evan kerrigan

Usability Evaluation, Web Design, & Web Development University of Michigan Division of Student Affairs, Technology Services

Provide usability and information architecture assistance to the University of Michigan Division of Student Affairs, Technology Services as a part-time job. I design and develop Drupal websites for them as well.

Information Architecture Consulting & Informal Usability Audits

Technology Services has a wide range of websites that are in development at any given moment and is also responsible for a number of sites already in production. I perform informal usability audits to help ensure that these sites and services are meeting the requirements of their users and helping them to achieve their goals. This often involves rapid heuristic evaluations as well as cognitive and predictive modeling approaches to analyze what can done to help users achieve their goals.

Additionally, I consult on the information architecture of sites in development to ensure that the information is presented optimally to users. By guiding the development team to consider these data and best practices earlier in the development cycle, the department has developed more robust websites and services with fewer revisions after launch.

I recently consulted on usability and information architecture issues for UM Events, an online calendar that publishes and displays all student organization events at the University of Michigan (screenshot below). The version of the site that is currently live is the first iteration of the site’s major relaunch this past Winter. Recommendations from my analyses will be taken into account for future developments.

Web Design & Development

In addition to lending my assistance with usability and information architecture, I also help to develop websites for the department. I help gather functional requirements, design, and develop these sites on the Drupal platform. Most recently, I developed the Student Legal Services website on the Drupal platform, which has since re-launched.