About Wiser Usability

 Kate Finn has worked on user interfaces and usability since 1983. After obtaining her Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics from Georgetown University, she conducted research on natural language understanding systems and automated speech recognition. She was at SRI International for 6 years,  where she created prototypes of graphical user interfaces for sophisticated intelligence systems. While working in multimedia and collaborative workstations, she co-edited the book, Video-Mediated Communication. Since leaving SRI, Kate has worked as an independent usability consultant, primarily on websites.  She has also conducted ethnographic studies of work situations and computer applications.  She has recently taken gerontology courses to better understand the unique capabilities and needs of older users.

Jeff Johnson has worked in the field of Human-Computer Interaction since 1978.  After earning B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale and Stanford Universities, he worked as a user-interface designer and implementer, engineer manager, usability tester, and researcher at Cromemco, Xerox, US West, Hewlett-Packard Labs, and Sun Microsystems.  He has taught at Stanford University and Mills College.  In 2006, he was an Erskine Teaching Fellow at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch New Zealand.  He has published numerous articles and book chapters on a variety of topics in Human-Computer Interaction and the impact of technology on society.  He frequently gives talks and tutorials at conferences and companies on usability and user-interface design.  He is the author of GUI Bloopers:  Don’ts and Dos for Software Developers and Web Designers (2000); Web Bloopers: 60 Common Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (2003); GUI Bloopers 2.0: Common User Interface Design Don’ts and Dos (2007); and Designing with the Mind in Mind (2010).  In addition to being a Principal at Wiser Usability, he is founder and President of UI Wizards, Inc., a product usability firm.

Jane Rice is an educator and e-learning specialist with a focus on usability and accessible design. After receiving her Ph.D. from Stanford University, she taught at Penn State University and the University of Arizona. She began working in the field of online learning in 1996 and was an instructional designer at UC Berkeley Extension and SS8 Networks. She has also worked on a variety of usability projects in web design and has promoted universal design principles in online education. Work with seniors has given her additional insights into accessible design issues.