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John K. Hinsdale

Work Experience: @Plan, Inc. (now DoubleClick, Inc.)

SUMMARY OF PROJECTS

I served as Director of Information Systems, the chief technical position at @Plan, Inc., from September, 1998 through October, 1999, and afterward as a contractor through July, 2000. This period included @Plan's IPO in May, 1999, for which I helped author the technical sections of the Prospectus, the Year 2000 cutover, and @Plan's achievement of product profitability. In September, 2000 @Plan was bought by DoubleClick, Inc..

I helped enhance @Plan's flagship product, a survey research and analysis system for Internet users, and was the chief software designer of all the followon products based on it. I also desgined and implemented a sophisticated proposal authoring and distribution system. All these products are profitable and still in use today.

Project: Survey Research Database/Warehouse

A Web-based database for custom analysis of responses to thousands of survey questions by tens of thousands of Internet users. The system used a simple, but powerful interface for users to formulate queries using a mouse only, by picking parameters from menus. The system would then launch a query to calculate custom statistics on the U.S. online market as well as the population as a whole.

Because we tracked thousands of variables, tens of thousdands of respondents, and many time periods (to observe trends), this database represented a classic Data Warehouse, and our queries were an example of Online Analytic Processing (OLAP).

SURVEY RESEARCH DATABASE: Project Summary
Timeline:1998 - 2000
Technologies: Oracle, Java, JavaScript, Servlet API, PL/SQL, Oracle Web Server (OWS), Apache, JServ, Windows NT, Sun/Solaris, CVS
Contribution: Data modelling, software design, data conversion, implementation, support and enhancement.
Innovations: We used JavaScript heavily to provide a mouse-only (no typing) user interface for very nontechnical users in the advertising industry. Advanced statistical techniques, including stratified sampling were used in conjunction with the traditional tests (confidence intervals, Chi-square test, etc.).

We also built tools to be able to manage large repositories of Oracle PL/SQL code in the CVS revision system, greatly easing code managment.

Lessons learned: Even though the inner workings of the system were quite complex, it is still possible to keep it all hidden from the user by using a very simple interface.

Project: Advertising Proposal Authoring System

An add-on service to the market research product, which allowed buyers of Internet advertising to automatically generate requests for proposals, and the proposals themselves, with the relevant customized market research reports included.

The system included an authoring template for selecing pre-defined proposal requests and a powerful Email contact database, including the sending and receiving of the proposals by Email.

PROPOSAL AUTHORING SYSTEM: Project Summary
Timeline:1999 - 2000
Technologies: perl, Oracle, Apache, Linux, CVS
Contribution: Requirements gathering, complete data modelling, software design, implementation, test, documentation, deployment and enhancement.
Innovations: We could not predict what kinds of data would eventually be stored, so we made an extensible data model that allowed users to add new fields "on the fly." We made an API into the database so that other systems could feed into it, increasing its value as an integration tool.
Lessons learned: A legacy system was available, and use of a model very similar to that helped to get users to adjust to the new system more smoothly. Since the database was not just a repository but a permanent archive, we focussed on having a robust, but simple implementation from the outset to increase user confidence.

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