Gerry Chu
http://www.gerrychu.com/portfolio
gerry@gerrychu.com
Summary
I'm a UX Designer who has created world-class iPhone, iPad, and Android apps for numerous Fortune 500 clients. I have a passion for delivering high-impact, thoughtful apps used by millions of users. I'm thoroughly familiar with the iOS human-interface guidelines (HIG). Collaborating closely with developers is vital to ensure my designs are both feasible and pixel-perfect. I also enjoy working with clients in all phases from discovery to design to delivery.
Education
University of Toronto, Canada
MSc, Computer Science (Human-Computer Interaction), DGP lab, 2007
Advisor: Prof. Ravin Balakrishnan
Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
BS, Human-Computer Interaction, Mechanical Engineering. May 2006
Graduated with University Honors, GPA: 3.70
Skills
IxD - Adobe CS, wireframes, personas, scenarios, task analyses. Contextual inquiry, think-aloud, heuristic evaluation. Design of controlled experiments and statistical analysis.
Engineering - Solidworks, Pro/Engineer, Matlab, machining, electronics, Arduino
Programming - C#, C++, WPF, XAML, Java, Flash, Visio, Linux, HTML, PHP, SQL
Languages - Spanish, Chinese
Employment
Ubermind
UX Designer, Seattle, WA, May 2011-
University of Washington
Design Engineer, Seattle, WA, March 2009-April 2011
Hasso Plattner Institute
Visiting Researcher, Potsdam, Germany, Nov 2008-Feb 2009
Microsoft Research
Research Intern, Redmond, WA, June-Sept 2008
Microsoft Research India
Research Intern, Bangalore, India, Jan-May 2008
Robotics Institute
Research Assistant, Pittsburgh, PA, 2004-2006
Xerox
Design Engineering Intern, Wilsonville, OR, Summer 2005
Mentor Graphics
Web Design / Engineer Intern, Wilsonville, OR, Summer 2001
Selected Mobile Apps
I was the UX Designer for the REI Snow Report iPhone and Android apps. I designed and performed user research at REI stores to find out what factors skiers and snowboarders look at in snow reports. I lead brainstorming sessions, sketched prototypes, created wireframes and collaborated with graphic designers and developers to deliver the best snow report app for mobile devices. When designing the Android version of the REI Snow Report app, I took Android look-and-feel conventions into account and made the Android version's UX subtly different from the iPhone version.
For the truTV Android app project, I updated and annotated wireframes to bring the Android wireframes to feature-parity with iPhone wireframes.
Other Projects
At Microsoft Research India, I performed observational field studies at an eye hospital. I identified that the patients did not understand a poster about post-operative care since they could not read. In response, I programmed a "featherweight multimedia" mobile device that read this information aloud to the illiterate patients when they typed in a numeric code into the device from a brochure, similar to a museum audio guide. I also created a talking poster that would speak when buttons embedded in the poster were pressed which involved building electronic circuits and programming a microcontroller. After engineering the devices, I iteratively tested four methods of introducing the device to the patients to see which method made the patients the most comfortable with the technology. Peer learning was the most effective. This work is being incorporated in other information dissemination applications in developing countries. The resulting research paper won an honorable mention at the ICTD 2009 conference in Doha, Qatar.
At Microsoft Research I programmed software prototypes for NanoTouch, a very small mobile device with a touchpad on the back. This design improves pointing precision by allowing users to see what they are touching since their finger does not cover up what they are trying to point at. This is important because as mobile devices get smaller, a greater percentage of the screen will be occluded by the user's finger. I discovered by running controlled user studies that it was good for pointing at small targets and for dragging, things that conventional touchscreen devices are very bad at. Programming was in C# / WPF and statistical analysis was in SPSS. This work was published at the CHI 2009 conference and resulted in a best paper nomination. I continued touchscreen research at the Hasso Plattner Institute, where I built an FTIR touchscreen to improve touch precision by fingerprint tracking and used pressure sensitive touchscreens to identify physical objects placed on them by weight.
I developed a communication device for an 8 year old girl named Maria who has cerebral palsy in conjunction with a physical therapist. This disease prevents her from talking, walking, or using her hands accurately. I made the device by connecting a toy drum set to a laptop using a Phidgets microcontroller. I programmed the computer to speak phrases such as "I'm hungry!" in response to button presses. The software is also integrated with Edgewrite technology that will allow her to type whatever she wants to express rather than be limited to canned phrases. The device was developed iteratively with Maria. Early prototypes tablet PCs, which she was unable to touch accurately. I noticed that she was good at hitting 3d objects such as balls. I improved the prototype, gluing grippy balls onto the buttons so she can hit them from any direction. It will be integrated with her school curriculum.
I created an kit of cleaning tools with a multidisciplinary team (designers, engineers, and marketers) for the International Eagle brand truck. The company tasked us with designing a lifestyle product that would improve brand recognition. We followed a rigorous design process that included ethnographic research with truck drivers, brainstorming opportunities, gathering feedback, and testing prototypes. I advocated that the team rent a U-Haul truck and gain experience cleaning a truck ourselves, rather than solely asking truck drivers about their cleaning needs. Based on this experience, I created a wipe holder that combines the wet cleaning power of a wipe and the conformity of a sponge with the stability of a rigid grip. The kit improves brand recognition because truck drivers use the product at truckstops within view of other drivers. Patent pending.
At the University of Washington I created an improved version of the anatomically-correct testbed (ACT) hand robot. I designed and programmed software and user interfaces in C# / C++ / WPF / OpenGL for robotic sensor integration and visualization and for psychophysics experiments. I used both Solidworks and Pro/Engineer for CAD design. Many parts were fabricated myself either in the machine shop or using a 3D printer.
At Xerox I designed and programmed an application to help engineers visualize and graph test data.
At Mentor Graphics I designed and programmed customized homepages for a Java web application. I examined the needs of users to design a homepage that provided each type of user with relevant information they needed to do their job.
Publications
Gerry Chu and Tomer Moscovich. Haptic Conviction Widgets. In Proceedings of GI 2009 - Graphics Interface conference. 4 pages.
Gerry Chu, Sambit Satpathy, Kentaro Toyama, Rikin Gandhi, Ravin Balakrishnan, and S. Raghu Menon. Featherweight Multimedia for Information Dissemination. In Proceedings of ICTD 2009 - the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development. 11 pages. Honorable Mention.
Patrick Baudisch and Gerry Chu. Back-of-device Interaction allows creating very small touch devices. In Proceedings of CHI 2009 - the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 10 pages. CHI 2009 Best Paper Award nominee.
Teaching Assistanceships
User Interface Design, Hasso Plattner Institute, Fall 2008
Design of Interactive Computational Media, University of Toronto, Fall 2007
The How and Why of Computing, University of Toronto, Spring 2007
Capstone Design of Games, University of Toronto, Fall 2006
Talks
Dorkbot Seattle, "Water, fountains, and interactive art", Feb 2011
UBC, "Haptic Mousewheel and Conviction Widgets", Aug 2007
Activities
YokyWorks
Volunteer, 2009-
Created communication device customized for girl with motor disabilities due to cerebral palsy.
Buggy
Mechanic, 2002-2006
Used composite materials to help build a vehicle for a university competition.
Oregon Watersheds
Volunteer, 2000-2002
Volunteered for an organization dedicated to bring fish back to urban streams.
Food Drive
Volunteer, 2003-2005
Organized a food drive for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Citizenship
USA