Theo Mandel, Ph. D. is an international specialist in the design, development, education and usability testing of software and Web applications. Dr. Mandel has been an independent consultant for over 15 years. He has an M.A. and Ph. D. in Cognitive Psychology and spent 11 years in IBM developing the user interface architecture for PC GUIs and OOUIs, working with key industry operating system and application vendors. As a consultant on client software and web projects, he typically conducts user/task analysis, interface design, iterative prototyping, heuristic reviews, interface guidelines development, and iterative usability testing.

Mandel is the author of two well-know books on interface design. His second book, “The Elements of User Interface Design” (John Wiley & Sons, 1997), was translated into Russian and has been used as a learning tool by many Russian usability professionals. Mandel has extensive experience in healthcare software usability and was the Healthcare Chairman for World Usability Day 2007. Theo has been active in the UPA for many years, participating in numerous panel presentations, including “So You Want to be a (Usability) Rock Star.” Mandel recently cofounded the Arizona Chapter of the UPA and currently serves as the chapter Vice President.