Internet User Experience 2009

The pillars of the campaign included:

Gift Giving - We designed and built an interactive, persona-driven gift guide on Sears.com.

Heroes at Home - In cooperation with the USO, we developed a program to assist families of active military members with financial donations.

Golden Wish Ticket - Leveraging Sears's celebrity relationships, such as LL Cool J and Vanessa Hudgens, we designed a sweepstakes, which took place both in stores, and as an online Flash game.

The holiday program strongly emphasized cross-channel marketing and cross-promotion. A key to success was to integrate many online touch points. In addition to the core experience on Sears.com, we folded in online advertising, social media, and email.

The strategy and design process was an exciting user experience challenge. From developing creative in conjunction with Sears's other agencies, to integrating with the eCommerce system, to crafting the right emotionally-charged holiday "story" - this case study has it all. We will walk through the strategy, design, and build challenges we encountered - which even included some eleventh-hour government intervention.

About the Speaker

John Yesko is a Senior Consultant / Information Architect at Roundarch, a website development company specializing in portal, content management, and integration solutions. His clients include the U.S. Air Force and Motorola.

Previously, John was the User Experience Group Manager at Fry, Inc. In that capacity, he led the user experience / information architecture efforts for several prominent eCommerce websites. His clients included Eddie Bauer, Spiegel, Dow Corning, Cost Plus World Market, and The Swiss Colony. In addition to information architecture, John's experience includes usability testing, interface design, illustration, and creative direction. He has designed Web and CD-ROM solutions for companies such as Kodak, Eli Lilly, Sierra Club, Caterpillar, and Accenture. John earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois.

About the Speaker

Cathleen Zapata has over 14 years experience in online marketing and managing the Customer Experience, specializing in Web site usability. Her background includes a wealth of experience in usability testing, heuristic evaluations, user research and conversion enhancement strategies.

Cathy has received extensive usability training from the Neilson Norman Group, and was recently quoted in MarketingSherpa's Marketing Wisdom for 2006. She is a published author, and frequently teaches on topics of Web Usability both nationally, and at local colleges and at community events.

Cathy has been on the board of NEOUPA, Cleveland's local chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association, for over four years, and is currently serving as President of the chapter. She is also on the board of The Web Association.

Cathy has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 clients on Web Marketing & Usability. Representative clients include: KeyBank, Medical Mutual of Ohio, National City Bank, The Cleveland Clinic, Nationwide Insurance, Safelite AutoGlass, Insurance.com, Citizens Bank, Flagstar Bank, Hallmark, Philosophy, Alltel and Coach, Inc.

About the Speaker

Joe Hass is a Solutions Architect for Hanson, Inc., a digital agency in Toledo, Ohio. He started in the IA world as an Experience Planner for Campbell-Ewald in Warren, Michigan. He has worked on projects for a diverse number of companies, including Alltel, Owens-Corning, and the United States Postal Service, developing websites, CD-ROMs, and user calculators.

Joe's prior experience includes working as a graphic designer for Campbell-Ewald and Sandy Corporation in Troy, Michigan. He's been in the graphic design world since he saw his first Mac Plus in a high school journalism lab in 1986. A baseball fan since childhood, Joe visits a new Major League Baseball park every year. He passed the written portion of the Wisconsin driving exam at the age of eight.

Doug Zeffer will teach you his management philosophy for interactive production which involves managing people according to their style and personality. Using real-world examples, Doug will demonstrate how your actions as a leader are key to getting the team focused and effective. Taking time to understand the way your team thinks can reduce you and your team's stress and make for a better work experience and quality product. Come learn some simple, centered thinking that is both motivational and effective.

About the Speaker

Doug Zeffer has been forming and coaching teams for over 20 years. He's currently Executive Vice President of Production and head of the Project Management Department for Enlighten, an interactive advertising agency in Ann Arbor. Starting in 1996, Doug has helped grow the agency from 9 people to over 80 full time employees. As the executive leader of Enlighten's production efforts, Doug oversees project metrics, resource and team management. He has a passion for team dynamics and enjoys tackling the problems encountered when people work together.

Before joining Enlighten, Doug had a civilian stint with the Navy as a programmer and applications developer. He was also a PC analyst and instructor for Ford Aerospace, and co-founded GRAFX Group - a previous competitor of Enlighten. As Vice President of GRAFX Group, Doug managed the company to develop interactive presentations for clients such as Dell, IBM, Sharp, and Toshiba and oversaw graphics work for several major motion pictures. Additionally, Doug served as Director of Development at Paul Mace Software, a publisher of graphic animation software, and was responsible for managing programming and testing. Doug maintains his management acumen through his membership with Vistage International/TEC -- an executive coaching organization that keeps him apprised of best practices. Doug has over 20 years experience in interactive development and has worked across multiple industries and verticals such as home goods, health, technology, and automotive. Doug holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan.

About the Speaker

Jason is the president and founder of Usable Development, LLC, which focuses on user experience and web design consulting, development, and training.

He also serves as the Department Chair for the Internet Professional Program at Washtenaw Community College.

His background includes over 8 years of experience in the web industry, in roles such as Information Architect and Business Systems Analyst.