Hal Shubin: Web design, UI design & usability consultant

Overview

Whether it's for the Web or desktop software, user interface design is more than putting buttons and images on a screen. The first step in UI design is understanding the users and the business requirements: determining the right features and how to present them. I do this by analyzing your users' tasks along with your business requirements.

My focus has been consulting on Web design since the advent of Web applications. Read a paper about the differences between Web design and PC software design; it's from 1997, but still very relevant.

Design projects range from juke boxes and telephones to medical software and legal applications. See examples of how this process works.

I have studied, written, spoken and taught on eCommerce, Web application design, usability testing, typography and color theory.

Experience

Interaction Design, Inc., 1995 to present
Designer, Principal

My consulting company was one of the first to focus on designing Web applications, and I have learned a lot about the difference between designing Web sites and desktop software. I help clients understand their own needs and their users' needs and turn that information into product requirements and design.

A Group Design Workshop, where client team members and users (if possible) discuss and sketch out solutions to design problems is a great way to get started on requirements. Download the Group design workshops case study (pdf, 53k).

Engagements involve design, usability testing and expert product reviews. I have worked on desktop software, software embedded in non-PC devices, Web sites and Web applications.

Clients listed in my portfolio include ACM, Allscripts, Dictaphone, NorthernLight.com, PricewaterhouseCoopers, DirectHit.com, Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab, Oracle, Viant, GTE Labs/Verizon, Spyglass, Lotus/IBM and Digital Equipment Corporation/HP.

 top of page

HomePortfolio, 2000 to 2001
Vice President, Product Design Group

HomePortfolio.com is “the leading Internet destination for the best in home design.” The site shows products and information to consumers before sending them to retailers with the results of their research. HomePortfolio does not sell online, which increased the design challenge.

I joined HomePortfolio.com after five months of strategic consulting. My focus was on usability as well as visual design, and we designed a site that looks good and works well. I was on the CEO’s staff, providing a usability perspective on business decisions.

Accomplishments include:

 Management. I formed a design group with internal people and new hires. The most rewarding aspect was helping my staff develop skills through mentoring. The designers were delighted to add usability to their visual design skills.

 UI design. The site initially had three separate parts with different navigation, but after re-design, it is more intuitive and consistent. I worked with other managers to incorporate design into the development process. I also did initial design and specifications for crucial new features in product search and display.

 Usability and consumer research. I introduced regular usability testing and incorporated design into the development process. Our design capabilities became a selling point in creating custom Web sites for business partners. I planned and ran focus groups to get feedback from users and retailers about proposed changes.

  Site design and ROI. I directed a site redesign with updates before and after. We overhauled the home page to meet the needs of a growing company and incorporate marketing, advertising, sales, and content needs. I manipulated the site to improve traffic in the most important areas (30% and 120% in some cases).

  Custom design projects. Working with marketing and engineering, I supervised a syndication of the site's content to excite.com. This required a complete redesign to meet strict requirements for Excite channels.

 top of page

Lotus Development Corporation, 1993 to 1995
Principal Product Designer, Working Together Design

The Working Together project enabled customers and our software to share information easily. I designed cross-product applications, ensured consistency across the product line and developed common features for all of the products to share. This involved establishing relationships and negotiating with all the product groups.

I returned as a consultant on Lotus Organizer, an award-winning contact manager, and Domino.doc, a document-management system.

Sun Microsystems, 1992 to 1993
User interface designer, Human Interface Engineering Group

I worked on a team developing an object-oriented multimedia document system. My conceptual model defined concepts and tasks for collaborative editing, multiple presentations of data and embedding.

Maynard Design, 1990 to 1992
Principal

Independent consultant doing usability testing and product design for Windows and Macintosh applications.

Digital Equipment Corporation, 1981 to 1990
Principal Software Engineer

Human Factors Department, Corporate Design Group
UI design and usability testing for the DECwindows platform, an implementation of the X windows standard. I was the co-chair of the corporate-wide Human Factors Steering Group.

Advanced Development, Artificial Intelligence Technology Group
Designed and implemented research projects and products. 

 top of page

Education

MS in Computer Science, May 1981: SUNY Buffalo, concentration in artificial intelligence.

BS in Chemistry, December 1977: SUNY Albany, second field in math and physics

East Meadow (NY) High School, Class of 1973.

Publications

The Prospects for Unrestricted Speech Input for TV Content Search, Wittenberg, K., et al. Advanced Visual Interfaces conference, May 2006

Transaction-based Design: increasing revenue by using site traffic as a design tool (PDF, 764 kb). Shubin, H. and Bator, E., 2001.

User models as a basis for Web design, Shubin, H.,1999. Position paper for CHI '99 workshop on Web design.

Web Navigation: Resolving Conflicts between the Desktop and the Web, Fellenz, C., J. Parkkinen and H. Shubin, 1998. CHI '98 conference, Los Angeles, CA. (ACM registration required to read the full text.)

Navigation in Web Applications. Shubin, H. and M. Meehan, 1997. Interactions magazine, IV.6.

Exploring Color in Interface Design, Shubin, H., D. Falck and A. Johansen, 1996. Interactions magazine, III.4. (ACM login required online.)

Designing with PostIts and Colorforms. Shubin, H, 1993. Workshop on Nomadic Practice in User-Centered Design. INTERCHI '93, Amsterdam, 1993.

Patents

System and method for storing electronic contact information into an electronic address book. Spencer, Eric and Shubin, H. US Patent #6,349,299, February 19, 2002.

Presentations 

Presentation: "Web sites that satisfy users and meet your business goals." Speaker, The Financial Communications Forum, December 2003.

Panel: "Usability Testing: Epiphanies, Controversies, and Questions." Moderator and speaker, October 2000, Greater Boston SIGCHI.

Presentation: "Why Do Good People Create Bad Web Sites?" Speaker, September 2000, Greater Boston SIGCHI.

Tutorial: "Remote Usability Testing." Speaker, October 1998. Web98 Conference, Boston, MA.

Tutorial: "Dynamics Of Color." Organizer And Co-Teacher With Ati Gropius Johansen, April, 1996. CHI '96 Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Workshop: "Web Navigation: Resolving Conflicts Between The Desktop And The Web." Organizer, April, 1998. CHI '98 Conference, Los Angeles, CA. (ACM Login required online.)

Panel: "Navigation On The Web." Speaker, September 1998. Macworld Expo, Boston, MA.

Activities

Member of the review committee for the annual CHI conference, various years, 1994 to present.

Member of Boston chapter of the Usability Professionals Association and Greater Boston SIGCHI.

Town of Belmont, MA. Board of Library Trustees (2001-present): Chairperson, Secretary and member at various times. Town Meeting Member (2003-present). Active in the Belmont Library Foundation.

Volunteer with the Belmont Farmers' Market.

Town of Maynard, MA: Chairperson and secretary of the Board of Library Trustees (1992 to 1994)

The Community Supper, Acton, MA: Chairperson and publicity director of a non-profit providing food and clothing (1986 to 1992)

 top of page