Technical writer and instructional designer focused on software documentation, instruction, and training.

• • Communicates technical concepts in a concise, clear manner to all audience skill levels.
  • Produces award-winning documents.
  • Instructs in a personable, engaging, and knowledgeable way.

Specialties:

• Instructional materials (technical user guides, end user guides and user assistance)
• Training material (e-learning, self-paced, instructor-led, and hybrid/blended learning)
• Software documentation (product and developer documentation)
• Single source documentation methods

Qualifications

• Experience developing learning materials, courses and documentation (22 years).
• Understanding of instructional design methodologies (ADDIE, Dick/Carey, etc.).
• Experience in classroom instruction and adult education (4 years).
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills.
• Excellent research and analytical skills.
• Experience in desktop publishing, Internet publishing, and graphics applications.
• Aptitude for quickly learning new tools, techniques, and concepts.
• Self-motivation, creativity, dependability, and versatility

Experience

Global Field Enablement Instructional Designer, Technical Content – Splunk  (remote) 8/2017 – present

I create great courses, documentation, e-learning, and training material for Splunk’s Sales Engineers, Professional Services engineers, and technical customers.  IT professionals take my courses to learn and master Splunk’s IT system intelligence tools and apply them to their own business needs.

I work in cross-functional teams which include subject matter experts and product management stakeholders. I develop:

• Course material for IT professionals using Splunk for DevOps and Observability needs.
• Course material for onboarding new Sales Engineers and Professional Services engineers.
• Reference material for Sales Engineers and Professional Services engineers helping customers in the field.
• Tools and templates for Splunk internal users to use in training and mentoring.
• Short e-learning content for customers.

Information Developer  – IBM, Security  (Emeryville, CA) 1/2017 – 8/2017

Created world-class documentation and training for end users, system administrators, and app developers. I work in several Agile, cross-functional teams which include subject matter experts and product stakeholders. I develop:

• User guides for IT professionals.
• API and developer documentation.

Information Developer – IBM, MaaS360 by Fiberlink  (Blue Bell, PA) 4/2015 – 1/2017

Created and maintained MaaS360 on-premises and cloud documentation and training for software end users, system administrators, and app developers. I worked with product management to assess documentation needs, and then interviewed stakeholders and domain experts to address product capabilities. I developed:

• User guides for IT professionals.
• Help for mobile apps.
• API and developer documentation.

Senior Instructional Designer – Apple, Inc. (Cupertino, CA) 3/2003-4/2015

Produced award-winning documentation and tutorials for Mac OS X, OS X Server, and Apple Remote Desktop. Also created, maintained, and managed OS X’s and OS X Server’s NSA Security Guide. Noted accomplishments:

• Innovated new processes and tools for authors.
• Innovated new publications and deliverables for customers.
• Assisted in the design of a new department-wide CMS and data standard.
• Served as a department publishing system expert and mentor.
• Worked in cross-functional groups within the company to increase document quality.
• Created internal training materials for employees.

Quality Assurance Engineer (Contracted) – Apple, Inc. (Cupertino, CA) 8/2001-3/2003

Devised, configured and run test suites for macOS and enterprise product offerings.

Read, tested, and contributed to documentation related to products, including Help files, ReadMe files, and Administrator’s guide. Served as primary QA tester for documentation accuracy and performance reporting.

• Created internal training materials for QA employees.

Technical Writer – eTime Capital, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) 8/2000-6/2001

Planned, produced, and maintained end-user documentation (manuals, release notes, and HTML help system) for a web-based accounts receivable solution, and internal documentation for product installation, configuration, and maintenance.

• Produced user guides for PDF and HTML distribution on a quarterly release cycle.
• Designed and created a context-sensitive help system.
• Earned company award for outstanding work.

Adjunct Faculty: English Composition – Utah Valley State College (Orem, UT) 1/2000-8/2000

Taught college composition for the humanities and college composition for science and technology. Created both courses.

Teaching and Research Assistant – Brigham Young University (Provo, UT) 12/1997-6/2000

Teaching, student consultations, grading, testing, course work development. Research for tenured professor in writing/linguistics interface and Stylistics studies. Taught adult language learners in TESOL environment.

Education

Master of Science, Instructional Design and Technology

Walden University. Minneapolis, MN

Master of Arts, Linguistics

Brigham Young University. Provo, UT

Graduate Certificate, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Brigham Young University. Provo, UT

Bachelor of Arts, English

Minors:  Linguistics, Secondary education, Computer graphics and desktop publishing

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Tools

Animation: Adobe Flash, Hype 

Audio Recording & Editing: GarageBand, Audacity, Adobe Soundbooth

Authoring: oXygen, Microsoft Word, XMetaL , Adobe (Acrobat, FrameMaker, InDesign, Dreamweaver), Microsoft Word, iBooks Author

Content Management Systems: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Adobe Version Cue, Microsoft SharePoint

Image Manipulation: Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator), GIMP, Inkscape

Learning Management Systems: Blackboard, Edmodo, Moodle, iTunesU, Docebo, MindTickle, Cornerstone

Operating Systems: Mac OS X, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Android

Presentations: Keynote, Microsoft PowerPoint

Publishing: Adobe (Acrobat, Captivate, FrameMaker, InDesign), DITA XML, SGML, Microsoft Word, EPUB, DocBook, iBooks Author

Screencasting: Snapz Pro X, Screenflow, Camtasia Mac, Jing, Adobe Captivate

Standards and Technologies: DITA, XML, DocBook, EPUB, HTML, CSS, Python, Java, Javascript, XSL

Version Control Systems: Subversion, Git

Web Meetings: WebEx, GoToMeeting, IBM Sametime, Zoom

Awards

Award of Excellence (National 2nd place)

Society for Technical Communications (STC) 2005-2006 Online Communications Competition

Entry title: Mac OS X Server Help for Version 10.4 or Later



Award of Distinguished (National 1st place)

Society for Technical Communications (STC) 2005-2006 Technical Publications Competition

Entry title: Mac OS X Server Network Services Administration for Version 10.4 or Later



Award of Excellence (International 2nd place)

International Society for Technical Communication (STC) 2005-2006 Competition

Entry title: Mac OS X Server Network Services Administration for Version 10.4 or Later



Award of Merit (National 3rd place)

Society for Technical Communications (STC) 2006-2007 Technical Publications Competition

Entry title: Apple Remote Desktop 3 Administration Guide