Mandel was an IBM employee from 1982 – 1993. As a member of IBM’s prestigious Common User Access (CUA) user interface architecture group, Mandel conducted research on Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and Object-Oriented User Interfaces (OOUIs), prototyped the IBM OS/2 operating systems interface, and wrote the landmark book, Object-Oriented Interface Design: IBM Common User Access Guidelines.

Mandel also has consulted with IBM on numerous user experience projects in the past 10 years.

Long-term user experience consultant for PayPal, one of the most visited websites in the world. Mandel prototypes and designs PayPal’s next generation web and mobile user experiences for consumers and merchants.

Dr. Mandel is a long-term user experience research consultant for Pearson Education, the world’s largest education company. Conducting lab and remote user testing of desktop and mobile products with teachers, students and parents. He has designed a new usability lab for Pearson in Phoenix, Arizona.

Theo Mandel was the user experience and usability architect on one of UnitedHealthcare’s largest internal projects ever for patient case management.

The multi-million dollar case management system replaced existing legacy clinical applications with a new technology framework, enhanced functionality and a world-class user interface. Mandel worked closely with nurse practitioners and case managers to understand their working environment in patient homes, nursing facilities and hospitals. He worked with business analysts and development teams to define business and technology goals. Mandel also conducted usability evaluations in the field during product beta testing.

Theo Mandel conducted heuristic evaluations of Merck’s hospital-based healthcare transition program, helping patients discharged from the hospital maintain their health and organize their post-hospital care.

Mandel conducted user research, prototyped and provided design recommendations for multiple medical assay devices. This included recommendations for software user interfaces, with the intent to eliminate user errors without requiring any additional training.

Mandel created prototypes, designed product interfaces, and conducted usability evaluations for international private banking applications. Worked with bank customers, executives, and account managers to design usable customer experiences. Lloyds TSB is a world-renowned international financial institution.

Mandel developed a Web-based Intranet user interface design guide for the fourth largest retailer in the United States. After completion, the design guide was one of the TOP 5 visited sites on the company’s Intranet and became the de facto standard for all Web development in the company.

In this project, Dr. Mandel created a “Top Ten” Intranet user interface issues document after conducting focus groups and gathering requirements. He developed the design guide as a Web site on the company’s Intranet. The guide was evaluated in a formal usability lab, using designers and developers as test participants. The guide contained libraries of Web page layouts, frames, graphic buttons and icons, and forms templates to be used across the corporation. Finally, Mandel worked with Target IT to define plans, promotions, and strategies to encourage Intranet developers to use the design guide and to participate in usability evaluations of their sites.

Mandel worked on a 6-month project with Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC), which is now United Bank of Switzerland (UBS). Mandel designed desktop and kiosk interfaces and conducted usability testing with bank customers in Basel, Switzerland.

Mandel designed an internal content-management and inventory system for Bristol-Myers Squibb. The application will be used across the company’s world-wide organization.

Mandel guided the design and usability testing of the next-generation touch-screen EMS field data collection and management program, RescueNet ePCR. The RescueNet ePCR suite has long been known as the industry’s most powerful and comprehensive electronic patient care reporting solutionThe system is used by EMS and Fire/Rescue ambulance teams to document patient information, history, vital signs, medical and trauma assessments, interventions, and treatment during the entire patient care process up to delivering the patient to a hospital or Emergency Room. To conduct user research, we rode in ambulances for four days, watching medical technicians and paramedics use system in the field. Customers and users were intimately involved in designing the new product.

Mandel reviewed the e-Commerce website for America’s largest calendar company. He developed customer surveys and conducting usability evaluations on the original site.

Mandel designed and prototyped financial web applications for colleges and students to manage their campus experience. Blackboard Transact™ technology gives students the convenience of one card for all their needs—from building access to campus meals, to on and off-campus purchases. Students also have easy and secure access to financial aid credit balances, student payroll, or money deposited from home.

Mandel reviewed and redesigned OKbridge’s registration process. He conducted heuristic evaluations of the OKbridge website and online game. Dr. Mandel then worked closely with the founder and development staff to design and prototype the next iteration of the OKbridge online program. The design project focused on the needs and requirements of both expert-level and novice bridge players through user evaluations. Mandel successfully designed the Java-based application for maximum enjoyment and usability.

OKbridge, Inc. is an online bridge club dedicated to serving the worldwide community of bridge players by providing superior software and service. Founder Matt Clegg, while in Finland in 1990, developed an Internet bridge program as a way of playing bridge with his friends back in the US. OKbridge was first released to the public in August 1990 and the idea caught on. Today, OKbridge has more than 18,000 members from over 90 countries, making it the world’s largest member-supported online bridge club.

View the OKbridge case study

Mandel conducted heuristic usability reviews of ACT!, the world’s most popular contact management software. Also conducted iterative usability evaluations with current ACT! users and Microsoft Outlook users performing common contact management tasks.

Dr. Mandel was the only usability/human factors consultant to the DTE Energy and Detroit Edison company for a period of six years. He worked with the CEO, CIO, and IT Director on call center, billing applications and internal/external websites. DTE is one of the largest gas, electric and nuclear energy companies in America. Mandel created a Human Factors Center of Excellence and usability lab facility within the company. Applications and websites include portals, nuclear systems management and call center systems.

Dr. Mandel worked closely with the Vice President of E-Commerce and the IT Director to improve the interface design, navigation, and usability of the Blair.com and Crossing Pointe Websites. Mandel conducted heuristic reviews and developed design prototypes.

One of the nation’s first and largest direct marketers, Blair Corporation is ranked the 8th largest consumer apparel cataloger in the United States with annual sales of more than $560 million. Blair’s thriving business is built on over 93 years of offering unique products with a strong value proposition and serves millions of active customers throughout the United States.

Mandel designed the newest version of the emsCharts Mobile patient data collection application for tablets and laptop PCs. He created high-fidelity design prototypes, working with emsCharts executives, developers and end-users.

Mandel designed and prototyped the Human Resources intranet site for First American Corporation. First American is the nation’s leading provider of business information and related products and services. Mandel conducted user analyses of employees and HR specialists to gather user requirements and then designed and prototyped the site architecture, navigation, and page design.

Mandel designed the interface for Newgistics’ ValetProcessor product. ValetProcessor is used by package return processors in retail distribution centers. Newgistics is an innovative supply chain management company that integrates technology with established logistics systems to create operational efficiencies for multiple business verticals. Newgistics’ clients include retailers Neiman Marcus, Spiegel and Newport News.

Mandel conducted user research, information architecture and site design for NCTM over a two-year period, focusing on the NCTM Website and the non-profit organization’s Principles and Standards online and print teacher training materials. Recently, Mandel created a membership questionnaire and conducted a Website topic card sorting task as part of the Website redesign.

Theo Mandel was co-founder and Chief Usability Officer (CUO) of ReCare, the precursor to Catalis, an healthcare Electronic Medical Record. The tablet-based system created a paperless electronic medical record for the patient, while providing the physician with specialty-specific information, with the ability to cross reference pharmaceutical information and the documentation of patient specific orders. ReCare was one of the earliest graphical user interface EMRs.

Mandel is the co-founder and site designer for CoolHotNot, a social website of consumer electronics reviews from trusted technology experts such as John C. Dvorak of MarketWatch and tech blogger Chris Pirillo. CoolHotNot will be a membership web site that fully exploits the power of social media to facilitate the sharing of real-life, personal product experience in a creative new way that lets members define the recommendations they get by category or keyword, according to the friends and experts they choose.