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Education
University of Michigan, School of Information, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Master of Science in Information, expected graduation : Spring 2011
Specialization in Human Computer Interaction

National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
B.S in Bio-industrial Mechatronics Engineering: June 2009

San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
Art : Aug 2006 - Aug 2007
Selective Courses: Multimedia, Composition.
Study Abroad

Professional Experience
Thomson Reuters| May 2010 - Present
Interaction/ Visual Design Intern, New York City, USA
 
  • Brainstormed and wireframed desktop financial software interface design
  • Defined visual design standard for the new Investment & Advisory core product
  • Communicated with development team and documented design standard and elements
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    The Huffington Post Investigative Fund| March 2010
    Interactive Narrative Internship, Washington DC, USA
     
  • Designed interactive narrative for the health insurance claims report
  • Wireframmed interface and designed graphics in Illustrator
  • Implemented interactive narrative in Flash
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    Walt Disney College Program | Feb 2007- Aug 2007
    Internship, Entertainment Costuming, Disneyland, California, USA
     
  • Worked in Character Head Room, parade “Block Party Bash,” show “Aladdin The Musical”, and maintained customs, controlled customs handling and quick change performers during a show
  • Capable of multitasking and working under fast-paced, high pressure environment
  • Working as a media host for print media in Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Opening in Disneyland
    		•

    Projects
    Noteworks| Jan 2010- April 2010
    Client: Noteworks, MI, USA, Course Project: Evaluation of Systems and Services
     
  • Market evaluation of a music software including comparative analysis
  • Conducted interviews, survey, and user testing of software
    		•
    Meetin’Bytes| Sep 2009 - Dec 2009
    Client: TechSmith, MI, USA, Course Project: Interface and Interaction Design
     
  • Designed Meeting software for group of 5 - 12 people
  • Conducted contextual inquiry and survey to gather user data and define product concept
  • Leaded the team build up lo-fi prototype
  • Built hi-fi prototype with Axure RP
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    Information System Evaluation | Sep 2009 - Dec 2009
    Client: U-M Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and U-M Survey Research Operations (SRO), Course Project: Contextual Inquiry and Project Management
     
  • Gathered information and understanding problems by using contextual inquiry
  • Built communication, artifact, and many other models to analyzing SRO’S information flow and work culture
  • Provided recommendation for future and long term use
    		•
    FuturTech Conference 2009| Oct 2009 - Dec 2009
    Webmaster
     
  • Designed conference logo, official website
  • Updated and publish website information
    		•
    Application of Gesture Recognition | Sep 2008 - Jun 2009
    Undergrad Thesis, Sponsored by National Science Council
     
  • Built system and analyzed incoming graphic information from webcam with OpenCV library on Processing
  • Evaluated system and ran user experience testing
  • Designed user interface for the system
    		•
    Nightmarket.web| Aug 2008
    Nightmarket Workshop 2008, Hosted by National Cheng Kung University, Center for Technology of Ubiquitous Computing and Humanity, MIT Media Lab
     
  • Designed interface and interaction of Emotion Map, and Back Track Map to present Taiwan nightmarket experience to those who never had one before
    		•
    PDF version

    Programming Languages
    - C++, Perl, HTML/CSS, R
    - Processing

    Spoken Languages
    - English (fluent)
    - Mandarin (native speaker)

    Software
    - Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign, Fireworks, Flash, Dreamweaver, Omnigraffle
    - Axure RP
    - SPSS

    Design Methods
    - Contextual Inquiry
    - Personas & Scenarios
    - Survey
    - Prototyping
    - Wireframing

    Usability Research Methods
    - Cognitive walk thorough
    - Usability testing

    Selective Courses
    - Interface and Interaction Design
    - Contextual Inquiry
    - Graphic Design
    - Digital Media
    - Data Manipulation
    - Game Theory
    - Microeconomics for Information Professionals
    - Choice Architecture

    Awards
    - Taiwan Merit Scholarships
    - Presidential Award, Top 5% academic performance, three times winner

    Affiliation
    - Student Organization for Computer Human Interaction (SOCHI)
     
      © 2010 Avalon (Yang-Chen) Hu