Jon dodd backgrounder for WSTF

Hey guys,

A little bit about me:

Based in Oxford in the UK so conference time is 23:00-1:00 so excuse me if 
I yawn - its nothing personal.

Jon Dodd - Projects and research director for Bunnyfoot Universality 
www.bunnyfoot.com (our old site - have a spanking new one in the wings just 
waiting for 5 minutes to finish it off - business is quite good at the 
moment). We are a company of 5-8 people (like to keep fluid) and provide 
usability and accessibility services to a variety of commercial, 
educational and government organisations. We niched in accessibility 3 
years ago (when it wasn't that trendy and we needed exposure) and have 
since become pretty well known for that.

General background
* IBM way back in 1989 - developed database expert system and communication 
tools
* degree in Neuroscience - was a new 'build your own degree' many 
components of psychology as well as the wet stuff - I concentrated on 
visual perception and cognition in particular
* Phd in 'visual and computational neuroscience' - basically how the brain 
supports our visual interpretations - mix of psych, behaviour, 
computational modelling etc.
* Post doc doing similar stuff until I saw the light and saw where my 
talents might be better focussed (and hopefully make a living wage
* Started Bunnyfoot in late 1999 with a guy (my best friend since age 12) 
who was a dissallusioned management accountant and then management consultant

Experience in EOWG:
- New member
- Was an EOWG virgin until the meeting in Dublin last month

Experience in UCD:
- Through consultancy over the last 3 years although to be honest we still 
have a hard time getting in at the beginning and convincing people to do 
things properly
- Mainly (at the moment) perform evaluations and user testing but are 
increasingly called in as part of the design team
- Fairly bookish knowledge and experience of full blown UCD - work with 
colleagues and associates when required


Experience in Web site development:
- Have been programing sites (in some shape or form) for about 8 years
- Program in HTML, PHP (preferred) but get my hands dirty with other 
combinations when required
- Try to avoid actually developing sites nowdays - consult rather than 
build (Bunnyfoot don't offer development on purpose)

Other stuff;
* Do a lot of accessibility testing
* Do a lot of other web related research
* Evangelize and present a lot about accessibility (and usability when I 
get chance)
* aim to speak in plain english and not jargon when ever possible - 
especially to clients

Photo:
- If you must
www.jondodd.co.uk/liedetector.jpg

Received on Monday, 29 September 2003 13:44:33 UTC