Scott Howard
Email: scott@fenixdesign.com
Mobile: +1510.710.1973
"Real artists ship" - Steve Jobs
Having designed new products and services from the ground up, produced products from ideas to shipped games and services, I know how to balance the needs of the users with the realistic goals of the business. These skills, coupled with an insatiable curiosity, drives me to work hard and instill that same passion for the undiscovered in those around me.
“I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either” - Jack Benny
- Blancspot Media - Apple App of the week (September 6th - 12th 2010)
- Reset Generation - Platinum Award 10/10 - www.PocketGamer.co.uk, A/A+ 1Up.com
- Pocket Kingdom - 4.5/5 - GameSpy.com, 9/10 - 1Up.com
- Ovi Apps Wizard (http://ovi.com/appwizard) - Nokia Innovation and Excellence Award
- Speaker - Develop Conference 2007, Brighton, UK - “The Path of N-Gage”
- Speaker (booth) - GDC 2008, San Francisco, CA - “Brilliant Designer vs. Practical Engineer”
“Experience: That most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my god do you learn” - C. S. Lewis
Creative Director | Blancspot Media, May 2010 - May 2011
Led all aspects of product development from concept, design, specification, programming and release management, using an agile production methodology.
- Joined the team at the early concept phase and immediately began aligning the needs of marketing, business development and engineering to create a new way of interacting with the news on mobile devices.
- Launched our iPhone product three months after being hired, with first update two weeks after launch.
- Made Apple’s App of the week shortly after launch.
- Maintained consistent design, development and release process allowing us to continually iterate on the design, and systematically release new versions.
- Developed flash prototypes using iterative, user centered design approach for our upcoming iPad release.
- Managing multiple external vendors for client side dev, CMS dev, QA, and web site development.
- Working directly with the CEO, created a design vision strategy for short (six month) and long term (one year) plan, and established the development process to reach these goals.
Design Manager | Connect Services | Nokia, October 2009 - May 2010
Managed a team of five designers working on the UX for the Connect Services, which includes Messaging, Social Phone Book, Organizer and Community (3rd Party integration with Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc).
- Led the design vision and UX for Ovi Organizer, Nokia’s new Social Calendaring Service.
- Managed a remote team of three designers working on day to day improvements to the service and preparation for launch.
- Managed a local, two person design team, that worked on new features for the service aligned with the core vision of the product - to create a virtuous cycle of inspiration, realization and recollection.
- Oversaw the UX of all product interfaces, including PC Web, Mobile Web, S60 devices, Maemo (Linux) devices and S40.
- Aligned the work (wire frames, use cases, and user research) of multiple design agencies, (IDEO and Method), to create a unified vision of the product and a set of core design principles.
Head of Concept and Design | N-Gage | Nokia, January 2008 - September 2009
Built a multidisciplinary team to evolve and improve the end-to-end experience of the N-Gage service and to oversee the expansion of the service onto additional N-Gage compatible devices.
- Led a team of 10 designers (3 local and 7 virtual) who worked to improve the N-Gage Experience on all interfaces, PC Web, Mobile Web, S60 Devices (Non-touch), S60 Devices (Touch) and SDK.
- Ran usability test sessions that led to direct, measurable improvements to the experience and user research studies that would be the basis for designing the next generation of the N-Gage service.
- Assited in the develop of new internal process for service design and development, a first for Nokia, which had never created a device independent service prior to N-Gage.
- Helped expand the number of devices from 5 to 22, including previously unsupported touch devices.
Producer | Reset Generation (N-Gage) | Nokia, February 2006 - January 2009
From initial concept to full launch and post live support I worked on all aspects of Reset Generation, one of The Guardian's "Most Promising Games" for 2008 and #2 on Pocket Gamer's Top Ten for 2008.
- Worked with industry visionary Scott Foe (EP) to create a ground breaking mobile game, connecting PC and mobile gamers against one another, without compromising the experience of either platform.
- Oversaw all aspects of the visual direction, including character concepts, web site, logo, T-shirt, game,brand guidelines and a full arcade cabinet.
- Helped define the game’s core design principles; to make a game that is inviting to play and unfairly addictive. Enforced the adherence to these principles throughout the design and development process.
- Of the 1,850 titles that Pocket Gamer, the worlds largest site dedicated to handheld gaming, has reviewed, 11 of those titles have received the 10/10 rating - putting Reset Generation on the same level as Tetris and The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass.
Network Games Product Manager | N-Gage | Nokia, March 2006 - January 2009
Responsible for dramatically increasing the adoption of mobile connected game experiences for the launch of the new N-Gage Service.
- Worked closely with external developers and our internal SDK team to design the features that our SDK would support including: highscore reporting, global rankings, multi-player, achievements, match making, and custom game servers.
- Increased the adoption of SDK supported connected features, with 100% of games supporting highscore reporting and global rankings. Multiplayer games increased from zero at launch to 12 games currently.
- Spoke at numerous conferences and ran multiple workshops around the world with development teams, executives and VPs on designing and building mobile connected features.
- Defined the internal development and review process for connected game features. This included making sure these features were vetted by the SDK and IOPS teams, as well as aligned with community management and customer care.
Art Director | N-Gage and Snap Games | Nokia, July 2004 - March 2006
Lead the art direction on all 1st party games being developed in the Bay Area including games for the original N-Gage (Hardware) platform and JAVA based games using SNAP (Internal network SDK).
- Worked with industry legend Ed Annunziata (Eco the Dolphin, X-Men Legends) to increase the quality of visual design of all 1st Party games.
- Titles included Milehigh Pinball, Pro Series Golf, Pocket Aces Poker and the critically acclaimed Pocket Kingdom, Own the World (4.5/5 stars on Gamespy.com).
- Pushed the creative boundaries of a very technically limiting design space - 176px by 208px resolution with a 12 bit color palette.
Design Manager | N-Gage (Hardware Platform) | Nokia, September 2003 - November 2005
Managed the design of N-Gage, Nokia’s first entry into the mobile gaming space, including the visual direction and UX for N-Gage.com and the S60 application.
- Worked with the engineering team to design an experience that was light years ahead of the current S60 UI and laid the ground work for what would eventually become the device independent N-Gage Service.
- Created a consistent visual language between the PC web site and the mobile application, allowing users to have a familiar, optimized experience regardless of where they were accessing the content.
- Worked with brand management to help define the new brand guidelines for Nokia’s first ever sub-brand; N-Gage and the N-Gage Arena.
- Designed multiple game specific versions of the device client UI for such games as Crash Nitro Kart, Ashen, Call of Duty, Splinter Cell and the critically acclaimed, Pathway to Glory - 9/10 1Up.com
Art Director | Online | Sega, September 1999 - October 2003
Managed the concept, design, UX and development of over 20 game specific web sites, nearly all of them utilizing full Flash development, often with complex motion graphics, video and custom built games.
- Worked on critical IP with stringent brand guidelines, like Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star Online, Quake 3, SegaSports Franchises (NFL, NBA, WSB, and NCAA Sonic the Hedgehog, Jet Grind Radio and Crazy Taxi
- Set the standard for game web sites that, at the time, were the first of their kind to blend traditional marketing goals while also driving return visits to get new content and information. This is now the norm for game web sites today.
- Involved in the major redesign and launch of Sega.com and the launch of Sega’s gaming ISP - SegaNet.
- Constantly managed the design challenge of supporting both PC web (large screen resolution, mouse input) and TV web (small screen resolution and controller input) simultaneously.
- Beyond art direction, I lead the design and production efforts on the network aspects of Namco’s Resident Evil Outbreak (PS2) and Monster Hunter 1 and 2 (PS2), games that used Sega’s proprietary network technology (SNAP).
“Ability is of little account without opportunity” - Napoleon Bonaparte
“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't” - Pete Seeger
- Penn State University PA, 1993 - 1996 Major: Computer Illustration BA
- Scrum Alliance, 2008 - Certified ScrumMaster
- UC Berkeley 2007 - Center for Executive Development - Product Marketing Management, Negotiations
“A goal without a plan is just a wish” - Larry Elder
I seek to be surrounded by intelligent people who are driven to find and uncover elegantly simple solutions to design challenges, in products and services that delight the people who use them, in ways they never dreamed possible.
Scott Howard | scott@fenixdesign.com | +1510.710.1973