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Managing Partner

Carolanne Fisher PhD

Carolanne is an innovative product designer and a progressive methodologist with over 16 years experience in improving product marketability by bridging the gap between customers and technology-intensive products. Carolanne specializes in helping high-tech companies bring to market technology, no matter how complex, that is appealing for customers to buy and use and easy for companies to support. She is especially skilled in designing easy-to-use and easy-to-understand graphical interfaces and graphical representations of complex information.

Carolanne has extensive experience and expertise with technologies such as e-commerce applications, high speed broadband and data access, corporate web sites and web design, web appliances and screen phones, wireless web, data, and voice services, remote control devices, wireless handsets and web-access devices, TV-based web access, web-based help center support, voice-activated services, integrated voice and data messaging, office automation systems, financial analysis tools, medical diagnostic systems, computer-telephony integration, and C++, Java, and HTML development.

In addition to her expertise in customer research, technology, and product design, Carolanne is also an experienced business developer and leader. She was one of the founders of MAYA Design Group, a Pittsburgh-based product design consultancy. She also directed the product design department at Qwest Communications that consistently received highest ratings from clients due to reduced time-to-market and decreased turn-around time, while maintaining highest quality standards.

Carolanne earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology with a concentration in Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.

Pennie Magee PhD

Pennie is an applied design anthropologist with over fifteen years of diverse international experience in both the public and private sectors. While working at US WEST, now known as Qwest, she provided ethnographic and design expertise in IVRs (Interactive Voice Response Systems), wireless handset design, wireless job access for field technicians, root cause analysis of call volumes in a customer service center, and training priorities for customer service specialists.

Prior to her tenure at US WEST, Pennie worked as a consultant and researcher for a wide variety of organizations, including the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, Colorado), US Agency for International Development (Washington, D.C.), United Nations Development Program (Brasilia, Brazil), and the Institute for the Study of Society, Population and Nature (Brasilia, Brazil).

In each of these situations, Pennie’s task was to bridge the gap between the goals of the company or government agency, and the needs of the target population. She brought her skills as an applied researcher to bear in a wide variety of contexts. She translated her knowledge of cultural needs and behavior into practical solutions for each project.

Additional Team Members

Laura C. Steele

Laura specializes in emerging communications and convergence infrastructures and is Quintus Design's primary point of contact for marketing. She has been working with the Quintus Design for several years. In her background, she has had an extensive technology experience including spending ten years at NASA's Technology Applications Office, where she oversaw industry and Congressional relations for a variety of new satellite communications technology programs. She also managed program controls for various Space Station and Shuttle projects. Since moving to Colorado, she has worked with the Becker Capital Management team as a member of their communications technologies think tank, Cable Service Technologies, and next as COO of SkyConnect.

Jim Rebman

Jim specializes in accessibility testing and remediation of mainstream and assistive tech software and hardware. His clients have ranged from small non-profits to Major international Fortune 500 companies. He is on the private beta test team for the Window Eyes screen reader from GW Micro, Inc, which he uses for his own access needs. He has backgrounds in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and has done research in alternative User Interface design (auditory and tactile), tactile graphics and perception, and usability and accessibility requirements for individuals with visual and cognitive disabilities.

Strategic Partners

Often our work involves developing a good team for the clients we serve. We have developed an ongoing relationship with several firms to deliver high quality products. These partners help us to manage our clients' needs at a single source.

Graphic Design and Web Development

Company 39
Our collaboration with Company 39 gives us the ability to develop our projects with the highest level of graphic and web design elements. Company 39 specializes in visual communications of all types, and their extensive portfolio, rapid turnaround and award winning designers makes them an integral part of our Quintus Team. We have worked with Company 39 extensively over the past few years. View the Company 39 Portfolio of work at http://www.company39.com/portfolio/default.asp

Axioma Graphics
With Axioma Graphics we are able to create vibrant, exciting web and graphic content for our clients. Axioma's fast work and award winning designs have been an exciting addition to our team. To view their portfolio, see www.axiomagraphics.com

Transit and GIS Mapping

Gray Hill Solutions
Gray Hill Solutions specializes in using GIS and database technologies to create accessible, Section 508-compliant solutions for ITS, transit management, and asset management. Our collaboration with Gray Hill has, among other projects, produced the Traffic portion of the www.511.org website, a project for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay Area to show traffic conditions, transit options, ridesharing and bicycling options. Check out Gray Hill at www.grayhillsolutions.com