Kingston, GA
(404) 910-8637
Gibran@praxisthinking.com
Overview:
Self-professed perennial pursuer of knowledge and wisdom for the benefit of self and others. My professional career began as a photojournalist and web administrator for the US Coast Guard where I was first introduced to the World Wide Web and relevant technologies (including: frontend programming; backend programming; content management systems; web server administration, etc…).
Eventually I gravitated toward User Experience Design (UXD), fascinated by the psychology and more abstract approach to the application of technology. From UXD my career evolved into the pursuit of the nature of design and the application of creative methods. I channeled my pursuits into designing and facilitating innovation workshops to help others apply creative problem solving techniques. I had the privilege of facilitating requested workshops across the globe including: London; Hong Kong; New York; India. I also evolved my practice and methods to accommodate virtual workshops to facilitate dispersed teams.
My investigations into the nature of design led me to research consciousness which coincided with a reemergent active study in philosophy including Buddhist and Hindu literature. I became a student/teacher at Saranagamana Yoga Academy and returned to my roots as a writer at PraxisThinking.com.
Experiences:
US Coast Guard (Government) – Miami FL
Public Affairs/Photojournalist Specialist
(March 1996 to May 2000)
As staff photojournalist for monthly publication submitted periodic feature stories and assisted with editorial layout. As part of crisis management team served as public spokesperson and drafted press releases for local and national distribution. As webmaster maintained public website for USCG District 7 (HTML, CSS, Javascript).
Primus Design Studio (Marketing) – Ft Lauderdale FL
Web Designer and Developer
(August 2000 to December 2000)
Supported small business serving as web designer/developer (HTML, CSS) and web master.
Motorola (Telecommunication) – Ft Lauderdale FL
Web Specialist, International Marketing
(December 2000 to January 2004)
Managed global website presence for an international division. Implemented enterprise-class Content Management System (CMS) workflows and templates (PERL, XML) allowing for localization of content, support for numerous languages including Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew, while maintaining central editorial control. Leveraged Java Server Pages (JSP) application layer for dynamic content deployment.
PROMOTED TO
Web and Interface Design Group Lead
(January 2004 to November 2007)
Managed a team of web designers and engineers, providing services in global web support, content management, as well as user interface design and development for applications ranging from mobile devices to web applications.
Lynn University (Higher Education )– Boca Raton FL
Director of Web Marketing
(March 2008 – December 2011)
Charged with devising and implementing online marketing strategies as well as charged with overseeing daily operations regarding the University’s marketing web site, email marketing campaigns and mobile application presence. Reengineered University’s public website, deploying website onto a scalable, web architecture that included virtual servers, Python based CMS, Zope Object Database (ZODB) and Apache load balancing. Managed web analytics and deployment and reporting, established a close working relationship between Marketing Dept. and Admissions Dept. reporting web metrics monthly, helping Admissions Dept. hone and target recruitment efforts. Consulted on intranet redesign efforts.
BBDO (Advertising) – Atlanta GA
User Experience Design Strategist
(December 2011 September 2013)
Instrumental in ensuring that the digital team was strategically as well as culturally user centered. On a per project basis, this would include understanding business objectives and aligning those with end-user needs. as well as collaborating with producers, designers, account teams, and developers, in order to facilitate a user centered design process.
Sparks Grove (Marketing)–Atlanta GA
User Experience Design Strategist
(September 2013 – September 2014)
Served as UX lead on numerous corporate projects as well as assisted with various others projects and Request For Proposals (RFPs).
EY, Ernst and Young (Professional Services) – Atlanta GA
Solution Concept Designer, UX Lead
(September 2014- November 2016)
Defined an Agile User-Experience/Concept-Design process and successfully applied that process on multi-million dollar projects for audit and data analytics . Oversaw numerous conceptual design efforts and at times acted as a Creative Director. Started up user research activities including planning and executing: Usability Tests; Focus Groups; User surveys. Mentored UX/UI team and leads.
PROMOTED TO
Innovation Coach
(November 2016- December 2020)
Designed agenda for and facilitated numerous creative workshops, leveraging methods such as Design Thinking, TRIZ, Systems Thinking, etc., that helped define new products, new services and new markets for global teams. Successfully executed workshops that led directly to either multi-million dollar investments or fast-tracked market deployment and revenue generation. Services were requested globally including: London; Hong Kong; New York; India.
Saranagamana Yoga Academy, Mahabodhi Mission
Student, Teacher, Librarian, Webmaster
(January 2021- )
Praxis Thinking
Independent Writer, Editor, Webmaster
(January 2021- )
Georgia Highlands College
Web Developer
(February 2022- )