résumé

Luke G. Knowland

Boston, MA
luke@lgkproductions.com

Summary

Boston based professional with a storied background in product, UX, and team building, and extensive startup, non profit, Fortune 500, and consulting experience.

Skill sets

· Product Development, User Experience, Project Management
· Information Architecture, Interaction/Interface Design, Product Design, Illustration

Experience

Independent Consultant
9/17 - present
Providing product, user experience, mentorship, and design expertise and feedback.

THX Ltd., San Francisco, CA
1/16 - 8/17
Head of Product
Member of executive management team, responsible for reference design consumer facing products. Coordinated with CEO, CRO, and CTO on various programs. Supported marketing, business development, and engineering on all projects. Oversaw implementation of Agile methodologies, process improvements, and design.

Samsung Research America, Mountain View, CA
12/13 - 12/15
Product Manager
Senior member of Enhanced Services team for Smart TV, involved in product development and specification for all product releases. Implemented the overhaul of product specification process, improving productivity (as well as the relationship between engineering and design). Adapted Agile process to better suit day to day operations. Successfully launched real-time statistics product for the 2014 NFL season, which lead to the viewing context aware Extra Platform, including recommendations and notifications.

Independent Consultant
8/98 - 11/13
Provided information architecture, product development, user experience, and interactive design solutions to a variety of companies, including: The California Academy of Sciences, Intuit, Intific (previously Total Immersion Software), VolunteerMatch, Walmart, and Yahoo!.

California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA
1/13 - 6/13: User Experience, Information, and Visual Designer, Developer
Designed and developed entirety of AntWeb 5.0's redesign (view case study [18MB PDF]).

9/05 - 4/06, 12/08 - 12/11: User Experience Consultant
Information design and user experience consultant for the California Academy of Sciences' AntWeb website. Worked with lead entomologist and lead database architect to restructure existing website, as well as to create new administrative and collaborative tools for easier maintenance of site.

Intuit, Mountain View, CA
4/13
UI/UX Constultant

VolunteerMatch, San Francisco, CA
8/11 - 4/12
User Interface Contractor and Technical Consultant

Intific (previously Total Immersion Software, Inc.), Alameda, CA
7/10 - 8/11: Technical Producer
Managed and coordinated one of their Fortune 500 client's multi-media projects, including localization component. Liaised between client, development team, and executive producer to insure efficient communication and that schedules and deadlines were met. Investigated and resolved technical issues.

11/09 - 5/10: Information Architect and Technical Consultant
Provided in-depth technical design documents to detail workflow and design of systems related to one of their client's projects. Provided technical feedback to team regarding design implications, development, and implementation.

Yahoo!, San Francisco, CA
6/07 - 10/08
Senior Developer, Advanced Products
Jack of all trades web developer with Yahoo!'s Advanced Products group (Brickhouse). Primarily focused on rapid prototyping of new products, developing database schemas and models, frontend architectures, and interaction flows. Lead developer for Kickstart (professional networking site for college students), responsible for site architecture, database design, application development, project management, team management, and feature brainstorming.

Six Apart, San Francisco, CA
5/06 - 5/07
Interaction Designer
Interaction designer with the Movable Type team. Was responsible for creating information architecture for improving existing usability and developing new user interaction for Movable Type 4. Developed detailed specifications to illustrate and explain how interactivity model should behave. Worked with members of the engineering team to implement the interaction design and user interface.

Zilonis, Inc., Las Vegas, NV
4/05 - 12/05
Co-founder, Chief Technologist
Co-founder and developer for Las Vegas-based start up. Designed and developed podcasting administration application, in PHP and MySQL. Designed and developed custom touch screen audio device in gtk2-perl.

Coming for Dinner, San Francisco, CA
3/02 - present
Founder
Designed and developed entirety of web-based application, including custom content management system, database design and development, search functionality, referral tracking, metrics tracking, newsletter signup, and RSS/XML feed for cookbook recipe database in PHP and MySQL. Site is aware of various states of user experience. Custom search allows for in-depth exploration of all recipes. Created all recipes, content, and illustrations.

Walmart.com, Brisbane, CA
5/04 - 1/05
Information Architecture Contractor
Worked with design group and information architecture group on several products, including the walmart.com PhotoCenter and the information design of the checkout process.

America 24/7, Sausalito, CA
4/04 - 12/04
User Experience Contractor
Designed front end user experience and interface design for custom book cover application for America 24/7. Worked with technical lead to insure all cross platform layout and compatibility issues.

Yahoo!, Sunnyvale, CA
5/03 - 7/03
Interface Design Contractor
Designed and developed custom knowledge management system in PHP and MySQL for the Global Market Research team. Over the course of this two month contract met with members of team, created product development documents and interface and visual design directions, created technical specifications and database design, developed the entirety of the application and database, and trained the members of the team on how to use it.

VolunteerMatch, San Francisco, CA
5/01 - 7/02
Interim Director of Web Production and Development
Restructured information design and user experience for online volunteering tool. Developed mechanisms for bringing custom dynamic content as well as editorially based content to the homepage. Created product development process specifications. Developed new administrative tools for managing accounts.

@Home Network, Redwood City, CA
11/98 - 5/99
Technical Designer
Developed prototypes for advanced broadband user experiences. Created consistent navigational interface for @Home's various channels.

ClearStation, Inc. San Francisco, CA
2/98 - 8/98
Interface Director
Member of management team. Responsible for the interface and design of online financial Web site. Examined architecture of initial database-driven product and redesigned original prototype of site. Created and integrated new UI into existing software (in C). Barron's called it "one of the best Web interfaces we've seen" (October 12, 1998).

Wired Digital, San Francisco, CA
5/96 - 7/97: Producer, Webmonkey
Directed and oversaw HotWired's most popular and lucrative Web site. Managed and coordinated staff of editors and production managers. Proposed, developed, and built new program areas.

9/95 - 5/96: Production Specialist
Utilized technical, production, and creative skills to troubleshoot and develop content areas at HotWired. Played key role in all HotWired product launches and redesigns.

5/95 - 8/95: Design/Interface Assistant
Day-to-day production for entire HotWired site.

Humboldt Institute for Technological Studies
11/96 - 11/03
Co-founder of team dedicated to working with community in Humboldt County, CA, to teach computer and Internet skills.

Appearances
CHOW, "Fake Food" (Volume 1, Number 4, November/December 2005)
CHOW, "Team Cooking" (Volume 1, Number 3, September/October 2005)
Photoshop for the Web, by Mikkel Aaland (1998, O'Reilly & Associates)

Education

University of Wales, Lampeter, Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales
Master of Philosophy, conferred 7/95
Major in English Literary Criticism and Philosophy
Beyond the "senses five": Immortal Possibilities in the Works of Wordsworth and Shelley

Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
Bachelor of Arts (cum laude), 5/92
Major in Classics and Philosophy