Ph.D. in Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin. Concentration in human factors, design of automated systems, and statistical research methods.
M.Ed. in Psychology from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education.
B.A. English, Rutgers University.
Cleveland Ohio USA
Can recite most of the lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Will build you a gaming PC upon request.
Able to scarf a sleeve of Thin Mints in well under a minute.
I’ve provided user research, usability testing and UX/UI design services for organizations in diverse areas like security; telecommunications; banking, accounting and tax preparation; financial planning and portfolio management; ecommerce, and more.
I also create and teach graduate courses in user experience research and design at Kent State University, where I serve as Coordinator for the User Experience Design Master of Science program.
During the 2000’s I was Senior Director of User-Centered Design at Sage Software in Atlanta, Georgia, where I led efforts to redesign the UI and workflow for Peachtree Accounting and several other business management desktop and web-based products. Before that I was a User-Centered Design Manager at Intuit. In the 1990’s I was a Member of Technical Staff at Lucent Technologies in New Jersey.
In my spare time you can usually find me assembling guitars from a collection of parts I’ve accumulated over the last 20 or so years. Some of them turn out pretty good. Here are a few of my better builds.
Kent State University
Assistant Professor (2014 to present)
Concentration Coordinator (2016-2017)
Program Coordinator (2017-present)
Design and teach various courses in the User Experience Research and Design Master of Science program, including usability, UX research, and UI design. Provide student mentoring and career guidance to students. Set strategic direction and ensure quality for the Master’s program.
ShermanUX
Principal Consultant (2008 to present)
Founded a user experience consultancy in late 2008 to provide user experience and usability research, design and training for product and service providers. Clients include American Medical Identifications, Adopt-a-Pet.com, Autosoft, BusinessOnLine, Dell, First American Title, Lenovo, Microsoft, Notable Solutions Inc., Synq Solutions, Trend Micro, Verizon, VMware, and others.
Key Achievements:
Turning Technologies – Youngstown, OH
Product Design Lead (2010 to 2011)
Created and implemented the Turning Technologies user experience design and research practice and process.
Key Achievements:
Sage Software – Atlanta, GA
Senior Director of User-Centered Design, User Research & Usability (2004 to 2008)
Hired as Director to drive improvements to customer experience by developing and directing a user-centered design team for this software company with more than 10,000 employees. Defined and implemented the Sage Small Business Division’s Customer-Connected Design & Research program, a key part of Sage’s product/software development lifecycle (PDLC / SDLC).
Designed a customer-focused innovation program to create new products and services. Promoted to Senior Director in 2007. Held full accountability for $1.9M operating budget, $125K research budget and a staff of 21 direct and indirect reports.
Key Achievements:
Andara Digital – Dallas, TX
Director of User Research (2003 to 2004)
Oversaw user research services, establishing strategic direction and aligned offerings with practice strengths/constraints for this Internet solution and Web development company.
Prepared user-centered design offerings such as ethnographic studies, user needs analysis, requirements gathering, information architecture, and usability testing. Managed user research and design projects. Served major clients such as MyAutoLoan.com, JCPenney.com, Intuit, Kinkos.com, CompuCom, CenturyTel, American Medical Identifications, others. Held full accountability for $250K research budget and a staff of 4 direct reports.
Key Achievements:
University of Texas at Dallas
Senior Lecturer (2001 to 2005)
Developed and taught a three-course sequence in human-computer interaction for the Applied Cognition & Neuroscience Master of Science program. Mentored students and provided career guidance.
Intuit – Plano, TX
Manager of User-Centered Design (2001 to 2003)
Led research projects for new products and product line extensions for Lacerte Tax Planner, Intuit Document Management System, and QuickBooks Client Manager. Provided personnel and project management for user needs research, serving the Product Management and R&D organizations.
Identified process and design improvements and partnered with Six Sigma “blackbelts” to implement and track improvements following the Six Sigma DMADV method. Held full accountability for $125K research budget and a staff of 3 direct reports.
Key Achievements:
Perceptive Sciences (Formerly Austin Usability) – Dallas & Austin, TX
Usability Engineer (2000 to 2001)
Provided usability engineering services for major clients such as Intuit, Dell, ADP, HP, Landmark Graphics, and Motive Communications.
Selected Contributions:
Lucent Technologies – Holmdel, NJ
Member of Technical Staff (1997 to 2000)
Provided a wide array of technical functions as systems engineer and UI design supervisor. Wrote functional and UI requirements for network management, billing, and customer management software applications. Also created internationalization guidelines for product suites.
Selected Contributions:
Peer-Reviewed Books And Contributed Chapters
Other Publications
Presentations And Addresses
Accredited Curriculum Development
Kent State University:
University of Texas at Dallas:
Graduate-level Teaching
Kent State University, 2013 – present:
University of Texas at Dallas 2001-2005:
Professional Training
Awards and Honors
Volunteer
