Creative services, project management, content strategy, and workflow analysis
Tracking the evolution of both the tech and publishing industries from the inside, I enjoyed a compelling professional environment, and was able to explore a diverse range of career interests. Over the course of my tenure with the IDG Publications family, I was privileged to see the world move from paste-up to XML-driven content, and from first-generation IBM PCs to the latest generation of web-enabled mobile devices. Along the way I wore many different hats, and engaged with a variety of functional areas and creative challenges. Besides the expected editorial and design management tasks, these included consulting work with studio and testing environments, creating prototypes and content mocks for usability projects, identity and outreach systems for marketing initiatives, scripting and workflow tools for web-first publishing, and closed-loop calibration controls for lab and production facilities.
-
Real-World Environments
The PC World Test Center needed a real-world environment for evaluating consumer-driven products. And the marketing department needed a slick venue for PR and vendor visits. The Digital Living Room was the result, with the capabilities of a shooting space, the resources of a testing space, and the feel of an actual living room. It quickly became the highlight of every lab tour, and doubled as an effective set for editorial video shoots. -
Controlled Environments
Likewise, the Test Center needed specific conditions for the analysis and measurement of visual samples from output devices, including printers, cameras, and displays. Providing early guidance on light sources, color meters, and calibrated targets, I was able to able to help them significantly improve their sample analysis. -
Design Prototyping
Major redesigns and design extensions almost always require extensive prototyping, followed by user feedback cycles. Every project coming through the PC World art department got a full set of physical mocks for focus group testing, followed by digital presentation files for targeted online and remote testing. This "full-spectrum" approach to prototyping was highly successful, allowing for both careful iteration and quick variations. -
Project Documentation
Successful projects need good process documentation, user documentation, and final packaging. The "web-first" K4 conversion I led was no exception. This project dramatically changed PC World's editorial workflow, introducing an XML-aware content repository, a high-end production database, and upstream tagging. At completion, PC World editors, designers, and IT folks all received a full set of customized reference material. -
Identity Systems
Each of PCW's sub-brands invariably needed some kind of unique identity system, often including logos, awards, custom ratings, and event-driven promotional materials. My team developed identity systems that would allow for individualized application across large product groups, families of graphic treatments for use by vendors in external advertising, and also worked closely with outside studios to create physical awards and large-scale environmental graphics for industry gatherings. -
User Testing
Along with screen-based user testing for web projects, print projects also benefited from regular testing. For example, every month the magazine covers in development underwent an elaborate A/B testing process, with up to a dozen cover versions produced and evaluated during each cycle. The full drill included a rough comp stage, a tight comp stage, online testing for two finalists, and subsequent refinement of the "winning" candidate. -
Consumer Marketing
Requests from the Consumer Marketing department might routinely include research templates, presentation materials, survey designs, circulation mini-campaigns, or leave-behinds for sales calls. All of these pieces tied the PC World brand together, and each one represented a crucial touch-point in the consumer experience. Over time the mediums varied, from traditional print pieces to interactive web ad units, and from CDs to poly-bags and insert treatments. In each case, the object was to provide a key stakeholder with appropriate, relevant, and effective materials to support their program, while maintaining a strong link to the underlying editorial mission.