27 Memory Ln. > About me

Who said one notebook is enough?
Photograph by Angelique Kessels

In some sense my professional life is a story of constant betrayal. My genes (and my father) cried electrical engineering, but I opted for mathematics. However, as soon as halfway through the preliminary school it was abandoned in favour of computer science, which I pursued in high school and university in Szczecin, Poland (my home town in my home country). Then I found myself gradually escaping the world of ones and zeroes towards various forms of design (graphic design and typography, webdesign, multimedia design), to finally end up as an HCI specialist in User-System Interaction programme in the Netherlands.

However, was it really betrayal all along? What I found most fascinating in mathematics were fractals and other visual manifestations of numbers, and I was always spending more time programming interfaces than tweaking the underlying code. In hindsight, Human-Computer Interaction was a natural progression – encompassing, converging and extending most of my areas of interest (the aforementioned design and computer science, but also my passion for writing and computer history), and introducing many more.

I enjoy learning about countless facets of interaction between Human and Machine, I enjoy passing this knowledge to other people, and I enjoy making the technology more accessible, attractive, enjoyable and useful. In addition to several years of professional experience, I am still doing a lot of freelance work. I like to think of myself as an ambitious, brisk, creative, dedicated and exuberant person – but I also believe it takes much more than five first letters of the alphabet to describe me.

Marcin Wichary

An ambitious and aspiring Human-Computer Interaction specialist with additional wide knowledge and expertise in computer science, programming, design, webdesign, publishing, multimedia and networking.

Name: Marcin K. Wichary
Date and place of birth: March 4th, 1978 in Szczecin, Poland
Nationality: Polish
Website: www.aresluna.org
Email: mwichary@usability.pl

2003-2005

User-System Interaction programme, Technical University in Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Researching Human-Computer Interaction in an international two-year postgraduate programme. Worked on many successful projects, received high grades, launched several popular lectures. Graduating in October 2005.

1999-2003

Academic Centre of Computer Science, MAN Internet Service Provider, Szczecin, Poland

Creating and maintaining professional, dynamic websites, incl. company’s sophisticated intranet website. Designing posters, leaflets and other printed material. Creating multimedia presentations. Administrating Windows and Linux-based servers and developing occassional software. Lecturing and taking care of corporate identity of the regional Cisco Networking Academy. Working in 12-people environment, often dealing directly with customers.

1994-2000

Gambler, computer games magazine, Warsaw, Poland

For almost five years led own monthly column dedicated to programming and file manipulation, additionally writing roughly a dozen of game reviews. Created an intuitive menu and archive database for monthly CD issued with the magazine. Designed a couple of logos and posters.

2002-present

Human-Computer Interaction

Interested in HCI long before even knowing of that field. Writing mainstream articles and giving self-developed lectures about usability. Actively promoting HCI in Poland. Conducting field and user testing, and preparing assessments of websites and software. Maintaining an online Graphical User Interface gallery.

1997-present

Webdesign

Author of many popular and acclaimed websites, such as USS Solaris, 10 years of Being Boring, GUIdebook and Usability.pl, as well as productivity-enhancing intranet Intra. Working on both visual design and technical underpinnings, using many interesting techniques and always keeping the visitors’ experience in mind.

1997-present

Graphic and multimedia design

Working on various forms of graphic design: posters, billboards, leaflets, CD covers and labels, corporate identities, on-screen designs, even comics – both commercial and for free use. Created several multimedia movies and presentations. Also interested in typography.

1993-present

Writing

Freelance writer with 11 years of experience. Started with a series of programming articles for a popular Polish magazine PCkurier. Employed for more than 5 years in Polish computer games magazine Gambler, having own column and writing readers-acclaimed reviews. Currently writing occassional mainstream articles about usability, Internet and computer history for all major Polish computer magazines (Chip, Computerworld, Enter, PC World Komputer), as well as essays and articles for various websites – in Polish and English.

1993-present

Programming

Wrote several popular programs, among them Gambler Pack (database for magazine readers), Midnight Editors (game utilities) and Insert Coin (unfinished, but highly promising economical game). Proficient in C++, Pascal, JavaScript and VBA, developed for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Using programming skills for creating user interface prototypes.

1997-2002

Master of Science in Engineering, Technical University, Szczecin, Poland

Specialised in networking. Master’s Thesis defended with distinction.

1993-1997

Matura (A-level equivalent), 14th High School, Szczecin, Poland

Specialised in computer science and mathematics.

Languages: Polish (native), English (fluent), Dutch and German (basics)
Interests: design, typography, history of computers, new technologies, vernacular, mass transit, privacy, coin-ops, astronomy
Personal traits: ambitious, creative, dedicated, precise