Alan Underwood

My purpose is to make small changes that add up to big differences.

I believe in simplicity, authenticity, and the power of color to bring joy into everyday interactions. I am an award-winning UX designer who specializes in prototyping and loves bringing new products to market. I combine traditional design methodologies and emerging technologies to create inspiring and inclusive experiences.

Get in touch: alanunderwood@gmail.com

Awards

Webby Award, People's Voice
American Advertising Association Addy Award
Commendation of Excellence, Society of New Communications Research
Society for Technical Communication Award
Moz Award for Marketing

Skills

Design Thinking
Prototype Thinking
Systems Thinking
Human Centered Design
Machine Learning
User Experience
Information Design
Aritificial Intelligence
Universal Design
Mobile First Design

Collaborative Design
Wireframing
Consensus Building
User Research
A/B Testing
Scenario Mapping
Design Systems
Product Analytics
Information Design
Journey Maps

Adobe Photoshop
Sketch, Craft
Autodesk Sketchbook
Adobe Illustrator
InVision
Visio, Omnigraffle
Adobe XD
Tableau
3M® Post-It® Notes
Axure

HTML
Node.js
Kubernetes
CSS
Python
MongoDB
Javascript
SQL
Linux
Botkit

Additional Skills

Professional Experience

$O$ Nonprofit
Job Title	Dates Employed
Executive Director	2019 - Present
$O$ is a non-profit startup designed to collect better data on homelessness and help as many people as we can to become self-sufficient, or at least to eat for a day.
Managed a team of over a dozen people and lead the first board of directors Developed an AI/ML based back-end solution to collect information via text messages Designed a marketing campaign to collect donations and developed a funding model $O$

IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software
Job Title	Dates Employed
UX Design & Prototyping Lead	2015 - 2019
IBM Cloud combined with Cognitive Software to provide an integrated cloud and AI experience. My role was to bring prototype thinking and design thinking together to find new ways to integrate cognitive services into existing products.
Designed two open source products and two internal products while overseeing and coordinating with development teams for implementation Worked closely with user research team to ensure product goals match user requirements Demonstrated ML and cognitive capabilities for product teams with prototypes and examples Mentored junior and associate designers in design thinking, taught cognitive and unconscious bias by leading evangelization efforts and designing a deck of cards and a matching card game API Connect \| Microclimate \| Dev \| Tekton \| Dev

Progress
Job Title	Dates Employed
Principal Usability Designer	2013 - 2015
Progress had a directive from the board to re-invent themselves by writing their own software instead of relying on acquisitions as they had done in the past. Helped shape the strategy for a unified user interface across all Progress products. Led the Progress Pacific redesign as well as designing multiple product interfaces Prototyped everything — from napkin sketches to super high-fidelity and full functionality Pacific \| Rollbase \| Easyl

CA Technologies
Job Title	Dates Employed
Sr. User Experience Designer	2011 - 2013
Designer for an in-house agency tasked with working with product teams to standardize the user experience across the company. My role was to see the design through from start to finish. Standardized UI design, end-to-end, across all phases of design Application mapping, card sorting, personas and traditional information architecture tools Wireframing, prototyping, and implementation CA Process Automation

Notecards and String
Job Title	Dates Employed
Founder & CEO	2010 - 2011
Notecards and String was the first product I ever built on my own. Originally conceived as an information architecture tool, it quickly expanded to become a popular consumer app with over 1,000 users. Designed, prototyped, architected and implemented the entire product Managed a small team of people in a startup environment User testing, market research, and responding to test results with product updates Notecards and String

IBM Smart Business
Job Title	Dates Employed
Human Factors Engineer	2007 - 2011
IBM Smart Business was a self-healing all-in-one server solution for small business. Self-healing autonomic repair processes ensured uptime, reduced IT overhead, and cut maintenance costs. Comprehensive user experience across all Smart Business product UIs and web properties while maintaining consistent branding style, and interface guidelines and design patterns Paper, wireframe, HTML, PDF, Balsamiq & Powerpoint prototyping to support team initiatives Reporting to executives and decision-makers, coordinating with multiple product teams User research, mapping, testing, and analysis IBM Smart Business

iContact
Job Title	Dates Employed
Design Lead	2005 - 2007
iConctact is a social media and email marketing application serving SMB, Mid-sized and Enterprise customers. Led company wide cross-functional initiatives to improve the user experience, while meeting the objectives of stakeholders from executives to venture capitalists. UX evangelism, UI design, user research, usability testing, and user advocacy Grew our userbase exponentially, from 5,000 to 50,000 users iContact Rebranding

Koroberi
Job Title	Dates Employed
Interactive Lead	2001 - 2005
Koroberi is a full service B2B digital marketing agency. My role was to lead a small team to produce and maintain web sites and applications, while integrating with other departments such as public relations, print design, and media planning. Award winning web application design, prototyping, and development Search engine optimization, click through rate testing and conversion optimization Online marketing, and multimedia campaign integration Work Samples

1k.com
Job Title	Dates Employed
Information Architect	2000 - 2001
1k.com was a small digital agency focusing on city portal sites and websites and applications for local entertainment, small business, e-commerce, and franchise clients. Managed the company's city portals: large, ad-supported, locally focused portal sites. Worked directly with clients and designers to develop corporate, franchise, and e-commerce websites to customer specification Web application UI design and conversion testing, and user research Work Samples

Southern Mercantile Web Design & Consulting
Job Title	Dates Employed
Web Designer	1996 - 1999
At Southern Mercantile, I worked with a group of former print shop owners to help them transition from traditional printed collateral to a web-based marketing and advertising agency. Together we brought the first internet service provider to Orangeburg, SC. Designed and built web sites and web applications with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PERL Created radio sites with multi-media streaming using Flash and RealAudio Managed the Crescent Hill Post Office a local news, email and information portal

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