Maria Cordell is a versatile user experience designer offering expertise in information architecture, interaction and visual interface design, information design, writing, and project management. Maria has proven experience in all aspects of application and Web design, from early conceptualization through launch. She’s also highly organized, analytical, and detail oriented.

Maria currently manages the Information Architecture group at Macquarium. Part manager, part Principal IA, Maria leads a strong user experience team working on varied projects, from corporate Web sites to enterprise-class rich Internet applications (RIAs) and desktop apps. Typical project responsibilities and deliverables include requirements gathering, user research & analysis, information architecture, interaction design & behavior documents, visual design, site mapping, wireframing, and design presentations to stakeholders. Maria touches nearly every account and regularly makes significant contributions and improvements to design processes, documentation methods, and client engagements. In 2008, Maria was named a finalist for Macquarium Employee of the Year.

Before joining Macquarium, Maria was most recently Chief Technologist for Dod/Pritchard Communications. In that position she frequently collaborated with clients' engineering and scientific staff to evaluate products and develop compelling communications and information designs. Past clients include Siemens, AT&T, Georgia Institute of Technology, OFS Labs (formerly Bell Labs), PC Magazine, and a host of others.

As a technology writer Maria has authored numerous articles and white papers, and she has also contributed to a number of computing and networking books. She served as Technical Reviewer for several Ziff-Davis Publications, including PC Magazine Guide to LANtastic and PC Magazine Guide to Modem Communications. Her most recent contribution appears in Les Freed's PC Magazine Guide to Home Networking, now on bookstore shelves (and on Amazon.com).

Maria is an active member of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), the Information Architecture Institute (IAI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She is also a co-founder and active organizer for IA Atlanta, a network of Atlanta-based user experience design professionals. Maria received a Master of Science degree in Information Design and Technology (now called the Digital Media M.S.) from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she earlier earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics with High Honor.

For fun, Maria is an avid photographer and explores interactive digital media art (see the Art & Photography section). She’s especially interested in the intersection between computational physics and interactive digital media art, and in how it can be used to transform public spaces. She often collaborates with Atlanta-based artists and members of Concordia University's Topological Media Lab, in Montreal, Canada.