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Instructors

Colin Birge
Colin is a doctoral student in the department of Technical Communication. Colin has over ten years' experience in the software industry, most of it at Microsoft Corporation. He worked for the majority of that time as a program manager for the Microsoft Office products, specializing in security, privacy, and accessibility for people with disabilities. Before returning to school full-time Colin designed and drove the security and privacy UI for the Microsoft Office System 2007 products. He continues to work part-time as a consultant in the software field. Colin has a Master's in Technical Communication from UW, which he earned in 2002 as a member of UWTC's first evening master's class.

Suzanne Boyd
Boyd is principal of Anthro-Tech, a company that specializes in Web site development and usability research. She won Best of Show Award from the Society for Technical Communications Puget Sound Chapter for the Access Washington Web site. Boyd has a B.A. in anthropology from the University of British Columbia and a master's in communication from the University of Washington.

Alexander F. G. Muir, Ph.D.
Muir has extensive experience teaching usability. As an instructor at the University of British Columbia (05-06), he designed and taught their Web usability course, and at the UK Open University (01-03), he designed and taught staff development courses in usability. In his current role as senior usability specialist for myfamily.com, he presents informal, practical classes in user-centered design.

Judy Ramey
Ramey is a professor and the chair of the UW Department of Technical Communication. Her professional interests include usability research methods for use in the context of product development, the usability of information, communication technologies, and human-computer interfaces.

Emma Rose
Rose is senior associate at Anthro-Tech who has experience writing for technical audiences in a variety of fields. She has written computer documentation, marketing materials, web content, reports and proposals. Rose currently works with clients to create and improve products and services through the user-centered design process. She enjoys teaching and training both in the classroom and on-site with clients. Rose has a B.A. in English from Duquesne University and an M.S. in technical communication from the University of Washington.

Erin Schultz
Schultz graduated from the University of Washington with a master's degree in technical communication in 1995, then conducted field studies of 9-1-1 response centers as part of the PushMe project. She also conducted field studies in the UW Cardiology Department as part of an information systems project led by General Electric Medical and UW Radiology. Schultz has since worked as a usability engineer at The Boeing Company, Visio Corp. and Microsoft.

Jennifer Turns
Turns is an assistant professor in the UW Department of Technical Communication. She is interested in all aspects of design, including user-centered design, information design, design cognition, design expertise and design education. Turns is also interested in engineering education.

Tom Williams
Williams is an associate professor in the UW Department of Technical Communication. A cognitive psychologist, Williams' primary interests lie in comparative media and the effects of media on comprehension, retention and performance. Williams has more than a dozen years of practical experience in the publications industry as a writer, editor and publications manager.

Dennis Wixon
Dennis is the User Research Manager for Microsoft Games studios, where he manages a group of 21 usability engineers supporting over 40 games. Dennis previously worked as a usability manager at Digital Equipment Corporation, where a number of important usability methods such as Usability Engineering and Contextual Inquiry were developed. Wixon has authored numerous articles on Human Computer Interaction methods and co-edited a book Field Methods Case Book for Software Design with Prof. Judy Ramey. Dennis holds a PhD. in social psychology from Clark University.

Instructors are subject to change.