• User Centred Design
• Interface design and evaluation
• Problem solving and solution creation
• Task Analysis, Use-case scenarios, Personas
• User requirements and opinion elicitation (Focus Groups, Questionnaires)
• Prototype creation
• Technical knowledge (hardware, software, programming).

Alan is a Usability Consultant with System Concepts Ltd. He holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Psychology with Social Studies; an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth; and an MRes. in the Design and Evaluation of Advanced Interactive Systems from Lancaster University.

Alan has a strong computer science background, which affords him a detailed level of insight into the many issues that affect hardware and software design.  He has produced a thesis for a major multi-media company, which centres on customisable interfaces for a web site.  It required eliciting the opinions of a specific target audience via questionnaires, focus groups and internet research.  He also has expertise in the ergonomic issues associated with effective presentation of information.

Before joining System Concepts, Alan worked as a Psychiatric Nursing Assistant upon many NHS acute and rehabilitation wards where he finally worked as a Clinical Audit Manager.  These roles required him to investigate multiple clinical services via record analysis and service user focus groups.  He was required to manage and advise on the audit activities for a Trust, in addition to constructing reports to be disseminated to the Trust Directorate.

• multiple usability projects for a large UK building society including: training programs, training program documentation and processes; leaflet design; letter design; intranet design; and process documentation design; by utilising the mediums of focus groups, one-to-one interviews, telephone interviews, expert reviews, and user testing
• multiple usability projects for a government backed transport PC and mobile device based internet sites
• a research project into webpage resolution statistics and competitor analysis, that outlined recommendations for the redesign of a transport portal’s web pages
• an expert review of an web based insurance provider, including an analysis of five of their competitors
• a usability assessment of a prototype online checkout process for a large UK mobile network
• a usability study of a intranet search function for a large UK bank
• an extensive investigation into the reporting of health and safety information by FTSE 350 companies, and central and local government.
  

• Travel (near and far)
• Food (cooking and consuming)
• Socialising
• Music festivals
• Computing (educational and recreational).