Self Interview

I am an international IT consultant with expertise in designing Usable solutions.

I consider myself a usability enthusiast because whenever I look at a solution to a problem I try to consider the user's point of view rather than its modern looks, the cool technologies used or the countless functionalities. I try to communicate this approach to the people that surround me. This because I am a user too, we all are, and we all have suffered the pains and frustrations of living with a solution difficult to use. Historically such difficulties have been assigned to the user, not being bright enough, or trained enough to use the solution efficiently. I strongly disagree and believe that it is always the solution that should adapt to us, the human beings, the users and our needs.

In my experience as IT consultant I had the opportunity to work on several projects for different clients. I developed a broad technological knowledge and the ability to quickly integrate within different teams composed of consultants and client staff. Often working at the client site for large international market leaders, I also gained valuable knowledge on the different business industries and market sectors.

Not exactly. I was born in Brussels and lived here until 18 years old. After school I felt the urge to leave home and the protection of the family surroundings to follow up new challenges. I decided to take up a university degree on IT engineering at the University of Pisa (Italy). Before starting my course I decided to improve my English knowledge and I went for six month to the USA at the Cornell University (Ithaca).

I then came back to Europe and lived in Italy for nearly two years. Unfortunately, the quality of academic teaching I had access in Pisa was not to the standard I saw in the USA and I decided that I needed to continue in a different environment. I found the course with the right conditions at the University of Aberystwith in Wales.

After completing my three years bachelor in Economic and Computer Science, I decided to continue my studies in London (UK) where I attended a master course in Human-Computer Interaction. In the summer, before I started the course, I took the opportunity to take up a work experience in Singapore. Before completing my master degree I also had a longer internship experience in Luxembourg.

Finally, after I completed my degree in the UK I decided to come back to Belgium as I think there are the right working and living conditions for me. These experiences gave me opportunity to learn theoretical and practical methodologies in use within the IT industry and to develop my interpersonal skills along with the capability to adapt quickly to different living and working environments.

As an experienced IT consultant my objective is to work for the client to help him reach important benefits in term of cost, product or service quality and a high customer satisfaction trough an optimal use of the available technology. My goal is to make a positive, mission-critical contribution which will ensure the success of the solution developed and of the organization as a whole, leading to measurable advantage over its competitors in the market.

I believe that this goal can be achieved by focusing on the final users of any IT solution and understanding their real needs. Usability engineering provides a set of methodologies that support user studies to identify and model the human activity. It is essential to gather valuable data and analyze the results in details in order to make sure that the solution that will be developed will be optimal. Furthermore, usability analysis and experimental evaluation methods (such as Heuristic Evaluation, Cognitive Walkthrough, Prototyping and User Testing) are excellent techniques to determine if the particular design solution developed is successful. It is always better to design something right from the beginning rather than fixing it later and evaluation techniques can be applied in any stages of the software development process.

This attitude will lead to a better reputation for the product or service and for the organization that developed it.

My freelance assignment for Viveo Cognitive Systems has been extremely rewarding.

I had the opportunity to be in charge of the user experience for the software products of the organization.

Working in collaboration with Viveo's clients, analysts, and programmers, I have designed and standardized the look-and-feel making sure that the front-ends are simple, intuitive and easy to learn.

The overall effect has been to improve the quality of the suite of products, reinforcing the Viveo branding.

I was browsing one day in the university library at Aberystwith and I came across a book that changed the way I looked at the things that surround us: "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman.

It opened my mind on how much it is our environment that shapes our behavior while it should be the opposite. We should shape the things that surround us to fit ourselves, to solve our problems.

The concern is that most of the time nowadays the people that design, create and market a tool are not the same that will be using it. For this reason they are not concerned with thinking about the practical implications the tool will bring to the world when in use.
Designing a new artifact is driven more by marketing, fashion, cool technology, rather than ease of use, practicality, efficiency.

As Donald Norman would say I am human and this means that I can be distracted, I might have difficulty to concentrate in particular situations or keep focused attention for long time and sometime confuse languages or speak ungrammatically. We all share the same limitations. It is for these reasons that we have invented tools such as database systems that extend our memory, interactive tools to help us keep our focus on the business goals and supports our workflow and word processors with dictionary facilities.

Unfortunately, these tools are not conceived with the human and his limitations in mind but rather with a technological focus. For this reason accidents happen which are often attributed to a human error. The technological tools should complement the user without getting in the way or requiring characteristics that he doesn't have.

My strength is this: having the analytical mind and the strong desire to identify the roots of the problem and the needs of the "human side" of a task and having the creativity and the vision to identify and articulate the perfect solution to the situation of concern.

I like reading and listening to music but I also I play indoor mini-foot regularly as a sport activity to for my physical and mental well-being.

Recently I suffered a small injury which made me aware of the small risks of any sport activities. I raised the issue with the rest of the team and I am now responsible for taking along the first aid kit and giving advices when needed. I am also considering attending first aid training to gain fundamental knowledge and skills in order to cover emergency situations.