Brian Tharp Email & Phone Number

ZEN's driving principle is a belief that products are most successful when they strike a balance between desirability, feasibility, and sustainability. With that belief, ZEN has crafted a design process that seeks to balance the needs and objectives of all constituencies and deliver a win-win solution. Over the years ZEN has worked within a cross-functional team in a variety of environments from large corporate to new startups. That experience has made us nimble and able to adapt our design process to the needs of any project--cutting scope without compromising quality.

Mountain View, California, United States

As the Principal UX Designer for KOSMIX, I used several design thinking methodologies to explore and define new ways of utilizing the taxonomy of an exponentially growing set of web search results. These explorations led to the launch of several websites, including kosmix.com, righthealth.com, rightauto.com, and mehive.com. The defining feature was the KOSMIX algorithm’s ability to transform any long-tail search query into rich, interrelated, content-like pages. Walmart acquired KOSMIX (now Walmart Labs) in 2011.

Santa Clara, California, United States

I was recruited by Yahoo! after they acquired FareChase to help integrate the META search engine into the existing travel portal. By categorizing vast numbers of travel search terms, we designed and A/B tested several Yahoo! Main Search widgets that lowered the bounce rate and increased conversions. I also conducted a competitive analysis of emerging travel services that helped establish a vision for Travel in 2008. This vision culminated in the Yahoo! Travel Planner launch, where travelers planned, organized, experienced, and shared their travels.

Santa Clara, California, United States

As the UX Design Director at SideStep I led a four-member design team. We used ethnographic, participatory, and evaluative research methodologies to understand the various ways people research and plan their travels. We used rapid prototyping and usability testing to sharpen and deliver the original Traveler’s META search engine. For the first time, a traveler could use a single website for researching flights, hotels, autos, deals, and guides sourced from the multitude of travel websites. SideStep was acquired in 2007 and continues under the KAYAK.COM brand.

Mountain View, California, United States

Valdero Corporation afforded me my first opportunity of designing complex web-enabled applications. I was responsible for the user experience of Valdero’s enterprise application suite and the corporate website. I used participatory research methods and rapid functional prototyping to collaborate on designs with customers. This collaboration resulted in a user interface that was familiar, highly personalized, and scalable to the customer’s unique needs.

In this role, I focused on improving cross-functional collaboration, establishing unified design standards, and implementing data-driven design methods. These efforts enabled our many internal and external stakeholders to deploy campaigns faster, with greater precision, lower cost, and increasing engagement.

Campbell, California, United States

During my three years as Co-Owner and Creative Director, I helped produce, direct, and occasionally perform several Mellowdrama & Vaudeville productions. I was responsible for defining and delivering the annual schedule of shows, including casting, lighting, sets, managing production budgets, and producing digital and physical marketing materials.

San Jose, California, United States

I helped define and evaluate the customer experience for one of the internet’s first comparison-based shopping experiences for cellular plans. Using ethnographic research methods and consumer usage data, I crafted the personas that informed our design thinking and shaped our services. I introduced rapid prototyping to hone the consumer experience and helped launch several “first of its kind” features in e-commerce comparison shopping.

Los Gatos, California, United States

As a Test Engineer and Lab Manager for this pioneering internet access service, I oversaw both the internal test lab and an external Micro Cellular Data Test Network deployed throughout the town of Los Gatos, CA. I authored test plans, coded automation scripts, configured testing scenarios, and schedule resources.

Santa Clara, California, United States

I tested the hardware and software for Whittaker’s line of network switches and routers. Most notably, I participated with a Hughs Business Communications team to complete interoperability testing on the future (now current) Hong Kong airport network.