As head of Product Marketing, Peter monitors ways we use ProtoShare here in the office, as well as how customers use the app – and the best way to communicate practices to customers. He always has candy at his desk too, ready for sharing. And I’m here ready and willing to eat the chocolate ones. (What else can I say about myself? You can just read my bio below.)
Peter Uchytil
Product Marketing Manager
How would you describe your role?
I help determine how to take what we develop in ProtoShare and make it quickly understandable to customers. With software like ProtoShare, the benefits can be huge, but the features that support those benefits may be complex. It’s my job to make sure customers understand the capabilities of ProtoShare without being overwhelmed. I also help out by doing the reverse: understanding customer wants and needs and translating them into actionable business requirements so the Product Management and Engineering can prioritize features and improve ProtoShare.
How long have you been with Site9?
Four years
What do you like most about your job?
Helping people facilitate communication and improve their day-to-day workflow is very satisfying. Having worked as a web developer since 1994 I know what it’s like to do the work our customers are doing. Anything that helps bridge the communication gap is extremely useful.
Tell us something most people wouldn’t guess upon first meeting you.
I’m legally blind without my (hard) contact lenses + glasses. Yes, I need both.
Favorite restaurant
2nd Ave. Deli in NYC. Best sandwich I’ve had in my life. Pastrami. Mmmm.
Favorite book
Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card
Favorite movie
So many, but Raiders of the Lost Ark is pretty much the perfect movie.
Words to live by
“I’ve got the brains, you’ve got the looks, let’s make lots of money.” – Opportunies by Pet Shop Boys (kidding…maybe).
Other hobbies
Photography, design, wine/beer
What do you like most about ProtoShare?
ProtoShare is like a shareable sketchbook for me. I always have a notebook with me (I’m a Moleskine snob) and I do quick mockups, or jot down ideas. In the moment an idea is forming, nothing beats sketching with a pen. I find it very visceral, almost necessary to the way I get ideas out of my head. But once the ideas are out, it is very satisfying to archive them in ProtoShare. If an idea can get into my notebook, it has passed the first barrier. Then if an idea can get into ProtoShare, it has passed the second.
In ProtoShare I can monkey with the idea and then share it to get input. Some ideas never get to the refining stage, but they are in ProtoShare, just waiting. I don’t have to worry about them. I don’t have to search through my physical notebooks. Even more importantly, I can transfer ideas from home to work. Or I can share an idea with a co-worker who isn’t in the office. ProtoShare allows me to unclutter and curate my ideas, which helps me focus.
Favorite ProtoShare tip
I often need to get feedback on design. I’m tweaking a website page or creating an ad or something else that requires high, precise visual fidelity. This usually means making comps in Photoshop. But I don’t always have the cleanest Photoshop files. With many layers, it can be difficult to try large-scale reformatting.
My latest technique is to slice up the image and upload the slices to ProtoShare. Then using a combination of Images, Smart Images, and Rich Text, I can quickly try out different layouts. Of course being able to easily call for feedback at any point is key. So much easier than sending emails with screenshots.
Andrea Fidel, Marketing Manager
How would you describe your role?
To spread the word that ProtoShare is pretty kick-ass. But more seriously – because marketing is in some way integrated with every department of Site9, put simply, it’s my job to work with them to communicate industry trends (and customer needs), as well as pushing their information and product developments back to you, our customer.
How long have you been with Site9?
2.5 years
Tell us something most people wouldn’t guess upon first meeting you.
I still love The New Kids on the Block. Don’t hate.
Favorite food
Chocolate (dark) – or a juicy steak, yum!
Favorite movie
The Sandlot – “You’re killin’ me, Smalls.”
When I’m not working, I’m likely…playing/keeping up with my dog, Doug. For being a little guy, he sure has a lot of energy. He’s also the canine version of Dennis the Menace, but boy can he snuggle!
Other hobbies
Spending time with the Boy, family, and friends; hiking (the Pacific NW is great for that!); reading; catching up on trashy primetime dramas; volunteering with The Pongo Fund; and anything else I can find time for. (btw, my photo is courtesy of Mle Gross – thanks!)
This year, I’m most looking forward to…climbing Mt. Hood for the American Lung Association on June 26th. (shameless plug: here’s more information on the climb)
What do you like most about ProtoShare?
I used to be a project manager for a marketing firm, so I know the website development process and working remotely with clients. With ProtoShare I love how clients (or other stakeholders) can go in and pinpoint an area that they are referring to and attach their comment directly to that item. It beats going around in circles with, “That text over there. You know, next to the blue line and gray box. No, the blue line on the left…” I also love how it houses their feedback in one place. Too many times did I receive an email from a client not relating to the content or design of their website at all, and somewhere buried in the middle of it, would be one line of feedback. Trying to go back and find that email among hundreds of others received from them was not easy.
Favorite ProtoShare tip
When creating a discussion topic, assign it to someone to either respond to – or to actually do. It helps direct the conversation to a specific person. Then you have actionable items easily found in the project dashboard. They can also be closed when completed. (click on graphics to enlarge them.)
