Where in the World is
Carmen SanDiego:
Treasures of Knowledge,
The Learning Company
Game Designer, Scriptwriter, Technical Writer
Liberty's Kids,
The Learning Company
Game Designer, Scriptwriter
KidPix Studio,
Broderbund
Project Lead
BrainQuest, IBM
Game Designer
PuzzleMania,
Highlights
Game Designer
Secret Paths to the Sea,
Purple Moon
Producer, Game Designer
Create & Play Safari!,
Cloud 9
Producer, Technical Lead
Storybook Maker,
Jostens Learning Corporation
Project Lead
Cap'n Pete's Harbor,
Weems & Plath
Scriptwriter, Technical Lead
Project Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego: Treasures of Knowledge
CD
Client
ImageBuilder Software
Publisher
The Learning Company
My Role
Game designer, scriptwriter, technical writer
Goal
The Learning Company's Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego:
Treasures of Knowledge is a curriculum-based adventure
game for children ages 8-12. The product's goals are to expand
children's knowledge of world geography and to improve skills
such as critical thinking, data collection, map reading, and
deductive reasoning.
Solution
I worked with a small team to design an intriguing, interactive
story adventure that conveys educational content naturally
through game play and allows for different styles of learning
and discovery. I developed the functional specification for
the product, and researched and integrated geographical information
into the design of puzzles, animations, sounds, character
dialogue, and other interactive elements, preparing production-ready
storyboards.
Project Oaks to Wetlands Adventure website
Client
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
My Role
Instructional/information designer, web designer, game designer,
writer, photographer
Goal
The Oaks to Wetlands Adventure is an environmental
education resource for teachers, families, and children that
features the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The website's
goal is to help teachers incorporate environmental education
into their curriculums by providing materials that encourage
classroom field trips to the refuge.
Solution
Working with refuge staff, educators and volunteers, I designed
and developed a website that is organized around a selection
of pre-planned field trips that emphasize the unique features
of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Each field trip
is aligned with state learning requirements, and includes
science and cultural learning stations, classroom and onsite
activities, maps, and field guides.
Project
Technology, service and sales training courses
Client
Via Training
My Role
Instructional designer and writer
Goal Via Training creates custom web-based training solutions
for businesses. Via's technology and service courses help
companies to increase customer satisfaction by improving
the technical and customer service skills of technicians
servicing their products. Via's sales training courses teach
product knowledge and applied sales skills to increase sales
channel effectiveness.
Solution After establishing learning objectives and creating
course proposals, I worked with the client, learners, subject
matter experts and reference materials to create production-ready
storyboards. I designed engaging, self-paced tutorials that
incorporate active learning and demonstrate to the technicians
and sales representatives the benefits of learning the new
skills. I partnered with teams of graphic designers, sound
designers, animators, and software engineers to develop
program elements. The courses feature a variety of interactive
activities, feedback, and assessments that allow technicians
and sales reps to practice customer service, technology,
and sales skills through realistic scenarios.
Project Ridgefield, Washington website
Client
Ridgefield Business Association
My Role
Web designer, photographer
Goal Ridgefield is a small, rapidly growing town. The purpose
of the website is to encourage newcomers, current residents,
and tourists to take advantage of the amenities offered by
the community.
Solution I designed and developed a website that emphasizes
the natural beauty of Ridgefield's surroundings and promotes
its amenities, including recreational opportunities, arts,
and events. The website can be easily maintained and updated
as the community grows. The simple, consistent navigation
and linked text listings allow visitors with little web experience
or older technology to access the information. As part of
the promotion effort, I also designed and developed websites
for a number of Ridgefield businesses and organizations.
Clients
Clark College, Ridgefield Community Education
My Role
Course designer, instructor
Goal The class objective is for students to plan and create
their own animation on the computer using Flash. By the
end of the course, students should also be able to summarize
the history of animation and its uses in modern applications.
Solution I developed a blended course that includes both classroom
and online components. The classroom portion focuses on
applied learning, as students employ storyboarding, computer
animation techniques, and Flash technology to plan and create
their animation. While the classroom component touches on
the history and applications of animation, the online module
provides additional information, and includes links for
in-depth exploration of the topics.
Project
Groundwater Recovery simulation
Client
Groundwater Solutions, Inc.
My Role
Designer, Flash developer
Goal
The goal of the Groundwater Recovery simulation is to provide
engineers with a simple method for educating clients about
a complex technical process.
Solution
I worked with a graphic artist to create a Flash animation
that provides a simple visual simulation of the Groundwater
Recovery process. Engineers can control the beginning of
each process step as they explain the procedure to clients.
