Taylor Phillips

thenextweb: Amid a myriad of prototyping tools, POP, an iPhone...

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:37:05 -0600

Amid a myriad of prototyping tools, POP, an iPhone app made by Woomoo, has effectively popped right into my homescreen as an insanely useful way to explore user experience problems and share iPhone app concepts with others. Simply sketch out your idea, take a few pictures and then link buttons to create a functioning mock-up that can be shared across Twitter, Facebook, messages and email. (via POP: This iPhone app is every designer’s missing puzzle piece for prototyping on paper - The Next Web)

Taylor Phillips: Work Experience and Skills

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:33:00 -0500

Taylor Phillips: Experienced Data Modeler and Business Analyst

Specialties

Data Mining, Web Design, Project Management, IT, and Corporate Social Networking

Work Experience

Technology Director at Winning Our Future superPAC

December 2011 - Present (11 months)

· Technology Director for the $23 million dollar Presidental superPAC.

· Digital Master for the award winning 28 minute documentary “King of Bain:When Mitt Romney Came to Town.” (2012 AAPC Pollie Award)

Senior Technology Analyst at AutoGov Inc.

November 2010 - Present (2 years)

· Manages data protection protocols

· Completed SAS Data Mining training

· Utilizes statistical software to find data relationships

· Lead liaison with outsourced IT team

· Develop online customer service capacity and application integration

· Develop and maintain reporting and analytics for clients and software

· Maintains AutoGov website

· Coordinates technology product development

· Assist in business development proposals

· Manage various hosting solutions

President at Define Idea

June 2007 - Present (5 years 5 months)

· Project manger, designed and coder on +20 sites for small and mid-sized companies.

· Implemented Google Apps, Email and Calendar service, into new and existing businesses.

· Key role in all web asset purchases (Domains, SSL Certificates, and web services)

· Owner of an Adobe Business Catalyst distributor license.

Junior Systems Administrator at Young Williams PC

October 2009 - October 2010 (1 year 1 month)

· Responsible for end user desk-side support, helpdesk, installing operating systems, reimaging computers, patches, upgrades as well as analyzed, troubleshooted and resolved system hardware, software and networking issues.

· Managed onsite phone system (I3) for an 80 person Call Center.

· Had a role on the Helpdesk team that managed facilities remotely in four states. (+200 users)

Web Development Associate at The Learning Destination

May 2005 - October 2010 (5 years 6 months)

· Managed conversion form proprietary software to Flash.

· Developed schematic for animation of more than 150 modules.

· Conducted quality control and user acceptance testing programs.

Database Management Intern at Luhng Promotional Industries Ltd. (Hong Kong)

June 2007 - August 2007 (3 months)

· Created and managed a functional database of company assets.

· Worked with fellow employees to source promotional items in mainland China.

· Visited trade shows, in Hong Kong, to help meet company needs.

Technology Strategy Assistant at Gravitant

May 2006 - August 2006 (4 months)

· Evaluated available technology for business intelligence, and data warehousing solutions.

· Evaluated vendor proposal evaluations and reports.

· Supported Texas Health and Human Services engagements.

· Managed procurement activities for $60 million data warehouse.

Education

University of Alabama

Bachelor of Science in Commerce & Business Administration, Operations Management, 2005 - 2009

Activities and Societies: Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society, Sigma Chi Fraternity, Alabama Informational Management Society

Skills & Expertise

Data Analysis

Data Modeling

Data Mining

Web Development

SQL

SEO

Google Analytics

Analytics

Social Media

Statistical Graphics

Online Reputation Management

JMP

SAS E-Miner

Entrepreneurship

Project Management

Web Design

Photoshop

Dreamweaver

Categorical Data Analysis

Tableau

Page3

Visual comparison of every 100m sprint medalist ever

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 02:45:00 -0500

Visual comparison of every 100m sprint medalist ever:

Superb graphical comparison by the New York Times. Evolution of the human race, literally. Congrats Usain on back to back 100m and 200m golds!

Labeling the Back button

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:14:17 -0500

Most “deep” apps require some amount of navigation, moving the user deeper into child views and then back out to the parent view. That navigational backtracking is typically done with a “Back” button, positioned in the top-left corner, and denoted by a pointed left side. You’ve all seen it:

The title of the entire bar is the title of this view; the Back button shows the previous, parent view’s title. Here, then, is a piece of advice for app designers: The Back button should never show the text “Back”.

This is a widespread issue, present in many extremely popular apps.

This is redundant and it provides no context. Note that Apple never does this, not in any app. Instead, they provide either the full title of the previous view, or an abbreviated/truncated version of it.

Consider the iOS Calendar app:

Apple put three legible, helpful data points into one button. This is the standard to aspire to.

If the previous view is “yours”, as in, titled and populated by you, the developer, you should always have at least a short name for it. (A related point: if you find yourself titling that view Home or Main or Start, you should rethink the app’s navigation completely.) If the view contains user-generated or otherwise unpredictable data, you should specify a reasonable maximum length for the user-generated label, truncating when necessary. As for localization, you’ve presumably already localized that previous view’s title, right?

There’s one more case where even abbreviating or truncating won’t do: a view with an unpredictable, but predictably long title. Apple was faced with this in their Music app (ex “iPod” app). Their solution was to provide a nice, big arrow glyph:

This button provides no context, but it doesn’t have to; the context is already displayed in the toolbar, right next to it. The glyph is small, easy to read, and it requires no localization. If you’re in a similar situation, use this glyph. But, don’t rush to conclude that this is the situation you’re in. Explore the above options first.

Here, then, are your options for Back-button labeling, from the most desirable to the least desirable:

A Back button labeled “Back” is never a good option.

defineidea: Kickstarter Tuesday!: Chalk Party As part of our...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:32:03 -0500

defineidea:

Kickstarter Tuesday!: Chalk Party

As part of our ongoing Kickstarter Tuesday project, we are really excited to share this creative collaborative user art project with everyone. It has all of the makings of a massive hit, but its on the brink of failure. What does Chalk Party need?!? YOU!

Well you ask, what is this Chalk Party?

A Chalk Party is what happens when billions of internet-connected people can draw together in the most massively collaborative ongoing art project that we can think of. As you contribute, you unlock the opportunity to draw with Chalk Party’s best Partiers.

We really love this project. Collaborative drawing rewarding artist and punishing party-poopers. While semi-harsh, this is a necessary filter, because the internet collective loves to mess good things up. On our wishlist, we would really want to view into upper level parties, because drawing with a mouse has never been a strong suit of mine.

Chalk Party really needs your help and all you need to do is donate. Lets all work together, so we can party together.

Define Idea Rating: 8 pieces of chalk out of 10

stats:

Backers: 48
Goal: $1,992
Amount Pledged (at time of post): $18,000
Days to go (at time of post): 15

Links:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1759252318/chalk-party-the-world-drawing-together

http://twitter.com/#!/chalkparty

The Relative Sizes of the World’s Largest Photo Libraries

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:37:58 -0500

The Relative Sizes of the World’s Largest Photo Libraries

“If you’re going to put your product in beta - put your...

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:52:42 -0500

“If you’re going to put your product in beta - put your business model in beta with it.”

- Joe Kraus

Define Idea: Kickstarter Tuesday!

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:42:50 -0500

Define Idea: Kickstarter Tuesday!:

defineidea:

Starting tomorrow we will be posting a cool new technology product found on kickstarter.com. Every Tuesday we will show a project that needs your help to get off the ground.

Don’t know kickstarter?

Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every week,…

Disguise Your Facebook As An Excel Spreadsheet

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:47:40 -0500

Disguise Your Facebook As An Excel Spreadsheet:

Long hours at the new summer job? Feeling unprofessional when you check your Facebook profile at the office? Well there’s nothing more professional than a nice spreadsheet. Sign in with Facebook, and see your news feed rendered into an innocuous corporate form.

25,727 passwords from a recent hack at 1 per frame. Your’s...

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:28:26 -0500

25,727 passwords from a recent hack at 1 per frame. Your’s is probably here. The sound you hear is a computer reading the password, and probably your email, Facebook, Twitter…

My new goal is to create a business need, so that I can fill it...

Fri, 27 May 2011 02:17:15 -0500

My new goal is to create a business need, so that I can fill it using this product… ~~That’s what she said.~~

But seriously, MIND BLOWN.

AutoGov Employee Supports Alabama Tornado Relief Effort

Tue, 03 May 2011 20:41:38 -0500

AutoGov Employee Supports Alabama Tornado Relief Effort:

I got a mention on the company blog…

buzzfeed: A Krispy Kreme in Tuscaloosa, AL before and after...

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:52:43 -0500

buzzfeed:

A Krispy Kreme in Tuscaloosa, AL before and after being leveled by the tornado.

[30 Incredible Pictures Of The Tuscaloosa Tornado]

PLEASE WATCH THIS! This kid had had nerves of steel. He stared...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:04:52 -0500

PLEASE WATCH THIS! This kid had had nerves of steel. He stared death and the tornado in the face as it destroyed 15th, Midtown Village, and the McFarland Mall.

This saddens me greatly, the best times of my life were in Tuscaloosa. It will never be the same, but the Crimson Tide family is strong and resilient. Pray for everyone who lost today. Pray for Tuscaloosa.

Tornado damage before and after. Photo taken standing between...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:41:59 -0500

Tornado damage before and after. Photo taken standing between McDonald’s and Taco Casa looking northwards towards campus/DCH.

(After pic via @AaronSuttles)

Back in late January, my co-workers and I completed the 10 mile...

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:41:42 -0500

Back in late January, my co-workers and I completed the 10 mile Tough Mudder course in Austin. The last obstacle was running through live electrical wires. I start running at 0:25. Good news… I found all of the live wires.

Openbook

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 15:17:00 -0600

Openbook:

What is Openbook?
Openbook lets you search public Facebook updates using Facebook’s own search service.

Facebook’s bait-and-switch on privacy and their overly complex settings cause many users to post messages intended for their friends to ‘everybody’.

That’s the entire planet, for all time. This privacy-malfunction could have serious consequences if you’re looking for a job, applying for college, or trying to get medical insurance.

http://youropenbook.org/

Data Mining the Bible- Using data found in the bible and a...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:06:12 -0600

the "Social Network"

Bible Cross-References

Data Mining the Bible-

Using data found in the bible and a custom Java program, a professor from Carnegie Mellon University and a pastor compiled these two charts depicting data from the bible.

One graphic depicts the “social network” of 2,619 characters mentioned in the book. The other, cross-references (colored arcs) are mapped to verses in chapters (gray bars).

I really need to get out and start climbing something. Possible...

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:27:29 -0600

I really need to get out and start climbing something. Possible Mt. Rainer trip this summer. Then maybe a trip to Kilimanjaro one day.

The seven summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. The prominence of a mountain is the minimal vertical drop from its summit before one can ascend a higher peak.

Data from:7summits.com and peaklist.org

The world is obsessed with #Facebook. These stats are...

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:36:51 -0600

The world is obsessed with #Facebook. These stats are impressive, scary, and sad all at the same time.