Laura Martin

13309 Westlake Circle, Belleville, MI 48111 | lauramartin429@gmail.com | 734.634.6738

Education Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (Graduated December 2002)

Masters, Human-Computer Interaction, 4.0 QPA
Bachelor of Science, Information Systems & Human-Computer Interaction, 3.4 QPA
Minor, Technical Writing
Experience Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI, March 2003 – Present
Usability Specialist, March 2005 - Present
• Leadership: Acts as Process Quality Assurance leader: conducts checkpoint and final wireframe
approvals for enterprise application; led and co-developed group process for performing
accessibility evaluations; serves as lead usability specialist on enterprise applications requiring
multiple usability specialists, authored and maintains step-by-step process for internal usability
testing, instructs new team members on how to perform heuristic evaluations during new
employee on-boarding training.
• Interface Design: Leads usability projects and authors over 1200 wireframes for 3 enterprise-
wide applications. Gathers requirements, designs wireframes, and facilitates business customer
and graphic design relationship for various internal and business-to-customer websites and
applications. Works with teammates to establish internal and application usability standards and
patterns.
• Usability Testing: Completed multiple usability tests with over 100 recommendations each to
project teams. Meets with customers to establish testing goals and timeline, organizes logistics
by scheduling users, creating user tasks and preparing usability lab, leads and conducts usability
testing, analyzes and interprets data, creates recommendations and writes up testing report and
presentation for business customers. Recently recognized by business customer for
performance and professionalism on internal project.
• Heuristic Evaluations: Completed multiple heuristic evaluations with over 350 observed
violations each. Analyzes interface, performs heuristic evaluation using Neilsen’s Top 10, and
writes up heuristic evaluation report and presentation for customers. Conducts both one-person
and three-person heuristic evaluations.
• Accessibility Evaluations: Performed evaluations based on W3CAG established guidelines on
over 35 Ford European Consumer-Facing and Internal websites.
• Awards: Three awards given for strong performance, excellent teamwork, and high-quality work
on various projects.
Associate Project Manager, Manufacturing IT Group, October 2004 – March 2005
• Lead and completed internal architecture review, architecture control review, and infrastructure
control review for various applications necessary for plant day-to-day operations.
• Created test plans and performed quality assurance testing for internal applications.
Database Analyst, November 2003 – March 2004
• Completed and audited database change requests
• Created user manual for internal Teradata database system, setting the standards for consistent
formatting style and language used in user manual for easy maintenance.
Business Analyst: March 2003 – October 2003
• Managed internal career development project within Human Resources IT, in concert with
business partners, through initial phases of software delivery life cycle.
• Interacted with and acted as liaison between business partners and vendor developers to confirm
requirements and obtain a purchase order agreement.
Texas Instruments / HCII 2002 Spring and Summer Group Project, Carnegie Mellon
Worked to create software program interface that enables teachers to generate programs
on TI graphing calculators:
• Preliminary Research (Spring 2002): Performed contextual inquiries (10 teachers), heuristic
evaluations (over 100 violations discovered), and cognitive walkthroughs (novice, intermediate,
and advanced tasks). Analyzed results, produced final report, and determined summer project
directions.
 • Interface Development (Summer 2002): Created semi-functional interface in Visual Basic and
Director. Tested 25 users through 6 rounds of iterative design and conducted 2 focus groups of
teachers in Pittsburgh and Chicago. Produced final report and CD-ROM for clients.
Progressive Insurance, Cleveland, OH, November 2000 – August 2001
Web Experience Developer
• Conducted monthly usability tests on prototype web pages, assessed the usability process and
recommended changes and additions, and created web page mockups and graphics for Personal
Progressive, and evaluated Progressive's web site according to Gomez Industry Standards.
(http://www.gomez.com)
• Produced electronic campaign for all California policyholders informing them of how Progressive
can assist with earthquake related property damage.

CMU/University of Pittsburgh 2001 Fall Group Project, Carnegie Mellon

• Created database and interface for malignant hyperthermia registry at UPMC.
• Conducted user tests with client throughout interface development. Produced critical system
documentation, including data dictionary, data model, and user manuals.
• Served as client contact: Attended weekly meetings with client and maintained email and
phone communication.
Leadership
Ford College Graduate (FCG) Council, Ford Motor Company, Fall 2003 – Fall 2005
• Newsletter Committee: Founded and chaired Fall 2004-Fall 2005. Lead 5 person team that created
online monthly newsletter highlighting FCG community events, Ford news, and technology and
industry trends.
• FCG Carousel: Co-chaired Fall 2004-Fall 2005. Organized advertisement and logistics for internal
job fair for IT FCGs attended by over 40 department representatives.
Business Opportunities Conference, Carnegie Mellon, Spring 2000 – Fall 2001
Student Services Director
• Coordinated and planned annual job fair of 56 companies on an $18,000 budget with a student
committee of 12 undergraduates.
• Selected and trained more than 30 student volunteers for the conference.
• Served as liaison between the committee, academic departments, and students.
Big Brother / Big Sister of Southeastern Michigan, Spring 2006 – Summer 2006
Girls On The Run of Southeastern Michigan, Fall 2006
Freshman Orientation Counselor, Carnegie Mellon University, 1999, 2000 and 2001
Technical
Experience Software/Applications: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visio, Corel WordPerfect, Macromedia Director,
Dreamweaver; Visual Basic;Internet clients; Familiar with Adobe PageMaker, Illustrator, Photoshop.
Languages: Familiar with HTML, SQL, C++, Java, JavaScript, and ASP.
Training 3-day Usability Training with Tom Brink, usability specialist (http://www.simplytom.com/)
Accessibility: Why It’s Important and how to Evaluate
Introduction to Use Cases
Project Management Fundamentals
Introduction to Teradata Storage Principles
6-Sigma training (Green Belt certified)
Introduction to Data Warehousing