Kevin's interests abound from social studies, digital technology to
pure science. After settling on the field of computer science (B.Sc.,
U.of Saskatchewan; M.Sc. Simon Fraser U.), Kevin has worked in the computer industry for over 20 years, with varied
experience as a developer, product director, and strategist. In all of his
positions, he has ensured there is a strong focus on usability and
user interfaces.
At SCO, his team provided custom development software for clients, and
won a quality award for their excellent and timely work. This
experience formed the basis of his interest in iterative high-quality
development methods, crucial in providing rapid turnaround for
customers. After introducing these agile practises to his teams in two
separate companies, he wrote about this methodology and its success in
Sustainable
Software Development: An Agile Perspective (Addison-Wesley, 2005).
At
Alias|Wavefront, Kevin guided his team to produce StudioPaint3D™
featuring a
state-of-the-art user interface. Around this time, the field of
usability was burgeoning, and Kevin recognized the huge importance and
benefits of rapid development of user-focused software. He led the
initiative for Showcase™, a visualization and evaluation tool for the
design market, and wrote a Flash web interface to drive the software.
Auto-manufacturer Mercedes selected Showcase™ over its competitors,
primarily based on the user interface.
During a 2-year hiatus as an "independent", Kevin developed his own
software product, SeedPlanner™, which won 5-star recognition from
Zdnet, an on-line business review site. His accompanying web site for
the product contained sales information, as well as a complete on-line
tutorial for the product.
Kevin is currently the product manager and development director of Electronic
Arts' central animation team. He has introduced agile development methods to
his team, resulting in a complete turnaround in quality, speed of software,
productivity of developers and renewed confidence by the users. He is
currently tackling the issue of usability for the product.
Kevin is always looking for new opportunities to learn and apply his beliefs
in iterative development, simplicity, and usability.
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