Kevin Farner is Director of the GRD office in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN region. Kevin provides human-centered design methods, management, and skills to design usable products that are engaging and enjoyable to use.
Kevin is an expert at building and integrating usability practices into corporate organizations. His passion for user-centered design permeates his work. His success is tied to a collaborative approach that is inclusive yet drives to quick decisions. He is an advocate for the users of the products he is working on, designing solutions that help users act and feel smarter. Kevin’s background in product management helps him take the raw data from research and focus that data on achieving results.
Kevin has achieved success with early wins within organizations by showing the value of observing users in their natural work environment. Kevin’s hands-on experience in user research and prototyping exhibits his knowledge and passion for the profession and has garnered the respect of those with whom he works. Kevin recognizes the challenges and deadlines that arise in high visibility projects. He has the experience and aptitude to remain a calming voice when the pressure is on.
Kevin has a natural affinity for working with complex development teams. His clear communication skills are critically important to driving successful outcomes. He can talk with users in non-technical terms, translate a business issue to a developer, and present the ROI to an executive sponsor. Kevin stays abreast of new technologies and trends (e.g., blogging and wikis in the enterprise, social networking, etc.) and uses this knowledge to help companies stretch beyond what is being implemented today.
Kevin has worked at US Bank, Metavante, The Bank of New York, Thomson Financial, and RSM McGladrey. In the 1990s, he worked extensively with teams to convert mainframe commercial banking applications to client-server technologies. More recently, he drove the creation of web-based broker workstations for tens of thousands of users, worked on time and billing systems for accounting practices, and developed a comprehensive intranet strategy. He has successfully implemented user-centered design practices at all of these companies and integrated the practices into the product and project management teams.
Kevin has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Notre Dame. He is a member of the PDMA and UPA and is a certified New Product Development Professional (NPDP).
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