Quark aka QuarkXPress
Software QA/UX Test Engineer & Supervisor – Aug 1997-Dec 2001
Contractor (off & on) – 2002 – 2010
black box quality assurance testing • GUI • UX/UI • writing test scripts • running tests • bug reports • regression testing
WYSIWYG postscript Print testing • Desktop Publishing real world workflow testing • beta group liaison
supervised and lead a team of software test engineers • semi-annual reviews • scrum meetings • future product brainstorming
At a time when graphical user interfaces were expanding and the desktop publishing industry was rapidly growing, I was hired directly from the printing industry for my knowledge of graphic design, layout, and the full pre-press process. As the industry shifted from manual methods toward direct-to-press workflows, I brought the real-world expertise QuarkXPress needed to improve its user experience and output quality. My contributions helped advance their WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) capabilities, ensuring that what users saw on screen matched the final printed materials. Just as importantly, the application itself needed to deliver a user-friendly experience, making sense to users while producing professional results.
This experience also positioned me for the dot-com era, as technology started to evolve towards print-ready designs to be adapted seamlessly for the web.
QuarkXPress software revolutionized graphic design.
The Quark Story
If a quark – in science – is a fundamental component of all matter, then Quark – the company – is a fundamental component of all content. In fact, we’ve been pioneers in professional desktop publishing and content automation for more than 40 years. Our flagship QuarkXPress software revolutionized graphic design and is still a leading choice for creative professionals and publishers around the globe. With Quark Publishing Platform, enterprises overcome content complexity and meet compliance requirements when producing and managing specialized documents. Our focus on end-to-end content lifecycle management, including content design, content automation and content intelligence, enables customers to unify and modernize their content ecosystems for greater ROI.
– excerpt from their current website