http://www.cherylplatz.com/ Email: cplatz@gmail.com

Cheryl N. Platz

Mailing Address: Available on request
Overview A multitalented, creative interface designer and driven project manager with broad Education Carnegie Mellon University
ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Entertainment Technology Masters Program Pittsburgh, PA AUGUST 2002-MAY 2003 GPA: 3.82
multidisciplinary experience and the desire to create groundbreaking yet intuitive software.
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE CLASS OF 2002 Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Human-Computer Interaction (B.S.)
Experience Microsoft Corporation
MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE TEAM User Experience Designer

(Nov 2007 Present)

Work with a small team to complete a major redesign of System Center Configuration Manager. Create wireframes, prototypes, and visual design specs for multiple product features. Actively participate in research, helping to craft studies, interpret data and present findings. Contribute to the creation of interface guidelines to be used across all System Center products.
Amaze Entertainment / Foundation 9 GRIPTONITE GAMES STUDIO Producer

(Nov 2004 Nov 2007)

Directly responsible for managing handheld development teams of artists and developers with development budgets ranging from $750,000 to $1.85 million Create and maintain game design, maintaining project vision and documentation throughout the project. Serve as primary liaison with external clients, contractors, and QA, including on-site visits. Supervise interface design and play testing efforts: provide designs and feedback, arrange & observe tests Create and manage project schedules, tracking progress and course-correcting when necessary Oversee all internal and external databases for QA and asset tracking Other contributions: game scripting, cutscene creation, writing in-game dialog/scripts, & localization Write product pitches and concept documents for new game development projects. Shipped Titles: Disney Friends (DS exclusive) - shipping soon in Europe (Oct 07) and US/JP (March 08) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest (GBA and Nintendo DS). The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (GBA)
Maxis / Electronic Arts Assistant Producer II

(May 2003 November 2004)

Managed day-to-day publishing and production tasks, including design, scheduling & asset management Supervised the localization process for multiple titles, including translation and Language Testing Served as the liaison between Production and Testing, and as a liaison with external developers Wrote original in-game text for multiple games including The Sims Makin Magic and The Sims 2. Shipped Titles: The Sims Makin Magic (PC) The Sims 2 (PC) The Sims Bustin Out (GBA/N-Gage) The Urbz: Sims in the City The Sims Bustin Out (PS2/GCN/Xbox) (GBA/Nintendo DS)
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts (Walt Disney World) DESTINATION DISNEY ON-SITE Professional Intern (May 2002 September 2002)
Prototyped and developed several interface design projects with large future visibility to the public. Created site flows, HTML mockups, and programmed functional prototypes using VB and Flash. Coded several network applications for Walt Disney Imagineering used to help prototype the Disneys PhotoPass project, which is now open to the public.

Cheryl N. Platz Resume

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MAYA Design Group HUMAN SCIENCES DEPARTMENT Interaction Designer
(May - September 2001, Jan March 2003)
Produced interface wireframes and mockups, performed expert analyses & wrote design deliverables. Coded an internal utility for visualizing employee utilization and work hours from company databases.
Carnegie Mellon University ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Teaching Assistant

(August 2002 - December 2002) Provided one-on-one assistance and class support for the ETCs Building Virtual Worlds class. Specialized in assisting texture painters using Deep Paint 3D and 3D modelers using 3D Studio Max.
Skills Key Software: MS Project, MS Office, Adobe CS3 (Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator), Visual Studio,
Visual SourceSafe, DevTrack, Perforce, TeamTrack, RAID, Visio Programming Languages: Java, C++, C, HTML, CSS, Python, Pascal, SML, Lingo, Tcl/Tk, XML, VB Gaming Platforms: Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, PS2/Xbox/GameCube, PC, N-Gage Art & Design: Skills: 2D & 3D Texture Art, 3D Animation, 3D Modeling, Communication Design, Web Design. Tools: Deep Paint 3D, Maya 4.0, Flash, Director, Illustrator, Photoshop, 3DS Max, Dreamweaver. Traditional Media Experience: Pencil, Pen & Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Stained Glass, etc.
Academic Virpets Theater CARNEGIE MELLONS ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER & PITTSBURGH CHILDRENS MUSEUM Projects
Technical Director (Spring 2003)
Responsible for evaluating technologies and technical prototyping (C++/Flash/ActionScript) Designed and implemented a system for controlling digital puppets using custom analog controls and a commercial third-party 3D engine (LithTech) Organized play tests of prototype system in eventual target location (Pittsburgh Childrens Museum)
Interactive Theatre Initiative CARNEGIE MELLONS ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Producer

(Fall 2002)

Responsible for spearheading support for a touring interactive show (Virtual Meditation #1) equipment sourcing, budget, and eventual travel to CSCW 2002 Also responsible for production on an original interactive theatre piece, The Virgin Island a 10-minute play where audience members could interactively listen to a characters thoughts during the show. Handled project scheduling, equipment sourcing, budgeting, PR, and contributing creative input.
HCI Senior Project Course: Operator Control for Off-Road Robots CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITYS HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION INSTITUTE
Part of a five-person effort to create a user interface for a DARPA experimental military reconnaissance robot that would be manned remotely by advanced soldier users. Deliverables included 2 usability studies and a completed set of wireframe designs and recommendations
Project Listen CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITYS HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION INSTITUTE Research Assistant (May December 2000)

Responsible for evaluating extensive footage of human tutors interacting with reading students Developed a lexicon for different forms of tutor interaction [AIED 2001 poster] Mostow, J., Aist, G. S., Burkhead, P., Corbett, A., Cuneo, A., Eitelman, S., Huang, C., Junker, B., Platz, C., Sklar, M. B., and Tobin, B. A controlled evaluation of computer- versus humanassisted oral reading. In J. D. Moore, C. L. Redfield, and W. L. Johnson (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education: AI-ED in the Wired and Wireless Future, pp. 586-588. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Presented at the Tenth Artificial Intelligence in Education (AI-ED) Conference, San Antonio, Texas, May 2001.
Awards and Andrew Carnegie Scholar (1998-2002): Recipient of four-year merit-based university scholarship given to top 60 incoming students at Carnegie Mellon. Honors
National Merit Scholar, 1998

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Cheryl N. Platz
cplatz@gmail.com http://www.cherylplatz.com/

Overview Education

A multitalented, creative user experience designer and driven project manager with broad multidisciplinary experience and the desire to create groundbreaking yet intuitive software. Carnegie Mellon University ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Entertainment Technology Masters Program Pittsburgh, PA AUGUST 2002-MAY 2003 GPA: 3.82
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE CLASS OF 2002 Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Human-Computer Interaction (B.S.)

Experience

Microsoft Corporation MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE TEAM (MAX) User Experience Designer II (Nov 2007 Present)
Work with a small team to complete a major redesign of System Center Configuration Manager. Create wireframes, prototypes, and visual design specs for multiple product features. Actively participate in research; helping to craft studies, interpret data and present findings. Create user interface guidelines for the entire System Center product suite.
Griptonite Games (A Foundation 9 Studio) Producer

(Nov 2004 Nov 2007)

Directly responsible for managing multiple handheld game development teams o Oversee game development teams of up to 15 artists and developers o Development budgets ranging from $750,000 to $1.85 million o Create and maintain game design, maintaining project vision and documentation. o Create and manage project schedules o Oversee all internal and external databases for QA and asset tracking o Serve as primary liaison with external clients, contractors, and QA o Supervise interface design & testing efforts Other contributions: game scripting, cutscene creation, writing in-game dialog/scripts, & localization Write product pitches and concept documents for new game development projects. Shipped Titles: o Disney Friends (DS exclusive) o Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest (GBA and Nintendo DS). o The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (GBA)
Maxis / Electronic Arts Assistant Producer II

(May 2003 November 2004)

Managed day-to-day publishing and production tasks for multiple console and PC games. o Game design, scheduling & asset management o Supervised the localization process Served as the liaison between Production and Testing, and as a liaison with external developers Wrote original in-game text for multiple games including The Sims Makin Magic and The Sims 2. Shipped Titles:
o o o The Sims Makin Magic (PC) The Sims Bustin Out (GBA/N-Gage) The Sims Bustin Out (PS2/GCN/Xbox) o o The Sims 2 (PC) The Urbz: Sims in the City (GBA/Nintendo DS)
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts (Walt Disney World) DESTINATION DISNEY ON-SITE Interface Design Intern (May 2002 September 2002)
Created site flows, HTML mockups, and programmed functional prototypes using VB and Flash. Helped Walt Disney Imagineering prototype the networking component of the Disneys PhotoPass project.
MAYA Design Group HUMAN SCIENCES DEPARTMENT Interaction Designer
(May - September 2001, Jan Mar 2003)
Produced interface wireframes and mockups, performed expert analyses & wrote design deliverables. Coded an internal utility for visualizing employee utilization and work hours from company databases.
Carnegie Mellon University ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Teaching Assistant
(August 2002 - December 2002)
Provided one-on-one assistance and class support for the ETCs Building Virtual Worlds class. Specialized in assisting texture painters using Deep Paint 3D and 3D modelers using 3D Studio Max.

Skills

Key Software: MS Project, MS Office, Visual Studio, DevTrack, Perforce, TeamTrack, RAID, Visio Programming Languages: Java, C++, C, HTML, CSS, Python, Pascal, SML, Lingo, Tcl/Tk, XML, VB Art & Design: Skills: 2D & 3D Texture Art, 3D Animation, 3D Modeling, Communication Design, Web Design. Software: Deep Paint 3D, Maya 4.0, Flash, Adobe CS4 (Director, Illustrator, Photoshop) 3DS Max Traditional Media Experience: Pencil, Pen & Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Stained Glass, etc.

Selected Academic Projects
Virpets Theater (Pittsburgh Childrens Museum) CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY / ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Technical Director (Spring 2003)
Responsible for evaluating technologies and technical prototyping (C++/Flash/ActionScript) Personally designed and implemented a system for controlling digital puppets using custom analog controls and a commercial third-party 3D engine (LithTech)
HCI Senior Project Course: Operator Control for Off-Road Robots CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY / HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION INSTITUTE
Led a five-person effort to create & test a prototype user interface for a DARPA experimental military reconnaissance robot that would be manned remotely by advanced soldier users.
Project Listen CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY / HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION INSTITUTE Research Assistant (May December 2000)
Responsible for evaluating extensive footage of human tutors interacting with reading students Developed a lexicon for different forms of tutor interaction
[AIED 2001 poster] Mostow, J., Aist, G. S., Burkhead, P., Corbett, A., Cuneo, A., Eitelman, S., Huang, C., Junker, B., Platz, C., Sklar, M. B., and Tobin, B. A controlled evaluation of computer- versus human-assisted oral reading. In J. D. Moore, C. L. Redfield, and W. L. Johnson (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education: AI-ED in the Wired and Wireless Future, pp. 586-588. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Presented at the Tenth Artificial Intelligence in Education (AI-ED) Conference, San Antonio, Texas, May 2001.

Awards & Honors

Andrew Carnegie Scholar (1998-2002): Recipient of four-year merit-based university scholarship given to top 60 incoming students at Carnegie Mellon. National Merit Scholar, 1998