Drew Falk,
MS, CUA
Project Director

Job at HFI

• Quickly but thoroughly understanding my clients’ business, their application’s functions, the technology, and the users’ needs, characteristics and constraints
• Ensuring that users are represented (and championed!) in my clients’ development decisions
• Reminding my clients that they are not like their users. A design that the client likes may not work for their users
• Asking questions (and challenging some sacred cows!)
• Applying to familiar design conventions while thinking outside the box
• Adapting best-practices in a flexible manner
• Testing, testing, testing! (Eye-tracking tests are very cool!)
• Transferring knowledge

Specifically:

• Orchestrating staff, schedule, budget
• Requirements analysis (stakeholder and user interviews)
• Task analysis and business process reengineering.
• High-level user interface concept design, Information Architecture design, and navigation design.
• Detailed screen design.
• Usability testing.
• Corporate design standards.
• Usability reviews of existing screens.

Experience

Tons. Drew is an experienced usability guy, systems analyst and UI designer (plenty of stars and scars). He's been doing it for many, many years, and that's after he got tired of being a programmer. His experience covers a wide range of business applications. In his eternal search for the best ways to create user-centered applications and Websites, he has gotten really good at re-engineering (i.e., untangling) user tasks and creating new task flows that flow smoothly. His goal is designs that are obvious. He has led (facilitated) dozens of design workshops, designed and usability-tested hundreds of applications and Websites, and conducted zillions of user interviews.

Education

M.S., 1975, Drexel University – Library and Information Science, emphasis in computer applications (My training in library science helps me organize information in ways that are obvious and easy-to-access.)

B.S., 1972, Pennsylvania State University – Studio Art

Favorite Projects

Drew says he really gets a kick out of marching into the office of a new client, figuring out their business from stem to stern, and then designing solutions to make life easier for them.

Areas of Interest and Design Orientation

Drew is more practical than academic, but he keeps up with the latest research and best-practices. His design philosophy includes:

• Fix the task flow problem first, then automate it!
• New toys alone usually won't fix the problem.
• Make life easier for the users, and more challenging for the programmers.
• A brilliant design is worthless if no one will buy it.
• Trust users! (They know their jobs better than designers do.)
• Don't trust users! (Don't let 'em tell you how to design a system.)

Hobbies and Special Interests

Hobbies?  Who has time for hobbies?

Favorite Food

Seafood at a dock-side place, overlooking the water. (Every now and then, this traveling-and-consulting stuff is ok!)

Character

Yeah, once you get to know him! Drew is a veteran consultant – he leaves a trail of happy clients behind him. He is analytical, thorough, and very well organized, and subject to flashes of inspiration. Persistent, determined, real-world, but he has a hard time following convention. Can handle complex issues related to business, users, politics, task flows, screen design, and technology.