Vel Prakhantree
Experience Director
vel.prakhantree@echouser.com
EDUCATION
University of South Dakota
M.A., Human Factors Psychology
Butler University
Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Psychology
EMPLOYMENT
EchoUser
November 2010 - Present
User Experience Director
Oracle
Dec 2008 – Nov 2010
User Experience Manager,
Fusion Procurement Suite
Oracle
Feb 2007 – Dec 2008
Principal Project Lead,
New Interactions
Oracle
Dec 2001 – Feb 2007
Principal Usability Engineer,
Applications
SKILLS
User experience (UX) strategy and process, UX evangelism, UX innovation through process, Customer outreach programs, Branding insights
Custom research methods design,
Prototype testing,
Benchmark testing,
RITE testing,
Eye-tracking,
Cognitive walkthrough / expert review,
Focus groups,
Requirements definition,
Task analysis,
Card Sorting,
Survey design,
Interviewing,
On-site / field studies
Wireframing, paper-pencil sketching, Visio, MS Office
Vel has worked in Bay Area tech since moving to California in 2001, applying her
background in cognitive psychology and human-computer interaction to complex
enterprise software design. She's known for being driven, precise, and a straight
shooter when it comes to business, and succeeds at aligning people toward the
common goals of great user experiences. In life, she experiences the great outdoors
as much as possible.
Past Projects
Innovation Festival
Defined key methods, structure, and led activities for a cross-functional, company-
wide event designed to brainstorm and prioritize the top next-generation UI
innovations.
Animated Components
Led the applications-wide investigation into meaningful and productive usage of
animation in enterprise applications. Led the design and creation of a reusable and
customizable component to support target data retrieval through visual scan.
Next-Gen Vision Definition
Defined the research roadmap to identifying and prioritizing features and usability
enhancements for a suite of next generation products. Executed a series of in-depth
field studies targeting end users up through decision-makers to outline personas,
workflows, process gaps, and more.
Pricing Optimization 3-D Animated Waterfall
Led the creation of the initial concept prototype for a new pricing optimization product showcasing
use of animation and 3-D visualizations.
Selling UX
Created sales collateral, and delivered executive level presentations positioning user
experience as a differentiator. Delivered training to sales personnel, partners, and
customers.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Prakhantree, Velynda (2009): Oracle Applications Usability Testing: Your Productivity is Our
Bottom Line. Presented at the OAUG, IOUG, and QUEST 2009 Collaborate Conference, Orlando, FL
May 3-7, 2009. Related blog: http://usableapps.oracle.com/events/collaborate09.html
Prakhantree, Velynda, and Singh, Teena (2008): Oracle Applications Global DesignPartners. Presented
at the OAUG, IOUG, and QUEST 2008 Collaborate Conference, Denver, CO April 12-15, 2009. Related
blog: http://blogs.oracle.com/usableapps/2008/04/oracle-end-users-the-real-star.html
Zhou, Wei, Prakhantree, Velynda, Braun, Kelly and Farrington, Shannon (2008):International user
research in the product development cycle. In: Proceedings of the ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems April 5-10,2008. pp. 2367-2370
Sullivan, Chris, Urakawa, Kenneth, and Cossey, Velynda (1996): Separating the effects of alertness
from the effects of encoding in a pitch-imagery task. Journal of General Psychology, Vol. 123, 1996.