Mike Gintz Personal Internet Web Destination Resumé Page

So what are my, you know, professional skills?

Design strategy, user experience design, workshop and meeting facilitation, information architecture and taxonomy, data visualization, client relationship management, process and workflow improvement, team management, communications, earnestly trying to be a kind and empathetic person who becomes more and more so with each passing day, etc.

Ok: but who hired me to do those things?

10x

Jan 2022 - present
Strategist, designer, product lead

10x is an idea incubator within the Technology Transformation Services in the General Service Administration. United States federal employees submit ideas about how to improve government using technology to 10x; 10x investigates these ideas and assesses their viability. I work on small multi-disciplinary research and prototyping project teams, ushering projects through a gated funding process if they show promise for creating improved outcomes and better service delivery to the public (and shutting them down if they don't).

18F

Jun 2018 - Jan 2022
Strategist

18F is a strategy/design/development office within the United States federal government that works to improve how the government serves the public through technology. My job is to help improve the user experience of US federal services by making them more user-centered, humane, understandable, and effective.

Freelance

Jan 2018 - Jun 2018
Strategy consultant

After leaving Velir, I freelanced as a strategy and UX design consultant, helping with governance issues and complex IA and interaction-based product design challenges.

Clients: Boston Public School District Central Office; Hederis

Velir

Oct 2015 - Jan 2018
VP, Experience Design

I led a team of UX designers, visual designers, and strategists. In addition to overseeing all design and content strategy related work at Velir and the professional development of my own team, I collaborated directly with clients as an executive sponsor and still performed UX design on several of our most critical accounts. I also worked extensively in business development and client relationship management, and on teams guiding a variety of internal initiatives (e.g. overall company direction, process improvement, performance management, and culture.)

Sept 2013 - Sept 2015
Director, Design and UX

In my first role as a team manager, I set the group's direction and built Velir's UX and design practice from three people (including me) to nine. I continued to do UX design on projects while using my work to help define processes and workflows for Velir overall. Also, I began to play a very large role in writing proposals and pitching for new business.

Sept 2012 - Sept 2013
UX Designer

I wireframed websites, built information architectures and taxonomies, conducted user and stakeholder research, wrote personas, helped design data visualizations, etc. I was the only UX designer at Velir and drove many of our first "full-service" (i.e. not purely implementation) projects in close collaboration with a senior visual designer.

Oct 2010 - Sept 2012
Project / Account Manager

I managed the day-to-day operations and overall client relationship for what was, at the time, our largest account (the Brookings Institution). I guided over a dozen projects, including data visualizations, iOS applications, and primarily Brookings' complete 2012 website redesign, from start to successful launch.

Clients: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; the Brookings Institution; the Kauffman Foundation; City of Somerville, MA; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; AARP; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Commonwealth Fund; MIT; Pew Charitable Trusts; PTC; Population Reference Bureau; Spencer Stuart; many others

Hunt & Gather

Feb 2010 - Sept 2010
Production / Account Manager

I constructed a resource management and time-tracking system out of several loosely-connected software products and used it to plan and maintain H&G's project calendars and personnel allocations. I also did some account management and light UX strategy.

Clients: Scholastic; Pearson; Dereon (yes, Beyonce's clothing line), several short-lived technology startups

Blackbaud

Feb 2007 - Feb 2010
Database Analyst

I helped public broadcasting clients and large non-profits manage their fundraising campaigns via a suite of proprietary software, including Team Approach. I worked a lot via the command line, wrote SQL and PL/SQL code, and also developed my client-management skills.

Clients: dozens of public broadcasting stations throughout the United States; large non-profits like the American Cancer Society, Special Olympics, etc.