Jean-Anne Fitzpatrick    Portfolio

Developer Discussion Forums Since July 2002, I have been participating in a project at Sun Microsystems to consolidate and redesign discussion forums for developers. My role has included research, design, and taxonomy development. Data mining and analysis. Derived metrics for participation and responsiveness. Participated in research on prevalent conversational styles and topics.   Taxonomy development. Researched evolving corporate metadata standards. Collaborated with developer site information architects during redesign of developer site. Proposed new taxonomy for product-based forums, which was implemented in October 2003; new taxonomy for Java forums is to be implemented by March 2004.   User interface / interaction design. Participated in development of new look and feel for developer forums. Updated designs for new features including expanded watch list and read-only forums. More details

Master's Project The SIMS Master's program requires a substantial final project rather than a thesis. The NewsHound project focused on visualization of trends in web-based news, and involved integration of a Java information retrieval system, MySQL database, and web-based (JSP/Java) user interface. A more detailed description can be found at the project home page:
	Newshound Project
We invite you to try out our prototype:
	BreakingStory

Previous Projects and Research Papers

The following links provide examples of additional projects and research papers from my graduate studies.

 

Design of a Discussion Forum
This project designed and prototyped a user interface for a discussion forum, using user-centered design techniques including paper prototyping, heuristic evaluation, and iterative design and testing. The first interactive prototype was produced using Perl/CGI, while later iterations used ColdFusion with an Access database backend.
	Simians Course Comment Forum
Research on Web Design Conventions
I examined the role of basic-level metaphor and metonymy in emergent web design conventions, using concepts from linguistics and cognitive science, particularly cognitive metaphor theory and blended conceptual spaces.
	Go! buttons and arrow icons: How metaphors motivate conventions in web design (PDF format)
Survey on Digital Information Use
This research project surveyed Internet users on the types and amounts of digital information produced and used in daily life. The survey was administered online, using a ColdFusion form with an Access database backend. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.
	The Digital Intensity Survey
Research on Kerberos Authentication System
This paper provides an introduction to the LAN security system Kerberos, including discussion of its use of symmetric key cryptography.
	Kerberos Overview
Link Management System
This project designed and implemented a system to detect invalid links on web pages. The prototype was developed as part of an in-depth course on networking, and uses the Java socket programming API.
	Link-inator
Email-based Scheduling System
This project designed and developed a prototype system to integrate email messages into a calendar framework for group event scheduling. Implemented using Perl/CGI, CalFusion is web-based and does not require that all participants use the same email client.
	CalFusion: A fusion of email and online calendar
Heuristic Evaluation
I performed a heuristic evaluation of an existing UC Berkeley student information system, based on Nielsen's discount usability technique.
	Heuristic Evaluation of Bear Facts System

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