitated ideation workshops, developing journey maps, personas, wireframes, visual design comps and interactive prototypes.

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Helped to develop a new visual model for the configuration and purchase of a vehicle, and working to develop a dedicated usability lab.

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Used tools such as Axure for wireframes and interactive prototypes, and Adobe Creative Suite for visual design comps.

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Director of User Experience

Capgemini - Austin, TX
December 2014 to June 2017

 

Led all UX research and design for mobile, web, and desktop applications, leveraging tools such as Morae, Axure, iRise and Adobe Creative Suite.

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Developed new standards for how we engage customers regarding UX/CX, shifting the conversation from a tactical approach to a more strategic model

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Led UX/CX engagements with Manulife, Gilead, GE Oil & Gas, GE Healthcare, Rockwell Automation, State Farm, Altria, NBCU, MDVIP, Western Union, DTCC, Comcast, Lincoln Financial, MetLife, and MGM.

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Drove UX/CX research, business development and digital innovation efforts for the Applied Innovation Exchange and the Retail sector in North America.

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Mentored the offshore UX team on best practices for user research, information architecture and content strategy.

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Developed UX standards for a seamless working experience across geographic regions.

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User Experience Lead

Perficient - Chicago, IL
February 2014 to November 2014

 

Acted as the team lead for the Information Architecture group at Perficient XD.

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Was responsible for persona development, card sorting, tree tests, wireframes, content matrices, visual comps, prototypes and usability studies.

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Designed various desktop, mobile and web based systems for clients such as Halliburton, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and GE Capital/Synchrony.

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Used Axure and iRise for low to high-fidelity prototypes and Adobe Creative Suite for various visual assets.

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Principal UX Architect
Sears Holdings - Hoffman Estates, IL

November 2013 to June 2014

 

Led a team of 5 UX architects on projects for Sears' iOS tablet-based point-of-sales application.

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Responsible for implementing standards for information architecture and user research for IR Labs.

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User Experience Manager

Halliburton - Houston, TX
August 2012 to October 2013

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Was responsible for building a User Experience department for Halliburton’s IT organization.

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Day-to-day activities involved managing five Sr. User Experience Architects on mobile, web and desktop applications for use internally at Halliburton, and externally for several oil and gas clients.

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Developed a multi-year strategy for Enterprise User Experience across the organization and developing UI standards and pattern libraries for mobile, web and desktop applications.

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Directly involved in the creation of user personas, wireframes, content matrices, visual comps, prototypes and usability studies.

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Used Axure and iRise for low to high-fidelity prototypes and Adobe Creative Suite for various visual assets.

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Lead UX Architect

Grainger - Chicago, IL

June 2012 to August 2012

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Joined Grainger as a consultant to assist with a UX strategy for grainger.com in Latin America, providing Spanish language support.

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Also responsible for redesigning the Product Search and Product Display screens on grainger.com. Introduced a parent/child product relationship for search results and product detail.

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Involved in A/B testing of design concepts and developed prototypes for validation of specific use cases.

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Used Axure for developing wireframes and prototypes.

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User Experience Manager

Rotary International - Evanston, IL

July 2011 to June 2012

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Selected by Rotary International to educate the organization on the principles of user experience design, and how to merge user experience design methodologies with an agile software development methodology called DSDM.

 

Involved in developing a user experience team comprised of Information Architects, Visual Designers and Content Strategists. Also acted as the Project Visionary for Rotary International's Digital Strategy, and assisting with organization-wide Branding and Social Networking initiatives.

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Other tasks involve acting as the user researcher, information architect and content strategist for the development of Rotary International's new grant management system, as well as functioning as the usability advisor on Rotary International's online donation system and Rotary International's club goals tracking system.

 

Worked with an offshore development team to communicate design specifications for the purpose of implementation.

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Tools used were Balsamiq Mockups, Axure, Adobe Creative Suite, Vizio, and Morae.

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User Experience Lead

JPMorgan - Chicago, IL

November 2010 to July 2011

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Acted as the lead interaction designer for J.P. Morgan’s Treasury Services group, designing liquidity management applications to assist Fortune 500 clients with their internal treasury needs.

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Day-to-day tasks involved translating Business Requirement Documents (BRDs) into wireframes using Axure. All wireframes are annotated and aggregated into a UI Specification document which is delivered to development teams to begin the implementation of a given software application.

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Other activities involved facilitating, observing and analyzing Usability Test sessions using Morae (Reporter, Observer and Manager), participating in user acceptance testing (UAT) using HP's Quality Center, and working closely with internal partners such as Product Management, Business Analysts and Development teams to continue strategizing on the best software initiatives for the Bank, both domestically and internationally (Europe, Asia, Latin America and Emerging Markets).

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User Experience Lead
Society of Actuaries - Schaumburg, IL

March 2009 to November 2010

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Lead initiatives involving User Research, Information Architecture, Content Strategy and development of low and high fidelity prototypes for the SOA’s internal “Learning Management System,” an online educational application for industry actuaries.

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Lead User Researcher/Information Architect

Field Museum - Chicago, IL
November 2008 to February 2009

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Lead initiatives involving User Research, Information Architecture, Content Conducted User Research interviews, site and content audits, and developed User Models, Personas and User Interface Specifications for the redesign of the Field Museum's primary website www.fieldmuseum.org.

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Sr. Information Architect/UX Designer

Hewitt & Associates - Lincolnshire, IL
September 2008 to November 2008

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Responsible for User Research, Information Architecture and Interaction Design disciplines.

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Acted as Sr. IA for the redesign of Hewitt and Associates' Global Rewards System. Produced Business Requirements, Process Flows, Use Case Scenarios, User Interface Specifications, concept models, detailed wireframes and design comps.

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Creative Director
NCI Mobility - Chicago, IL
September 2004 to September 2008

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Was responsible for managing 10 software engineers and 4 User Experience Designers that make up NCI Mobility's Software Design/Development Department. Also responsible for managing off-shore developer's and designers at NCI Mobility's offices in Eastern Europe.

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Worked on implementing a consistent software design and development methodology for custom marketing applications that provide real-time consumer data capture at public and private commercially sponsored events.

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Such custom marketing applications include PDA-based surveys, written in embedded .NET, that capture and wirelessly transmit consumer brand preference information in real-time.

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Applied User Centered Design principals to mobile phone and UMPC-based applications such as remote surveys, games, and WAP enabled Web sites.

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User Experience Manager

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) - Westmont, IL

July 2004 to September 2004

Was responsible for the re-design, re-branding, and re-engineering of www.joneslanglasalle.com.

 

Worked to develop a new information architecture, content strategy, graphic design and back-end architecture needed for converting www.joneslanglasalle.com into a multilingual Web site.

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Worked with packages such as Microsoft's Content Management Server for content management, .NET for middle-ware application development and Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for all front-end design. In addition, for front-end programming, used DHTML, JavaScript and CSS.

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Was also responsible for doing a global audit of all JLL applications to determine best options for rolling out new Web site.

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User Experience Manager
J.P. Morgan Private Bank - New York, NY

December 2003 to June 2004

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Responsible for introducing the Private Bank to user experience design principles and ways of incorporating these principles into current and future web applications.

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Had been responsible for changing the day-to-day workflow for web design/ development to allow for user research, information architecture, content strategy and graphic design. In addition, developed consistent standards for current and future web initiatives as well as standards for converting legacy, client-server applications into web based applications.

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Used Photoshop and Illustrator for prototyping and HTML, DHTML, CSS and JavaScript for front-end programming.

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User Experience Manager

McDonald's Corporation - Oak Brook, IL

September 2003 to December 2003

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Was Responsible for the re-design, re-branding, and re-engineering of www.mcdonalds.com. Worked to develop new information architecture, content strategy, graphic design and back-end architecture needed to communicate McDonald's new marketing campaign known as "i'm lovin' it."

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Worked with packages such as Day Communiqué for content management, programming languages such as Java for middle-ware application development and Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for all front- end design. In addition, for front-end programming, used DHTML, JavaScript and CSS.

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Also, had been responsible for creating and managing a team of 8 developers to re-strategize existing McDonalds.com content and integrate it all into the Day Communiqué content management system.

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User Experience Manager

Sapient - Chicago, IL

March 2000 to September 2003

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Was involved in all aspects of website development, from research and requirements gathering to design and implementation. Also, involved in the sales process, helping to win projects at Morgan Stanley, Allstate and National City Bank, as well as management, responsible for teams of 4 to 6 people for executing design and development.

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Sites designed and developed were: www.morganstanleyindividual.com, www.csfb.com, www.accessallstate.com, www.nationalcity.com, www.janus.com, www.nissanusa.com, www.infiniti.com, www.cingular.com and www.smithandnoble.com.

Some of the technologies and packages used were DHTML, XML, JavaScript, JSP, .NET, Photoshop, Flash, Vignette, Interwoven, and Blue Martini. Was chosen by Microsoft to use the BETA version of Visual Studio.NET for the development of Allstate’s e-commerce Web site.

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In addition, managed a small group responsible for educating the company on WAP. Was in the process of researching the benefits of WML and the process of creating more efficient wireless applications.

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Web Group Manager

Goldman Sachs - New York, NY

November 1998 to March 2000

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Was Responsible for the re-design, re-branding, and re-engineering of www.mcdonalds.com. Worked to develop new information architecture, content strategy, graphic design and back-end architecture needed to communicate McDonald's new marketing campaign known as "i'm lovin' it."

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Worked with packages such as Day Communiqué for content management, programming languages such as Java for middle-ware application development and Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for all front- end design. In addition, for front-end programming, used DHTML, JavaScript and CSS.

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Also, had been responsible for creating and managing a team of 8 developers to re-strategize existing McDonalds.com content and integrate it all into the Day Communiqué content management system.

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Project Manager/Web Developer

HBO - New York, NY
June 1994 to November 1998

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Managed a group of four developers in the redesign of HBO's Intranet.
Developed websites for HBO's Intranet using HTML, JavaScript, and CGI/PERL programming.

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Managed, daily, a small web group called HBOnet. We were responsible for the development of internal group sites, as well as the development of external websites, e.g. HBO Direct, Cox Cable (Promotion site), HBO Satellite, and HBO.com.

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Used Photoshop for editing (retouching) photos, from movies that have played on HBO, for use on the HBO website (all work done on the Mac OS).

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Designed illustrations for use in the HBO monthly TV Guide using Photoshop, Illustrator, Debabilizer, and QuarkXPress.