Karl A Smith

Position: Director of Digital | Enterprise Architect | Digital Strategist
Roles: Senior Team Manager, Client Manager, Principal IA, Principal UX, ScrumMaster
Experience in IT: Since 1999
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlsmith2 with 25 recommendations
Experience in Business / Management Consulting and Project Management: Since 1989
Technologies: Web, intranet, enterprise, search, e-commerce, m-commerce, e-rights, PPV/VOD.

Personal Motif

Something New, for the sake of something Great.

About Karl Smith

A project and team leader who supports businesses and organisations involved in high volume transaction technologies for e-commerce, social media, software, applications, WCMS, enterprise CMS, enterprise search and intranet systems.

Works directly with clients whose main focus is increasing transaction frequency and accuracy through the provision of context focused, user centered and responsive interactive systems. I strongly believe that 'one size does not fit all' and am able to track change and innovate to assist my clients in extending their current reach and effectiveness.

Works with senior management (and stakeholders), project and delivery teams for engagement/buy-in, concept creation, strategy, governance (to ISO/IEC 38500), end-to-end definition services, system architecture, IA/UX (to ISO 9241) and Agile project management. I fully understand digital - strategy, business analysis, solutions, architecture and online marketing and am able to do the job as well as talk about it.

Management Experience

Digital management, Agile (user stories, xp, scrum), staff recruitment (team and senior appointments) development and assessment, business development, account management, client management, resource planning, project team management, vendor selection and management.

• Process and procedure design
• Audit design
• KPI definitions
• Risk and mitigation strategies

Digital and Business Strategy (web, intranet and enterprise)

Corporate and business analysis, web analytics, business intelligence, requirements capture, research design and implementation, requirements specification, technical sp ecification, report and recommendation writing.

• Business analysis reports
• Strategic review
• Digital governance strategy reports
• Digital policy documents
• Recommendations in proposal format

User Centred Design

User concept creation, new product definition, user research design, user research team management, workshop leadership, client liaison and report presentation.

"Working with client directors and user stakeholders, directing research teams to carry out business analysis, capture requirements, define road maps, create new concepts, reviewing and interpreting analytics, personas and tasks, utilising user centred design methods, to create conceptual and data models, creating user experience and defining interactions, application design, navigation and content structures".

Recent Projects

• Digital strategy for scalable web architecture core development and critical systems program.

• Design and implementation of UCD requirements gathering workshops with internal, remote and external stakeholders for new scalable web architecture.

• Building full business requirement document including all web interfaces (including new web presence), system integrations (Cloud, Burst, Search, e-Rights, e-Assets, e-CRM etc), software and vendor specification, infrastructure recommendations and new business processes.

• Team leader / Project Manager for rapid Business Intelligence application project development with complex business rules, interactive environments and multiple management structures and aspirations.

• On development group with Sales Director, Marketing Director, Market Sector Manager, Product Development Manager and Product Owner reporting to CFO and CEO.

• Development of productisation strategy, product family definitions including access based versions, white label and API versions, market entry strategy, pricing strategy.

• ScrumMaster for .NET developers, backend developers, QA and testing, UX and visual (HTML / CSS) designer.

Oxford University Press - ELT division (due to go live 2011), this project involved several facets of (multinational and multilanguage) stakeholder engagement and buy-in, concept creation, research design and implementation to define and establish best practice principals for the following deliverables.

• Strategic research for a long term web strategy defined in an iterative process and reported in a series of linked requirements.

• Web Governance to ISO/IEC 38500 with new business structures to support the development policies and processes (behaviours) for the standardisation of activity and quality assurance of all digital media and information systems.

• High level proposal for new Web Presence to ISO9241 based upon an assessment of existing information services (84 country websites, 120 mini-sites, intranets, wikis etc.) historical implementation strategy, resourcing, current business objectives and technologies. The proposal included costing for vendor services and technology providers for a phased implementation over three years.

• System architecture and structural definition for WCMS including sitemaps, wireframes and multiple taxonomies, faceted search and new multi-dimensional content object model for multiple countries, communities, data feeds, e-rights, web e-commerce, mobile e-commerce, salesforce (plus other integrations).

• Definition of Web Presence requirements including; CMS, faceted search, asset management, vendor selection, SLA definition, infrastructure, business processes. Design for new internal digital agency (with staffing recommendations) was also included.

National Census 2009/2011 Online. Information Architecture and Interaction Design for high volume, form based transactional system for 30,000,000 users for short duration website.

• UCD Research design of stakeholder requirement gathering to define user journeys and establish personas in line with the engagement of key audience segments.

• Research analysis for the production of task flows and key interaction models.

• Architecture and interaction design of UK 's 1 st online census form, behaviour concepts, dependency definitions, system logic including validation rules and interactive step tool.

• Definition of content object model elements and Meta data for Endeca enterprise search.

National Police Improvements Agency, secure multilevel access rights based software architecture and design in .net technologies with UK national role out.

• Review of requirements against previous architecture activity.

• Implementation of Agile based client relationship (product owner) structure to enable flexible and tiered approach to application delivery.

• Definition of refined architecture working with client stakeholders, visual designers, software developers and infrastructure consultants.

Vodafone, eCare personalised online support, self service system, record system and product upgrade advisory system.

• UCD Research design of stakeholder requirement gathering to define user journeys and establish personas in line with the engagement of key audience segments.

• Definition of architecture working with client stakeholders, vendor infrastructure consultants and client based business analysis consultants.

• Architecture, behaviour concepts, dependency definitions, system logic including validation rules and contextual help

• Information architecture models and mapping for key pathway activity

Hanover Housing Association ( England ), sheltered housing (1200 property locations with 10-50 properties in each) UCD research with website with changed paradigm of property based search and B2B / C2C community, view through second linked website Hanover World

• UCD Research design of stakeholder requirement gathering to define user journeys and establish personas in line with the engagement of key audience segments.

• Proposals for both new website and community project including functional specifications with application design, structures and risk assessments.

• Business analysis and process modelling to define offline processes to be integrated into new online model.

• Definition of architecture working with client stakeholders, vendor infrastructure consultants and client based business analysis consultants.

The following projects have similar deliverables and stakeholder engagement but have been limited to save space.

City Index, FX, CFD and SB 9 websites for global re-brand and cross cultural market capture. Global site, UK site, Europe site, Asia site, Australia site and Partnerships

Simply Drop, Royal Mail for website with tracking and internal sorting / approval software.

DisabilityNow, UCD research with website to coincide with new magazine launch including full accessibility tool functionality and phase 2 community.

Bank of Moscow (in Russian) UCD research with website with retail, business, private banking, asset management including all products and services, e-banking, e-trading with secure transaction routes and the development of new products based upon research.

Vertu, multi-national websites, content structures, store finder and navigation for flash sites.

Jersey Government Portal, including Jersey Tourism and Jersey Enterprise new architecture for front and backend systems and technologies (I have no idea what's happened to this!)

TFL, Smarter Travel, lifestyle change support website architecture and application design and specification.

Roundhouse, (not live yet) client workshops, user stories, personas, web architecture with media player for youth charity and venue organisation.

Institute of Mechanical Engineers, HCI research project utilising UCD techniques to determine best practice redesign of existing website.

Experian, B2B prospector / B2B researcher marketing websites, data templates (accessing 140 databases) with e-commerce gateway.

Learn Direct, sitemap and wireframes (storyboard www.nothingcanstopyou.co.uk ) e-learning mini-site in flash.

What Car, initially a blue sky review and UCD for a best practice redesign of web services with community access.

Marks & Spencer, research relating to scoping and definition of a research project involving the study of; 'Failed transactions in self service consumer technologies in bricks and mortar shopping environments' - Business Intelligence.

Etihad Holidays, luxury airline (middle east) new holiday website

2 Degrees Network, ecology B2B networking community

GE Money, two branded IFA websites with secure transaction routes

Glenfiddich, multiple language, targeted by market and legal entry points to content

Hammer Films, new website in three phases including e-commerce VOD/PPV

Bradford College, (3300 courses) website, to include community networking on both individual and course value levels with high volume transactions

Drambuie Pursuit/Den, B2C / C2C interactive website with Facebook and YouTube links

Nitro Group, media company website with high definition imagery, complex interactions and specialist navigation

Days Out Guide, research with website to promote the Association of Train Operating Companies, with community interactions

Arriva Trains, mini-site for local rail travel linked to events and limited community

Touch Life, B2B, B2C, and C2C community project based around business data and reviews 

February 2007 - July 2007 (6 months)
Touch Local, Farringdon, Central London, England
Digital Product Manager / Experience Architect
This role involved user centred research for the design, management, development and deployment of full life cycle application projects in an AGILE (Scrum) environment. Online integration projects including portal websites, CRM, billing, salesforce, communicator and e-commerce purchase paths in total 53 projects.

• Analytics strategy for new projects
• Digital strategy
• Baseline analytics research
• Directory redesign
• Community design
• Defining user policies
• Backend integration
• Payment pathways
• User sign-up
• Marketing landing / mini-sites
• Introduction of Agile
• ScrumMaster development team
• Documentation standardisation for development requests

July 2006 - January 2007 (7 months)
Activity, Interaction and Usability, Glasgow , Scotland
Business Development Director
Contextual usability, brand recognition, market research and business intelligence consultancy and testing company based in UK and USA .

February 2006 - March 2006 (2 months)
Bunnyfoot Scotland , Edinburgh , Scotland
Business Development Director
Initial start-up documentation, new client meetings, market sector planning and new business strategy.

November 2003 - June 2004 (8 months)
Charles Kane Associates, Edinburgh , Scotland
European Director
Director's role involving client liaison utilising analytics, web ethnography, and user testing (market research & usability) together to evolve new concepts for pitches / project deliverables and developing strategic internet/application requirements with third party application vendors.

February 1999 - October 2003 (4 years 9 months)
Charles Kane Associates, Edinburgh, Scotland
Associate / Senior Associate
New media, systems and software concept development from requirements capture through developing scenarios based upon analytics, user testing, environmental testing, task analysis, cognitive processing, heuristics, human computer interaction and user centred design. Information architecture services to produce flow control, content design, and associative structures. Other areas include; e-commerce, web development, CMS, SEO, affiliate marketing, link based marketing, contextual advertising and website content authoring.

August 1989 - February 1999 (9 years 7 months)
Various Companies, Edinburgh and London
Consultant and Project Manager
Construction industry: Sample of Projects value £0.5 million to £1.5 billion.

• ASDA 90's, new store format UK rollout
• Boarders NHS Trust - all building refurbishment inc. BGH
• Boots the Chemist, new store format UK rollout
• British High Commission - Dakar , building refurbishment
• British High Commission - Saint Petersburg , building refurbishment
• Broadgate VI, commercial development project
• Gibraltar Airport , refurbishment
• High Court - Edinburgh , new build project
• Huntarian Kelvin Gallery, building refurbishment
• Jewel House at the Tower of London
• National Museum of Scotland , new build project
• NATO - Europe , time of war fleet integration project
• Natural History Museum - Taiwan , building refurbishment
• Ninewells Hospital , building refurbishment
• RAF - Germany , security systems
• RAF - Leuchars
• RBS - Project Columbus , new banking format UK rollout
• Royal Marine - Condor, accommodation refurbishment
• Tower of London - Jewel House refurbishment
• USAF - Edzel, security systems
• Verdent Works, building refurbishment

Recent Technologies

Morello, Sitecore, e-rights, Plone, Joomla, Endeca, Ajax, Flex, RIA, Tridion, mambo, drupal, serendipity, radiant, immediacy, SharePoint 2003, Moss07, .Net, Ruby on Rails, SAP, salesforce.

Software: Visio, Axure Pro, Mindmap, Dreamweaver, XCode, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Photoshop, Webtrends, Sitestats, AWstats, Google Analytics, Crystal Reports, Google Adwords, Endeca, Hitwise, Cpanel, ASL/Tobii, Concept Draw.

Professional

Certified ScrumMaster - Agile Alliance - Worldwide
Member of IOD - Institute of Directors - UK/International
Professional Member BCS - British Computer Society - UK
Professional Member UPA - Usability Professionals Association - USA
Professional Member WAA - Web Analytics Association - USA
Professional Member ACM - Association for Computing Machinery - USA