Professional Bio:

Jennifer L. Bowie, Ph.D.

I am a researcher, teacher and practitioner of usability, user experience, and digital media.

I began my usability career during my Ph.D. studies in Technical Communication and Rhetoric, focusing my studies on usability and user-centered design. In my dissertation work, for example, I conducted usability research with 33 users, analyzing sex and gender differences in website navigation. I am a strong advocate of user experience, user-centered design, and usability, with two published articles, two conference proceedings papers, and 16 conference presentations on the topic, along with my blog and podcast, Screen Space. I have employed several usability techniques, including usability testing, contextual design, heuristic evaluations, and participatory design. I have taught usability and user-centered design concepts and practices in 24 undergraduate and graduate courses and have coached over 250 students in teams of three to five people in usability testing and usability design concepts. In much of my usability work I focus on web design, and I incorporate user-interface design standards, web usability best practices, and information and interaction design techniques.

While usability is my first professional love, I have more recently developed a deep interest in social media. This began with the development of my own professional and educational blog, Screen Space, which I began as a blog five years ago and started podcasting on three years ago. In the podcast, I provide training and information on how to design usable, accessible, effective, and efficient web, blog, and digital media for the everyday, non-expert designer. This iTunes-rated five-star podcast attracts approximately 2,000 hits a month with an audience including truck drivers, librarians, administrative assistants, managers, writers, and homemakers. The blog, where I discuss users, technology, and texts, receives over 4,000 hits a month. In addition, I have taught 24 classes with a social media emphasis, integrating podcasts, blogs, wikis, Twitter and more into the class and teaching students how to effectively use social media to communicate. In my classes we not only analyze social media trends, but develop skills that work effectively across social media. I have also conducted research on social media including a five class longitudinal study on the impacts of podcasting and other social media have on students’ knowledge and skills development.

I am a researcher with more than thirteen years experience in qualitative and quantitative methods. I am CITI certified in human subjects research, meaning I am qualified to conduct ethical research with human participants according to federal guidelines. I have conducted research using a variety of methods, tools, and techniques, including usability testing, contextual inquiry, surveys, interviews, teacher research, case studies, work flow diagrams, assessment, affinity diagrams,  and artifact analysis.

I am the author/co-author of eleven forthcoming/published peer-reviewed print and digital journal articles.  I also have published two proceeding articles, seven proceedings papers and abstracts, two collaborative bibliographies, and one book review. In addition, I have written more than 100 various successful documents  including proposals (80% success rate), grants (60% success rate), memos, reports, usability recommendation reports, articles (80% publication rate), abstracts, and more.

I also work in both print and digital document design. I have designed academic, conference, and business websites for 13 years. I have also created and developed course websites and online course material for 34 classes.  My print design work includes a corporate identity for a video production company, a style guide and various publications for petroleum research consortium, and a CD and digihub jacket for a rock band.

I am an award-winning, excellent teacher for twelve years with a 4.6 of 5 teaching effectiveness average. I have taught 59 classes, including 17 graduate classes in writing, document and visual design, electronic writing and publishing, web design, usability and user-centered design, research, and social media. In 2001 I won the Kairos/Lore TA and Adjunct Award for Teaching. I have been an invited guest lecturer in three classes on podcasting, research methods, and web design. In addition, I was the director of three dissertations, two theses, and over 25 student individual empirical research projects.

I am an experienced presenter and speaker; a practiced leader in national and international organizations; an editor of academic writing and media, a reviewer of textbooks, journal articles, and conference proposals; and a mentor of beginning researchers and graduate students. For more details on these experiences please see my CV and résumé.

Beyond all that, I am a runner and triathlete and am currently training for two marathons and a sprint triathlon. I recently took up crocheting again (which I learned as a child) and I now inundate my friends and family with handmade scarves, baby blankets and hats, decorations, and floppy stuffed dragons. When I find the time and location, I will often draw landscapes in pencil or pastels, or perhaps paint them in water color. I am an avid reader, a geek, a beginning violinist, and a very amateur photographer.