About the Usability and User Experience Community
Member Profiles: 2005

Edited by Susan Duncan, Membership Coordinator

• Miranda Bennett
• Sonya Hoffman
• Lane Fellenz
• Steve Schaefer

Miranda Bennett
Technical Software Marketing

I recently graduated from Southern Polytechnic State University with a degree in Professional and Technical Communication. Shortly after graduation, I landed my first "real" job at a small software department inside a large manufacturing company. I have many responsibilities, including documentation, instructional design, training, and marketing.  I even help out with technical support on occasion and am expected to make suggestions regarding the usability of our software. I was initiated into the "sacred" study of usability by my professors, and have found it to be vital to my current responsibilities.  I have the good fortune to work for a manager/software developer who puts a lot of stock in usability. So, not only am I interested in it, I have a mandate to learn about it!

Lane Fellenz
Information Dexterity, LLC

I’ve been an information architect and developer for over 15 years, exclusively in the high tech industry. I started out as a technical writer and have been managing technical communications teams for over 10 years. I became interested in usability because it became clear to me early on that “writing manuals” is not our goal. Our goal is to convey technical information to our users and to facilitate the use of the product we support. Using the principles of user-centered design and usability enables us to know how best to do that and whether or not we are succeeding.

I formed my own company in June 2004 in order to provide information architecture, eLearning design, and technical writing services. My client list includes Cisco Systems, Align Technology, Inc., and R2 Technology, Inc.

Sonya Hoffman
PeoplePC

My hope is that I can improve my understanding of usability so that I can provide better solutions for my customers in the future.
 
I have been technical writing for 13 years (currently in English for Semiconductors, and in English and Spanish for the Telecommunications and Railroad industries). I have been designing for the web for 7 years. I earned my Internet Web Master Certification in 2000.
 
I am presently working as a technical writer and web designer for a semiconductor company based in Europe whose primary language is 'American English'. I am responsible for writing and editing documents and web pages, as well as ensuring consistency between all the media used to promote our products.
 
Most of what I know about usability, other than the little training I have gotten internally, is related to its cultural aspects--that is, the technical, usability, and readability issues experienced by people all over the world (e.g. China, Malaysia, Morocco, Europe, and Japan).
 
I like to Jazzercise, garden, do some home improvement projects, do basic work on my car, spoil my animals, meditate, read, and study languages and online classes in programming and graphical applications. I have a B.A. in Psychology.

Steven Schaefer
Oracle
 
As a senior technical writer at Oracle, I have spent five years attempting to explain the nuances of our Incentive Compensation product to customers and implementers. My duties include producing a User Guide, Implementation Guide, and online help for each release. The twin issues of product usability and document usability are my constant concerns, which why I leaped at the chance to join this SIG.
 
My employment history weaves a serpentine path through the antiquarian book world (7 years), professional sports (9 years), various sales jobs (a few forgettable years), and now the software industry (nearly six years). I have always found some way to use my BA in English in each job.
 
I have written an automotive review column for newspapers for nearly 14 years, which gives me plenty to talk about at work when documentation topics turn stale. I enjoy playing the acoustic bass and learning American Sign Language in my spare time. I have a 1956 Nash Metropolitan in my garage waiting for me to nurture it back to perfect health (which is tricky for a semicentennarian British vehicle).
 
I am married and the father of two sons--one grown and the other a teenager.