Christopher G. Koch

Christopher G. Koch Email and Phone Number

Chief Scientist at Functional Homes, Inc., Principal at User Experience Invention @ User Experience Invention
saint joseph, michigan, united states
Christopher G. Koch's Location
St Joseph, Michigan, United States, United States
Christopher G. Koch's Contact Details

Christopher G. Koch work email

Christopher G. Koch personal email

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About Christopher G. Koch

Expert in user-centered design and research methodology, and master user experience designer in widely diverse subject matter domains. Skilled in analyzing and interpreting customer needs through high-impact research to derive insights that inform design for product value. Track record of crafting innovative user interface design solutions for hardware, software, and web-based products, services, systems, and environments ranging from desktop inkjet printers to nuclear power plant control rooms. Effective in data-driven concept validation and rigorous usability testing. Champion in cross-disciplinary teams within phases and gates development environments for execution true to design intent. Founded and cultivated corporate global core competencies in interaction design at Kodak and Whirlpool that delivered product excellence for business value.Professional experience and skills in these primary areas:- Strategic planning for user experience to drive business competitive advantage.- Ethnographic research for discovery and interpretation of customer needs.- User interface design for commercial and consumer products, software applications, and complex systems. - Internet strategy, information architecture, and design for web content and e-services.- Human factors and ergonomics applied for workplace and home environment design and evaluation.- Product usability testing, heuristic usability evaluation, and competitive benchmarking.- Project management and execution through the usability engineering life cycle.Broad subject-matter expertise in diverse domains of: connected appliances and home energy management, commercial printing and publishing equipment, consumer digital imaging devices, public access retail imaging kiosks, business imaging products and services, health products and medical devices, building management systems, military command and control systems, and workstations and workplace environments.

Christopher G. Koch's Current Company Details
User Experience Invention

User Experience Invention

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Chief Scientist at Functional Homes, Inc., Principal at User Experience Invention
saint joseph, michigan, united states
Website:
uxinvention.net
Employees:
2
Christopher G. Koch Work Experience Details
  • User Experience Invention
    Principal | User Experience Design, Usability Engineering
    User Experience Invention Oct 2014 - Present
    Saint Joseph, Michigan
    Founder and principal of User Experience Invention studio, supplying consulting services for user experience research, product design, and usability validation. Apply user-centered design methodology, working in collaborative partnership with the client, to bring products and services to market that people find engaging, productive, and safe, and are distinguished by user experience excellence for business competitive advantage. Areas of practice include customer ethnographic research and discovery, interaction architecture for hardware and software product design, and usability testing and heuristic usability evaluation. Goal is to spark the innovation that delivers solutions to customers' needs and wants - solutions that shine for compelling user experience and superior usability.
  • Functional Homes, Inc.
    Chief Scientist | Ergonomics, Human Performance, Assistive Technology, Adaptive Equipment
    Functional Homes, Inc. Jun 2010 - Present
    Michigan Area
    Conducting ergonomic evaluations of the design of residences, focused on equal accessibility and safety for people with special needs, to deliver adaptive, universal design solutions. Managing procurement sourcing and sales for accessible products and fixtures for the home, marketed through Essential Luxuries, Ltd., that are both functional and beautiful. The home often becomes a hostile, unsafe environment for those with sudden catastrophic spinal cord or brain injuries, but it need not look like a hospital to accommodate special needs. Solutions are devoted to maintaining function, comfort, and quality of life at home and include house architectural design and construction, bathroom/kitchen/bedroom redesign and remodeling, wheelchair entrance ramps, and adaptive equipment.
  • Whirlpool Corporation
    Manager - User Experience Research
    Whirlpool Corporation Jan 2014 - Oct 2014
    Benton Harbor, Michigan
    Responsible for establishing a new user experience research function to develop and deliver insights about consumer behavior and trends through applied user experience, sensorial, and usability research to influence Whirlpool product design. + Developed requirements and user interface design for the first phase of a global, shared collaborative knowledge management solution for access to data in knowledge domains of consumer behavior and lifestyle trends, competitive product intelligence, usability testing and evaluation results, sensorial quality measures and benchmarks, and emerging human-machine interface technology, + Managed user experience primary research studies for emerging product concepts in categories of refrigeration, dishwashing, cooking, fabric care, and countertop appliances, as well as design concepts for next-generation Whirlpool kitchen appliances expressing a progressive new experience brand language. + Managed a program of sensorial quality evaluation for "touchpoints" between users and appliances to specify engineering design and quality metrics for components such as doors, drawers, handles, shelves, racks, grates, knobs, and displays. + Planned how to collect, co-discover, evaluate, interpret, communicate, and evangelize customer insights in the home ecosystem user experience category stages of: grocery shopping, meal planning, food preparation, eating, meal cleanup, dishwashing, laundry preparation, clothes washing and drying, and clothes refreshing.
  • Whirlpool Corporation
    Manager - Strategic Interaction Design
    Whirlpool Corporation Jul 2009 - Dec 2013
    Benton Harbor, Michigan
    Responsible for establishing core competency of interaction design in Whirlpool, with a focus on multi-sensorial applied research and off-appliance user experience for new value propositions of appliance connectivity. + Led exploration of connectivity value propositions and interaction design for next-generation appliances in the form of storyboards, prototypes, and movies. Developed use cases across internet-enabled display platforms for energy management, entertainment, security, communication, and diagnostics. Planned and managed ethnographic study of connected lifestyle user needs for social networking, cycle customization, consumables replacement, and diagnostics. Planned and organized study of home energy management lifestyle choices and user interaction preferences. + Established a program of multi-sensory design research to explore application of consumer electronics user interaction technologies, including novel format electronic displays, touch haptic and force feedback, gesture input, LED lighting effects, proximity detection, and polysymphonic sound. Conducted usability studies of haptic feedback, motion detection, cycle status lighting effects, and audio brand language. Evaluated technology component capabilities to qualify vendors and reduce procurement costs. + Designed and specified the user interaction for the new features of Whirlpool Gold Smart Grid appliances, architected design of the iOS Smart app, and championed consistency of the cross-category appliance and app behavior. Created copy for on-line and printed instructions and prepared training materials for call center operators. Designed alternative methods of appliance WiFi provisioning, including batch process provisioning for Maytag Connect 360 commercial laundry. Managed 3 usability tests for features of Smart appliances and the Smart app. These products were the first smart connected Whirlpool products to reach the market.
  • Whirlpool Corporation
    Principal Interaction Designer
    Whirlpool Corporation Nov 2007 - Jun 2009
    Benton Harbor, Michigan
    Responsible for applied research, user interaction design, usability testing, and application of emerging consumer electronics technology for home appliances. + Designed the user interface for the most advanced dishwasher in the world, marketed by Sears under the Kenmore brand, containing an LCD touchscreen and novel cycle delay settings and context-sensitive operating and maintenance tips. This dishwasher won the Best of Innovations award from CES in 2011 in the major home appliances category. + Created user interface design solutions for delivering maintenance, diagnostics, warranty data, and fault tree analysis troubleshooting information to call center operators and field service technicians. This knowledge management system dramatically increased completion of service calls on the first customer home visit and reduced costs associated with unnecessary component replacement. + Created user interface design solutions and conducted a successful in-home field trial for a prototype refrigerator-mounted interactive WiFi tablet that offered apps for grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking tips, customized recipes, and family calendar, along with Facebook, traffic, and weather.
  • Eastman Kodak
    Business Manager - Corporate Marketing Office
    Eastman Kodak Jan 2006 - May 2007
    Rochester, New York
    Responsible for business management, program planning, and liaison between Kodak product development business units, corporate marketing office, and multi-disciplinary design. + Planned and executed a multi-year program of strategic user experience design and usability for Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group. This drove consistency and excellence in design across the diverse portfolio of commercial printing and publishing equipment and workflow services assimilated from NexPress, Versamark, Polychrome Graphics, and Creo acquisitions, to achieve one face to the customer and foster measurable value differentiation through design and usability. + Authored product design guidelines for Kodak's Graphic Communications Group, serving as a best practices standard for equipment cabinetry color, product identity and branding, graphical user interface elements in software applications, user documentation, and consumables packaging design. + Championed a product harmonization strategy in Kodak’s Health Group, resulting in common user experience for equipment design, software product identity, and marketing communications for radiography equipment, x-ray printers, and health care information systems. Visible results of the strategy positively impacted valuation of Kodak's product portfolio and influenced Onex Corp. during negotiations with Kodak for acquisition of the medical imaging business.
  • Eastman Kodak
    Unit Director - Human Factors
    Eastman Kodak Jan 2001 - Dec 2005
    Rochester, New York
    Responsible for user interface design and usability for Kodak consumer and commercial imaging products, managing a diverse 22-person team. + Directed human factors design, usability engineering, and testing for Kodak consumer imaging products, including digital cameras, home printers, retail imaging kiosks, and desktop software. Focus on product design and usability resulted in market leadership for EasyShare digital cameras, EasyShare photo printers, Picture Maker kiosks, and EasyShare Gallery on-line photofinishing, and a reputation for best-in-class ease of use. Awards from J.D. Power & Associates, CES, PMA, CeBIT iF, redDot, PC World, Popular Mechanics, Esquire, and Government Computer News recognized product design and usability. + Led a portfolio of programs for applied user-centered research and advanced development, competitive benchmarking, and strategic systems architecture for consumer imaging businesses. This “pre-commercialization” work reduced design cycle time by 33% for schedule-intensive commercialization projects. + Conducted needs analysis research and prepared control panel user interface designs and specifications for Kodak EasyShare All-in-One inkjet home printers. Product ease of use was cited as a key product differentiator in helping reach Kodak’s sales target of 500,000 units in 2007. + Directed human factors design, graphic design, usability engineering, and product ergonomics for Kodak commercial imaging products, including digital printing presses, medical imaging software applications, and photofinishing systems. CeBIT iF Design award for DirectView DR 7500 radiography system recognized product ergonomics superiority.
  • Eastman Kodak
    Unit Director - Customer Experience, Kodak.Com
    Eastman Kodak Dec 1997 - Dec 2000
    Rochester, New York
    Responsible for the visual interaction design, information architecture, and usability for the corporate web site www.kodak.com, managing a 20-person team of producers, user interface designers, graphics designers, usability engineers, and on-line copy editors. + Designed web content, marketing communications, and applications. Improved the innovative, user-centered design and development methodology: the Kodak Web Creation Process. Two major site redesigns and the production of compelling interactive imaging applications, editorial content, and product information and demonstrations helped increase viewership over 200% in this period. + Managed the user interaction design process for business-to-consumer and business-to-business eCommerce. Design and usability of the online store - Shop@Kodak - helped position it among the top 5 retailers in product sales volume. + Led the definition of common digital user experience strategy for retail imaging kiosks and network-centric software products. Designed user interfaces for web-based greeting cards and retail imaging kiosks. + Defined the user interface architecture for web-based imaging applications developed by third-party licensees. Successfully managed execution of a portfolio of contracts with more than 10 agency suppliers that achieved user interaction consistency and excellence.
  • Eastman Kodak
    Supervisor - Retail & Commercial Group, Human Factors Lab
    Eastman Kodak Oct 1996 - Nov 1997
    Rochester, New York
    Responsible for research, design, and development of user interface solutions for business imaging products, supervising a 10-person team of human factors engineers. + Designed user interfaces for retail imaging kiosks, distributing imaging services, business and office imaging equipment and systems, and client/server management systems. + Led common graphical user interface strategy for a Kodak digital architecture council, directing efforts for common corporate graphical user interface design and developing guidelines and endorsed product design solutions. This work set the strategic design direction for Kodak digital imaging product user interfaces. + Directed the graduate internship program for human/computer interaction students. From this start, internships were successful building relationships with universities for knowledge transfer and attracting top talent to the employee pool.
  • Eastman Kodak
    User Interface Designer - Human Factors Lab
    Eastman Kodak Jul 1993 - Sep 1996
    Rochester, New York
    Led research and graphical user interface design for photo print production imaging workstations, desktop software products, distributed imaging services, and client/server management information systems. + Set graphical user interface design direction for products and systems, authoring styleguides for imaging workstations, desktop imaging software applications, and client/server applications. + Directed research, design, and usability evaluation for a software components library to promote common look and feel for digital imaging products. The success of the user interface guidelines was largely attributable to design elements available in the software components library that made compliance practical and easy. + Procured prototyping tools, devised a user interface design methodology, conducted training, and redesigned a state-of-the-art usability laboratory that established Kodak core competence in graphical user interface design. + Designed and prototyped user interfaces for a photofinishing quality management system, image fulfillment server order-entry client, all-media digital library manager, and other digital imaging products.
  • Eastman Kodak
    Senior Ergonomist - Design Resource Center
    Eastman Kodak Sep 1988 - Jun 1993
    Rochester, New York
    Responsible for human factors research, user interface design, and usability engineering for Kodak computer-based business imaging products. + Designed, prototyped, and tested graphical user interfaces for retail imaging kiosks, imaging workstations, film contacting station, desktop imaging software applications, printer drivers, and document management services. These innovative digital imaging software and hardware products served as a foundation for future product platforms and fueled Kodak’s transformation from silver halide to digital imaging leadership. + Conducted a longitudinal study of cellular telephone and laptop computer technology to improve customer service of business imaging equipment. + Conducted needs analysis, invented interaction and navigation schemes, prepared user interface designs, and tested usability of a prototype future-generation mixed media workstation under contract to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Results of the contract established feasibility for delivering computer-based tools for tax examiners under the comprehensive U.S. Tax Modernization Program.
  • Honeywell
    Principal Research Engineer - Artificial Intelligence Group
    Honeywell Jul 1986 - Aug 1988
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Program manager and technical lead for Honeywell's industrial/commercial computer graphics and video display systems research. + Project manager for $1.1M U.S. Postal Service contract to research, design, and demonstrate a remote video display system for high-speed mail piece encoding, delivering video image display quality requirements, image presentation techniques, and operator interaction requirements on-time, within-budget. + Designed colorgraphics operator interfaces for commercial building management and home control systems, including a manufacturing automation demonstration and master control panels for SMART HOUSE residential automation system. + Principal investigator of an Electric Power Research Institute program to design, specify, build, and test a multimedia, intelligent user interface for a gas turbine expert system for electronics controls maintenance and troubleshooting. + Posted a perfect track record of leading 11 proposal teams at Honeywell to 11 contract awards for R&D projects.
  • Honeywell
    Senior Development Engineer - Technology Strategy Center
    Honeywell Oct 1981 - Jun 1986
    Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
    Responsible for user/system interface design, research, and development for complex control systems. + Managed a five-year program with Northern States Power Company to conduct human factors engineering design reviews and implement improvements in the control room at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, resulting in redesign and retrofit of main control boards, control operators' workstations, annunciator/alarm system, and the computer-based safety parameter display system. + Served as project manager for an Electric Power Research Institute project to evaluate the distributed process control and colorgraphics display system at the 10 MWe Solar Power Plant in Barstow, CA. + Designed user interfaces for Honeywell computer-based systems and products, including commercial building management and control systems, expert system for maintenance of building HVAC equipment, multi-channel commercial load management, personal computer-based integrated voice/data, prototype object recognition security system, and medical electronic patient monitor.
  • Honeywell
    Research Scientist - Man-Machine Sciences Group
    Honeywell Aug 1978 - Sep 1981
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Responsible for applying human factors engineering to training systems design and development for military command and control systems. + Principal investigator for U.S. Army Research Institute contract to implement computer-based embedded training and testing capability for field artillery fire direction. Programmed the operational hardware, conducted validation testing, explored computerized adaptive testing models, and consulted during deployment on field-based operational hardware. + Developed and demonstrated automated training and testing capability of a microprocessor-based simulator for the Army Air Defense Command and Control System. Prepared courseware for the U.S. Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System-Radar maintenance training system. + Designed and developed U.S. Army tank maintenance training materials for voice-interactive maintenance. Analyzed simulation fidelity requirements and system design for U.S. Navy electronic equipment maintenance training.

Christopher G. Koch Skills

User Interface Design User Centered Design User Experience Product Design Interaction Design Web Design Usability Information Architecture Design Strategy User Interface Usability Engineering Usability Testing Human Factors Ergonomics Product Innovation Ethnography Testing Strategy Experience Design

Christopher G. Koch Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Christopher G. Koch

What company does Christopher G. Koch work for?

Christopher G. Koch works for User Experience Invention

What is Christopher G. Koch's role at the current company?

Christopher G. Koch's current role is Chief Scientist at Functional Homes, Inc., Principal at User Experience Invention.

What is Christopher G. Koch's email address?

Christopher G. Koch's email address is ch****@****ion.net

What schools did Christopher G. Koch attend?

Christopher G. Koch attended University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Rice University, University Of Notre Dame.

What skills is Christopher G. Koch known for?

Christopher G. Koch has skills like User Interface Design, User Centered Design, User Experience, Product Design, Interaction Design, Web Design, Usability, Information Architecture, Design Strategy, User Interface, Usability Engineering, Usability Testing.

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