OpenRoad grows team

OpenRoad is pleased to announce the arrival of three new web development professionals. Selma Zafar (Senior User Experience Designer), Mark Johnston (Web Developer), and Jennifer Gerth (Quality Assurance Engineer) have officially joined the OpenRoad team.

Selma Zafar has over 10 years experience in designing innovative and usable software and hardware. She ensures that the needs of the end-user remain at the heart of the research, design and development process. Selma has lead the usability and overall user experience for products and websites for Nokia, Microsoft, Telus, Tourism British Columbia and Ronald McDonald House Charities. With OpenRoad, Selma will contribute to the user centred design practice and philosophy by bringing a breadth of experience and knowledge from a multitude of industries. Prior to joining OpenRoad, Selma was the Director of User Experience with Fjord Interactive (division of Cossette). As of Fall 2008, Selma was the latest faculty member with the Langara College Communication and Ideation Design Program teaching courses in Human Factors and Information Design.

Mark Johnston is an Applications/Systems developer with over 10 years of Object Oriented experience in software development. His past roles have included include Senior Developer, Technical Team Lead, Designer and Software Developer on teams ranging in size from two people to 100+ members. Mark's project experience encompasses numerous Internet Applications for various clients such as TELUS, BC Hydro, Future Shop, The Brick, EMI Records. His expertise is wide ranging and includes areas such as Java Development, Internet Applications Development, Databases and Content Management Systems.

Jennifer Gerth has more than 10 years experience ensuring software product Quality. Before coming to OpenRoad in 2008, she worked with Global Market Insite, a Vancouver start-up company, where she concentrated on Release Management and testing Application Service Provider software. Previously, Jennifer built a wealth of experience at Raytheon Canada writing and executing test procedures, requirement traceability matrices and auditing software. OpenRoad utilizes Jennifer's ability to work closely with business analysts, software developers and other quality assurance engineers on agile development teams to strengthen the quality of our software. At OpenRoad, Jennifer has tested web applications for Electronic Arts and worked with agile development teams, performing all test activities on the ClickLaw and ThoughtFarmer projects.

"I'm very happy to welcome Selma, Mark, and Jenn to the OpenRoad team,” said Darren Gibbons, OpenRoad President. "It's exciting to see the company grow and for us to add people who are skilled, experienced, and passionate about what they do. I'm looking forward to working with them in the years to come."