Bente Halvorsen
Oslo, Norway
Hi! I’m an experienced problem solver with 12+ years working with UX, front-end, concept development and sustainable architecture. I speak nerd, and design.
Product owner of a technical components library for multiple dev-teams, accommodating different tech-stacks, and applications in various stages of legacy – mature – new development.
QA of accessibility/WCAG pipelines, development processes and compliance in design and code. Mentoring developers and designers; and sharing this knowledge with sales, marketing, and support.
Driver and manager of a frontend guild and annual conference: the more knowledge we share, the better things we make, and the more fun we have.
I have a particular passion for sustainable architecture, semantic web, data visualisations, WCAG compliance, and ..maps.
I love the big pictures and the pixels that gets us there.
Currently, I have blue hair and gray hiking shoes, sometimes the other way around. In my spare time I hike, draw, go geocaching, do woodwork, bind books, and general nerdy hang-out-y things in my shared makerspace.
Key skills: concept development, semantic web, frontend architecture, universal design, interaction and UX, WCAG, CSS, SASS, HTML.
Key interests: conceptual development, visualisations, accessibility, sustainable architecture.
What I want
I prefer to work in-house, because i want to really get to know the inner workings of the applications, its tech, design, and whom and what makes it tick. To best impact and to build sustainably. Long-term strategy.
I live in the gap between UX and dev, and must work in team/s and cross-field teams close to development and production.
I want to have an impact on sustainable strategies on tech and design choices, build mutual understanding between dev and ux, and anticipate needs of both. I like to write HTML and CSS/SASS, and sketch in Figma – and i’m a huge fan of whiteboards and conceptual developments and doodles. Quality control and accessibility is extremely important to me: i must have the opportunity to deliver quality. Parallel projects in different stages of abstraction suits me: for example one in concept and research stage, one in nitty-gritty code quality finalisation. And some creative elbow-room to explore ideas.
Skills
Design
Sketching · prototyping
81%
Image handling
100%
Atomic design
100%
Methods
UI & tech component libraries
96%
Solution architecture
96%
User testing · co-creation
75%
Development
WCAG
87%
Code · CSS & HTML
95%
Responsive design
100%
Tools
Design & prototyping
- Figma
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- XD
Code & programming
- HTML
- CSS & SASS
- Visual Studio Code
- Bootstrap 4 & 5
- Storybook
- Codepen
Cooperation
- Azure devops
- GitHub
- Confluence
- Stack Exchange
- Stack Overflow
- Slack
Education
August 2014 - December 2016
M. Sci. Informatics – Design, use and interaction University of Oslo, Institute of Informatics
Courses: experimental design of IT, interaction design, ethics and science, computer-supported cooperative work, qualitative research methods, advancements in interaction design.
Thesis: Design for serendipity – a research through design approach
August 2007 - June 2010
B. Sci. Computer Science – Digital media production University College Østfold, Computer Science
Courses: society and informatics, introduction to digital media, web-programming (PHP), dynamic web applications, digital documents, drama, media science, TV and film production, graphic design, game programming with Flash, intercultural communication, documents and web, 3D modelling and animation, information architecture, security and hacking, placement.
Thesis: The Smithsonian Human Origin Database: relating scientific data through time and space
December 1991 - June 1993
Bookbinder apprentice Bokbinderiet, Norway
Completed diploma apprenticeship in hand binding of literature.
August 1999 - June 2000
Ceramicist Craftworks, Northern Ireland
Production throwing, kiln building; firing gas, wood, electric, and raku. Glaze chemistry and theory.
1988-1989
Art school Nesbru VDG, Norway
Courses: calligraphy and typography, freehand, colour theory, technical drawing, perspective, art history.
1989-1990
Graphic industry Sogn VDG, Norway
Courses: typography, offset and letterpress printing, bookbinding, preprint, postprint.
1990-1991
Bookbinding Sogn VDG, Norway
Courses: ledger and literature binding, machine binding, chemistry, leather, gilding, machine theory, book history.
Work experience
Aug 2018 - current
Senior UX & frontend dev and accessibility lead Talentech
Technical product owner of an internal component library for multiple dev teams. WCAG, HTML, CSS, Azure Devops pipline. Maintain, rebrand, and rewrite legacy systems, as well as creating new applications
Nov 2017 - June 2018
UX researcher and design lead, app development Highsoft
UX-research, stakeholder workshops, empathy and personas-workshops, user mapping, interaction design, conceptual development, UI, application development, graphics, WordPress.
April 2011 - July 2012
Project UX and design lead Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Project UI, UX design lead
CSS, HTML, prototyping, graphics
Building a web interface and information architecture to display large amounts of CT scans and information from a large section of the Smithsonian collections.
Aug 2012 - Sept 2012
Application design and development Frontsafe
Designing and writing an in-house web application as a database access tool, with input – output functionality. Simple one-page Bootstrap and jQuery with some design and customisation.
2008 - 2014
Interaction design, UX, UI Freelance / consulting / contractor / pro-bono
UX, front-end, interaction and system design, graphics, vector-work, concept development, real-life applications, and prototyping. Clients and contracts of different sizes, timescales, and team constellations, but mainly, I’ve been the UX design lead / front-end person working with a small team though the projects might be impactful or large.
Norsonic
Front-safe
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, D. C.
Favourite Systems
Telemuseet, Teknisk Museum, Oslo
Uninett
University College Østfold
Schneider Electric
1994 - 2007
Various jobs before entering tech field
Work experience prior to tech development career path. Though not directly relevant, all my previous jobs have provided insight and understanding useful in creating digital applications.
Printer, technician, tech support, hostel manager, secretary, labourer, production thrower, technician, data analyst.
Nortek: technician, designer, field work, data analysis. May 2001 – July 2007
Judy Greene Pottery: Production thrower. August 2001 – December 2001
O’Kane Reclamation: secretarial and manual labour October 1998 – 1999
Steve’s Hostel: manager. October 1998 – 1999
IBM: technical support. October 1997 – October 1998
Hippopotamus A/S: Offset printing. August 1994 – July 1997
{portfolio coming here}
Interests
Visual Squirrels
Blog
A site I run together with some friends, where we write about what we make, like, learn, and think.
Maker
Objects
Wood, paper, clay, electronics, foam, cardboard, acrylics, paint, leaf gold, ink, 3D print.
Outside
Anywhere
Hiking, walking, strolling, wandering, dilly-dallying, and geocaching. And taking pics.