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Jeff Johnson's Curriculum Vita
President and Principal Consultant,
UI Wizards, Inc.
Contact Information:
231 Moscow St.
San Francisco, CA 94112
Home, work (415) 586-5285
E-mail: jjohnson(at)uiwizards(dot)com
Web: www.uiwizards.com
Education:
Yale University: 1970 - 1974
Degree: B.A.
Major: Psychology (experimental)
Additional Studies: Computer Science
Stanford University: 1974 - 1979
Degree: Ph.D.
Department: Psychology (developmental, experimental)
Additional Studies: Computer Science
Employment History (most recent first):
July, 1996 - Present: UI Wizards, Inc., a product usability consulting firm
- Position: President and Principal Consultant
- Duties: Manage company. Perform product usability design, evaluation, testing, and training for clients. Write software design books.
Aug, 2016 - Dec, 2022: University of San Francisco, Department of Computer Science
- Position: Assistant Professor
- Duties: Teach computer science courses, including Intro to Computer Science for CS Majors (Python programming), Intro to Computer Science for non-CS majors (App Inventor 2 programming), User Experience Design, and Senior Team Projects.
November, 1994 - July, 1996: Sun Microsystems / SunSoft Developer Products (Menlo Park, CA)
- Position: Staff Engineer, Human Interface
- Duties: Designed and evaluated user interfaces for software programming tools. Educated software engineers about user-interface design issues and guidelines. Conducted usability testing. Helped manage a summer intern laboratory assistant.
June, 1993 - October, 1994: Sun Microsystems / First Person (Palo Alto)
- Position: Staff Engineer, Human Interface
- Duties: Responsible for usability of user interfaces for consumer electronics and interactive TV product prototypes that were precursors of Sun's Java product. Designed and evaluated user interfaces. Established and operated a usability testing lab. Conducted usability testing. Managed a laboratory assistant.
November, 1988 - June, 1993: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories (Palo Alto, CA)
- Position: Member of Technical Staff, Software Technologies Laboratory
- Duties: Human-computer interaction research. Member of a team developing an application-development environment for use by end-users as well as programmers. Member of a task-force on handheld computer-based appliances for non-technical consumers. Member of a project to develop systems to support people in businesses in working together over long distances.
March, 1987 - November, 1988: U S West Advanced Technologies (Denver)
- Position: Member of Technical Staff, "Advanced User Interfaces" Group, Science and Technology Research Lab
- Duties: User-studies using prototype systems to derive principles of user-interface design and to examine new user-interface technologies. Included research on user-interface modes and on proper design of information services and terminals for the general public. User-interface design consulting. Training programmers in principles of user-interface design.
March, 1984 - March, 1987: Xerox Information Systems (Sunnyvale, CA)
- Position: Development Team Leader; User Interface Designer
- Duties: Design and implementation on various projects related to enhancing the Star/ViewPoint office computing system for electronic publishing applications. Designed and led implementation of a Stylesheets facility for the ViewPoint document editor. User-interface designer for most of the ViewPoint 2.0 enhancements.
October, 1978 - February, 1984: Cromemco, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
- Position: Software Engineer and Engineer Manager
- Duties: Designing and implementing applications software (word processing, statistical analysis, graphics), designing keyboards, developing user-interface standards, designing user-interface toolkits, writing documentation, managing software engineers, LISP support.
Summer, 1973 and 1974: Jet Propulsion Laboratories, Pasadena, CA
- Position: Programmer
- Duties: Software development for Viking and Mariner data analysis.
Honors and Awards
- Distinguished Member, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2019.
- Recipient of ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Achievement Award, 2016.
- Elected to ACM SIGCHI Academy, January 2014.
- Erskine Fellow, Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2013.
- Distinguished Speaker, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2011-2014.
- Erskine Fellow, Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2006.
Patents
- Method and Apparatus for Detecting Seatbelt Compliance in Commercial Passenger Aircraft, US11465746B2, filed 2022-10-10, granted: 2022-10-11.
- Wide-Area Fire-Retardant System Using Distributed Dense Water Fogger, US11666788B2, filed: 2020-09-07, granted: 2023-06-06.
Professional Committee Service
- Communications of the ACM Web Advisory Board, 2007-present.
- ACM SIGCHI U.S. Public Policy Committee, 2004-present.
- Board Chair, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, 1990-93.
Invited Presentations:
- Stanford Center on Longevity, November 2018.
- Authors@Google: December 2017.
- Keynote and workshop, Interaction South America (ISA) 2016 conference, Santiago, Chile, Nov 2016.
- Opening Keynote, CHI New Zealand (CHINZ) conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, Nov 2013.
- Computer Science Department, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, Sept 2013.
- ACM SIGCHI Bay Area Chapter (BayCHI): May 2013.
- Authors@Google: January 2013.
- Design Workshops: PM Storm Training, PM-China, Shanghai & Beijing, May 2012.
- North Bay Internet Society: Sebastapol, CA, May 2012.
- Stanford University, Computer Science Department: Stanford, CA, April 2012.
- Keynote and Workshop: 1st Product Manager Conference, PM-China, Shanghai & Beijing, Nov 2011.
- ACM SF Bay Area Chapter: Cupertino, CA, July 2011.
- Academy of Art University: San Francisco, CA, July 2011.
- Bay Area Editors Forum: San Francisco, CA, March 2011.
- Mills College, Computer Science and Psychology Departments: Oakland, CA, March 2011.
- Center for Technology Innovation, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee: Milwaukee, WI, Jan 2005, April 2008, Jan 2011.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, University of California at Berkeley: Berkeley, CA, Jan 2011.
- ACM SIGCHI Bay Area Chapter (BayCHI): July 2010.
- Opening Keynote: UX Prague 2010, Prague, Czech Republic, June 2010.
- Keynote: Expo:QA 2009, Madrid, Spain, Oct 2009.
- Usability NJ: Princeton, NJ, Feb 2009.
- Software Test & Performance 2009 Conference (STPcon 2009), San Mateo, CA, 2009.
- Opening Keynote: FutureTest 2009 Conference, NY, NY, 2009.
- Opening Keynote: Yggdrasil 2008 Conference, Lillehammer, Norway, 2008.
- Technical University of Berlin, Computer Science Department: Berlin, Germany, Nov 2008.
- User Experience Russia 2008 Conference (UXR 2008), Moscow, Russia, 2008.
- Usability Professionals Conference (UPA 2008), Baltimore, MD, 2008.
- Software Test & Performance 2008 Conference (STPcon 2008), San Mateo, CA, 2008.
- Computer Society of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2008.
- University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, 2008.
- ACM SIGCHI Bay Area Chapter (BayCHI): Nov 2007.
- Opening Keynote, CHI New Zealand (CHINZ) conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, July 2006.
- Stanford Linear Accellerator Center, Stanford University: Stanford, CA, June 2005.
- Opening Keynote, Society for Technical Communication Trans-Alpine Chapter 2004 conference, Vienna, Austria, 2004.
- Bay Area Editors Forum: San Francisco, CA, Nov 2004.
- Bay Area Editors Forum: San Francisco, CA, Sep 2004.
- ACM SIGCHI New York City Chapter (NYC-CHI): New York, NY, June 2004.
- STC-TAC Conference: Vienna Austria, Apr 2004.
- North Bay Multimedia Association Web SIG: Novato, CA, Apr 2003.
- PARC Forum, Palo Alto, CA, 2003.
- Opening Keynote, Winwriters 2003 Online Help conference, Seattle, WA, 2003.
- Computer Science Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 1999, 2000, 2002.
- Computer Science Department, Stanford University, CA, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2014.
- Computer Science Department, University of San Francisco, CA, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010.
- Computer Science Department, Cal. State University, San Francisco, CA, 2001, 2002.
- Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Cal. State University, Hayward, CA, 2000, 2002.
- Computer Science Department, Mills College, Oakland, CA, 2001, 2002, 2011.
- Computer Science Department, McPherson College, KS, 1998.
- Computer Science Department, Bethel College, KS, 1998.
- Computer Science Department, Tabor College, KS, 1998.
- ACM SIGCHI'97 Conference, Atlanta, GA, 1997.
- Department of Informatik and Mathematik, University of Bremen, Germany, 1994.
- Department of Informatik and Mathematik, University of Paderborn, Germany, 1994.
- Psychology Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1987.
Teaching Experience:
- Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department, University of San Francisco (August 2016-December 2022).
- Visiting Lecturer, Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, University of Canterbury, New Zealand (Winter Semester 2013).
- Visiting Lecturer, Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, University of Canterbury, New Zealand (Winter Semester 2006).
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Math and Computer Science Department, Mills College (Spring 2003).
- Part-time lecturer, Computer Science Department, Stanford University (1997-1998).
- Teaching Assistant, Stanford University Psychology Department, 1974-1978.
Subjects Taught:
Human-Computer Interaction, User Interface Design, User-Interface Frameworks and Components, Usability Testing, Statistics, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology.
Implementation & Prototyping Experience:
- Programming languages: Python, Java, C++, Mesa, C, LISP, Z-80 assembler, SAIL, APL, FORTRAN, BASIC, App Inventor 2.
- Web tools: HTML, CSS.
- Desktop UI tools: UIM/X, XDesigner, InterViews, Motif, Director, Symantec Visual Cafe.
- Wireframing tools: OmniGraffle, Photoshop, Word and Powerpoint graphics.
Technical Publications
- Johnson, J., Henderson, D.A. Conceptual Models: Core to the Design of Interactive Applications, 2024, Springer Verlag, Publishers.
- Johnson, J., Bullock, D. "Fragility in AIs Using Artificial Neural Networks", Communications of the ACM, Volume 66, Issue 7, July 2023, pp 28-31, DOI: 10.1145/3571280.
- Johnson, J., "Myths about digital technology and older adults", Nature Aging, 24 November 2022, DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00319-4.
- Johnson, J., "Reading is Unnatural", abridged from Chapter 6, Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines, 3rd edition, InterCom Magazine, Sep/Oct 2021, Society for Technical Communication.
- Johnson, J., Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines, 3rd edition, 2020, Elsevier/Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Johnson, J., Hastak, M., Jansen, J., Ravel, D. (2018) "Analyzing Advertising Labels: Testing Consumers' Recognition of Paid Content Online", Proceedings of ACM CHI'18, paper LBW517, doi: 10.1145/3170427.3188533.
- Johnson, J., Finn, K. (2017) Designing User Interfaces for an Aging Population: Towards Universal Design, Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Lazar, J., ..., Johnson, J., et al (2015). Human-Computer Interaction and International Public Policymaking: A Framework for Understanding and Taking Future Actions. Foundations and Trends in Human-Computer Interaction, 9(2), 69-149.
- Johnson, J., "See the Change. Or Not.", Elsevier SciTech Connect, April 2015, Elsevier.
- Johnson, J., Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines, 2nd Edition, 2014, Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Finn, K. and Johnson, J. "A Usability Study of Websites for Older Travelers", Proceedings of HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV, July 2013.
- Johnson, J. "Can Computer Professionals and Digital Technology Engineers Help Reduce Gun Violence?", Communications of the ACM, Volume 56, Issue 3, March 2013, pp. 35-37.
- Johnson, J., Henderson, D.A. "Conceptual Models in a Nutshell", Boxes and Arrows, Volume 7, Jan 22 2012.
- Johnson, J., Henderson, D.A. "Usability of Interactive Systems: It Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better", Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 7, Issue 3, May 2012, pp. 88-93.
- Johnson, J., Henderson, D.A. Conceptual Models: Core to the Design of Interactive Applications, 2011, Morgan & Claypool, Publishers.
- Johnson, J., "Updating Our Understanding of Perception and Cognition: Part II", UX Matters, Aug 9, 2010.
- Johnson, J., "Updating Our Understanding of Perception and Cognition: Part I", UX Matters, July 5, 2010.
- Johnson, J., Lazar, J., "E-government: services for everyone, everywhere, eventually", Proceedings of ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI 2010).
- Johnson, J., Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules, 2010, Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Molich, R., Hornbaek, K., Krug, S., Scott, J., and Johnson, J., "Recommendations on Recommendations: Making Usability Usable", User Experience, 7 (4), Nov-Dec 2008, pages 26-30.
- Johnson, J. "Web Usability in 2008: Mediocre", Proceedings of Usability Professionals 2008 Conference (UPA 2008), Baltimore, MD.
- Johnson, J., "GUI Bloopers: Common Interface Blunders and How to Avoid Them", Software Test & Performance, 4 (12), December 2007, pages 22-26.
- Johnson, J., GUI Bloopers 2.0: Common User Interface Design Don'ts and Dos, September 2007, Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Lazar, J., Hochheiser, H., Johnson, J., Karat, C.M., Bederson, B., "CHI policy issues around the world", Proceedings of ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI 2007).
- Jarrett, C., Chisnell, D., and Johnson, J. "Usability Testing Then, Now, and Tomorrow", Proceedings of Society for Technical Communication 2005 Conference (STC 2005).
- Lazar, J., Johnson, J., and Hochheiser, H. "Policy at the Interface: HCI and Public Policy", Interactions, 12 (6), Nov-Dec 2005, pp 13-14.
- Lazar, J., Bederson, B., Hochheiser, H., Johnson, J., Karat, C.M., "Making an impact in your community: HCI and US public policy", Proceedings of ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI 2005).
- Johnson, J., Marshall, C. "Convergent Usability Evaluation: A Case Study from the EIRS Project", Proceedings of ACM CHI2005.
- Johnson, J., "The Web: Not Ready for Prime Time?", JavaRanch Journal, Nov 2003, Java Ranch.
- Johnson, J., Web Bloopers: 60 Common Web Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, March 2003, Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Nardi, B., Whittaker, S., Isaacs, E., Creech, M., Johnson, J., and Hainsworth, J. "Integrating Communication and Information Through ContactMap", Communications of the ACM, pages 89-95, April 2002.
- Johnson, J., Henderson, D.A. "Conceptual Models: Begin by Designing What to Design", Interactions, Jan-Feb 2002, 9(1), pages 25-32.
- Clement, A., Guerra, R., Johnson, J. and Stalder, F., "National Identification Schemes (NIDS): A Remedy Against Terrorist Attack?", in Brunnstein, K. & Berleur, J. (editors), Human Choice and Computers: Issues of Choice and Quality of Life in the Information Society, IFIP 17, World Computer Congress, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 2002, pp 195-205.
[Also published as Clement, A., Stalder, F., Johnson, J., Guerra, R. "National Identification Schemes (NIDS) and the Fight against Terrorism: Frequently Asked Questions", CPSR Journal, Winter 2002.]
- Johnson, J., "Walking the Fine Line between Helpful and Harmful", Software Testing and Quality Engineering, September 2001, pages 12-14.
- Johnson, J., "GUI Bloopers: How NOT to Design Software", Usability Interface, October 2000, 7(2), pages 6-7.
- Johnson, J., "Textual Bloopers", Interactions, September 2000, 7(5), pages 28-48.
- Johnson, J., GUI Bloopers: DON'Ts and DO's for Software Developers and Web Designers, March 2000, Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
- Johnson, J., "Netiquette Training: Whose Responsibility?", CPSR Newsletter, Summer 1998.
- Johnson, J., "Simplifying the Controls of an Interactive Movie Game", Proceedings of ACM CHI'98, pages 65-72.
- Johnson, J., "Universal Access to the Net: Requirements and Social Impact", Invited talk for ACM CHI'97, March 1997, Atlanta, GA.
- Johnson, J. "R<->D, Not R&D", Communications of the ACM, September, 1996, pages 32-34.
- Johnson, J. and Nardi. B., "Creating Presentation Slides: A Study of Task-Specific vs. Generic Application Software", ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, March, 1996, 3(1), pages 38-65.
- Johnson, J., "The Information Highway: A Worst-Case Scenario",Communications of the ACM, February, 1996, 39(2), pages 15-17. [Also published in shorter form in Electronic Engineering Times, August 28, 1995.]
- Johnson, J. and Jeffries, R., "Intuitive Statistics for CHI Practitioners: Developing Understanding and Avoiding Bloopers", ACM CHI'95 Tutorial Notes.
- Johnson, J., "A Comparison of User Interfaces for Panning on a Touch-Controlled Display", Proceedings of ACM CHI'95, pages 218-225.
- Johnson, J., "Scenarios of People Using the National Information Infrastructure", CPSR Newsletter, Fall 1994.
- Nardi, B. and Johnson, J., "User Preferences for Task-Specific vs. Generic Application Software", Proceedings of ACM CHI'94, pages 392-398.
- Johnson, J., Nardi, B., Zarmer, C., and Miller, J., "ACE: A New Approach to Building Interactive Graphical Applications", Communications of the ACM, April 1993, pages 41-55. [Also published as HP Labs Technical Report HPL-92-126.]
- Johnson, J. and Pine, E., "Toward a Guide to Social Action for Computer Professionals", ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, January, 1993.
- Johnson, J., "Selectors: Going Beyond User-Interface Widgets", Proceedings of ACM CHI'92, pages 273-279. [Also published as HP Labs Technical Report HPL-92-28.]
- Zarmer, C., Nardi, B., Johnson. J., and Miller, J., "ACE: Zen and the Art of Application Building", Proceedings of HICSS'92. [Also published as HP Labs Technical Report HPL-91-146.]
- Zarmer, C. and Johnson, J., "User Interface Tools: Past, Present, and Future Trends", HP Labs Technical Report HPL-90-20.
- Johnson, J., "Effect of Modes and Mode Feedback on Performance in a Simple Computer Task", HP Labs Technical Report HPL-91-167, 1991.
- Duis, D. and Johnson, J., "Improving User-Interface Responsiveness Despite Performance Limitations", Proceedings of IEEE CompCon'90, February 1990, pages 380-386.
- Johnson, J., "Modes in Non-Computer Devices", International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 32, 1990, pages 423-438.
- Johnson, J., Roberts, T., Verplank, W., Smith, D.C., Irby, C., Beard, M., and Mackey, K., "The Xerox Star: A Retrospective", IEEE Computer, September, 1989, pages 11-29.
- Johnson, J. and Engelbeck, G., "Modes Survey Results", SIGCHI Bulletin, April 1989, pages 38-50.
- Johnson, J. and Beach, R., "Styles in Document Editing Systems", IEEE Computer, January 1988, 21(1), pages 32-43.
- Johnson, J., "How Faithfully Should the Electronic Office Simulate the Real One", SIGCHI Bulletin, July 1987, pages 21-25.
- Johnson, J., "Calculator Functions on Bitmapped Computers", SIGCHI Bulletin, July 1985, pages 23-28.
