Jeremy Thompson is the product development manager for ACAMS. He has been with the organization since 2006 and his responsibilities range from architecture and design of ACAMS' web sites, to new product development and managing technical projects.

Prior to joining ACAMS, Thompson worked with the Financial Division of Thomson Corp in its User Experience Group, where he focused on the usability and design of product suite and managed a small team dedicated to front-end design/development. Thompson was also instrumental in developing products related to historical research reports, global share ownership and financial transactions. He also spent significant time integrating new and existing services into their integrated platform and tailoring it to specific market groups.

Since joining ACAMS, Thompson has designed and launched several web sites, is the product developer for the Risk Assessment Program, has redesigned the content management system and has proven to be a strong leader within the compliance community.

ACAMS Today: How did you first become involved in web development?

Jeremy Thompson: My education was in visual design, but I started my career working for an information provider. I quickly transferred into the marketing department to put my skills to work, but had a good grasp of our data-centric company so I had the extra responsibility of managing the Online Help system. In the late 90s, the web was changing everything — especially in our industry, so I decided to take a two-day course on HTML and coded some very basic web sites. My technical skills improved and I was fortunate enough to be recruited into the product development department that was responsible for the usability and design standards for our Investment Banking Group. My overall focus has always been to facilitate the best possible experience for the person using the tool.

AT: What makes your experience working with ACAMS different from your work with other organizations?

JT: ACAMS is smaller, so I'm involved in more projects and in more of the detail surrounding projects. This provides me with a challenge, but at the same time it is also rewarding because the results are more tangible. It is also encouraging to know that my work helps — even if just a very small way — toward the fight against money laundering.

AT: Which ACAMS product did you enjoy working on the most?

JT: I usually have a favorite project for a few months but then my favorites change. Creating the ACAMSToday.org web site and App were both very satisfying since the AT content was not nearly as accessible over the web before the site was created. But the Risk Assessment tool currently in development is also very enjoyable since it offers something brand new for our user base. There are also some upgrades to the ACAMS.org web site which I'm excited about making in the near future.

AT: You have extensive experience in developing web sites, can you tell us your favorite web feature on ACAMSToday.org and on ACAMS.org?

JT: The Forums on ACAMS.org are the most popular feature, but are actually not used to their full potential. Members can actually create a Community/Forum, along with its own Library to share files. These Communities can be open to all, or to serve a specific group of members depending on the need.

The ACAMSToday.org web site is mostly used to display each ACAMS Today article but also has a few lesser known features:

• The AT App (for iPhone and Android) allows users to receive AT articles as they are published, and the iPhone version includes Push Notifications so users can be immediately alerted of new content.
• The web site can be used to order reprints.
• The web site offers ACAMS Today issues which can be searched back to January 2008.
• Polls (separate from the Polls on ACAMS.org) are available and include content back to December 2011.

AT: What are you most looking forward to developing in 2013?

JT: We have a few projects which will be released in 2013, but our Risk Assessment tool is the most exciting because it is so new. We are also planning to redesign the ACAMS.org web site which will include better functionality for members to certify and renew their certification.

Interviewed by: Karla Monterrosa-Yancey, CAMS, editor-in-chief, ACAMS, Miami, FL, USA, editor@acams.org