JAMES MASON · BUSINESS & OPERATIONS ANALYST

Understand the process.
Build what makes it better.

I work across data, operations, and technology to understand how systems work—and develop practical ways to improve them.

True North Analytics is my portfolio of professional work and independent projects—from workflow automation to mobile games, e-commerce operations, and physical product prototypes.

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Business analysisWorkflow automationBusiness intelligenceSystems & app development

SELECTED WORK

From operational problems
to working projects.

Professional experience alongside projects I’m building and testing. Each case shows the problem, the work, and where it stands today.

Portfolio updated October 21, 2026
Recent work spans local AI tooling, mobile playtesting, store operations, and modular product design. Testing and prototype labels describe current progress, not public availability.

Analytics & automation

Professional work connecting operational needs with better processes.

01 / PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Modernizing legal operations

At Bignault & Carter LLC, I analyzed operational workflows and implemented Microsoft 365 and Power Automate solutions to streamline approvals and reduce manual work.

I also developed a standardized framework for union election workflows and led the digitization and organization of more than 3,000 legal files spanning 1994–2026.

Process improvementPower AutomateMicrosoft 365

Read the project context

The need: Make approvals, recurring workflows, and historical records easier to manage.

My contribution: Workflow analysis, automation implementation, process standardization, and records digitization.

The purpose: Support consistency, repeatability, and access to records.

AI & systems

Independent experiments in context, prioritization, and system behavior.

02 / INDEPENDENT AI PROJECT

Janus

Context-aware task prioritization

An independently developed AI system exploring how environmental factors and contextual scoring can adapt task priorities to individual needs.

AI systemsPrioritizationIndependent testing

What the project explores

How can a system rank tasks using more than a fixed list? Janus explores contextual scoring as a way to adapt priorities around the person and their circumstances.

This is an independent development and testing project.

LOCAL AI ASSISTANT · WORKING RESEARCH PROTOTYPE

Craig

A local development assistant with tools, memory, and a place to check his work.

Building an AI software and game-development assistant around a locally running language model. Craig has a browser control station for requests, task progress, results, and saved history.

PythonOllamaTool orchestrationDocker evaluation

Meet Craig—and the work behind him

The system: Connected task handling, workspace tools, saved lessons, and a local control API. Recent work improved structured tool actions, repeated-request handling, progress feedback, and the evidence required before a task can be called complete.

The testing: Built a separate Python coding benchmark with bounded retries and disposable Docker containers, then used repository-repair exercises to expose and investigate tool-loop failures. Model evaluation and full-assistant evaluation are tracked separately.

Current stage: A working local research prototype. Tested runtime paths are functioning; reliable completion of larger development projects remains an open problem. This work develops the assistant and its evaluation process around an existing model, rather than claiming a newly trained foundation model.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH · ON HOLD

GAIA Simulation Model

Exploring natural life cycles with Python

A Python-based simulation research project exploring how natural life cycles behave under different parameters and assigned roles.

PythonSimulationSystems research

Research focus

The project investigates the structure of natural life cycles through configurable simulation conditions. Research is currently on hold.

Apps & games

Turning playtest feedback into clearer interactions, better pacing, and more reliable mobile builds.

Trash Hero development build with three sorting belts, blocked funnels, recycling bins and a vertical health meter — DEVELOPMENT BUILD · OCTOBER 2026

ANDROID · CLOSED TESTING MILESTONE REACHED

Trash Hero: Sorting Expert

Making a sorting game easier to read—and more interesting to play.

A mobile recycling game built around dragging items onto the correct conveyor or directly into a bin. Misplaced items block physical funnels; queues build behind them, and overflow reduces health.

Tester feedback led to larger grab and drop targets, three separate belts, a clearer mobile HUD, and a bottom banner area. Later levels add curved routes while preserving the same sorting rules.

Android / JavaJavaScriptInteraction designPlaytesting

What I built and tested

The work: Responsive gameplay, queue and overflow behavior, Android packaging, and automated checks for input boundaries and routing. Prepared consent-aware banner and voluntary rewarded advertising without real-money purchases.

Current stage: The Play Console closed-testing requirements have been met. Production preparation and physical-device checks for the latest changes continue; this portfolio does not imply a public launch.

GODOT / C# · ANDROID INTERNAL TESTING

Pocket Factory

A gnome mining workshop shaped by real-device feedback.

Developing a mining and production game with manual resource collection, equipment progression, saved progress, and a cozy cave workshop. A working Android internal-test build is being refined through hands-on play.

GodotC#Progression systemsAndroid debugging

Development focus

The work: Reworked the factory’s visual direction around gnome workers, connected production stages, and cave environments. Investigated startup failures using device crash logs and iterated until the internal-test build opened successfully.

In progress: Faster early progression, clearer mobile controls, and more responsive mining. The core game is designed to remain playable solo; broader guild and event ideas are future scope.

UNITY · ANIMAL UPDATE IN DEVELOPMENT

Tap Target

Giving a simple target game a reason to keep playing.

A mobile target game with 250 levels. The next progression concept introduces animal chapters and collectible companions, with personality expressed through movement, captions, and reactions.

Unity250-level progressionCompanion animationsSave compatibility

What the update adds

Cats introduce the first 20 levels, followed by bunny, dog, fox, elephant, and penguin chapters. Animal unlocks are cosmetic and provide no gameplay advantage.

A separate development preview was built and checked across all 250 levels, including chapter boundaries and existing-save rewards. Animation refinement and mobile release validation remain part of the update work; the animal expansion is not presented as publicly released.

UNITY · PLAYABLE PROTOTYPE

Cozy Gnome

Making an underground workshop feel alive.

A fantasy mining prototype with gem production, shop activity, wandering characters, and creature encounters. Visual iterations focus on warm lighting, organic cave surfaces, readable signs, and more noticeable creatures.

UnityBlenderEnvironment iterationGameplay prototyping

Design work

Refined hanging lights and shadows, rock and ground shapes, gem and building colors, shop placement, illustrated signs, and character scale. Encounter rewards and the prize-wheel animation were also part of the iteration.

The project remains a prototype in development; closed-testing preparation is separate from a completed public release.

E-commerce & operations

Building the systems behind a store, from product information to a workable fulfillment plan.

SHOPIFY · STORE DEVELOPMENT & SOURCING

Independent Shopify storefront

Connecting the catalog, customer experience, and cost of fulfillment.

Building a store under my own name, with collections for original made-to-order diamond art and a separate workflow for supplier-sourced products. The work includes product descriptions, navigation, shipping disclosures, and a request page for custom 3D printing.

ShopifyCatalog structureSupplier researchUnit economics

Operational work and current stage

The work: Organized collections, prepared listing drafts, connected marketing channels, and compared supplier costs, minimum orders, delivery estimates, and shipping options.

Current stage: Store development and supplier evaluation. Wholesale candidates remain drafts while product details, costs, permissions, and fulfillment are confirmed. This is an implementation case study, not a claim of sales results or inventory on hand.

3D design & physical prototypes

Taking a practical storage idea from a design brief to individual printable parts.

Digital render of a mug-shaped organizer with five stacked levels of removable wedge bins, a sorting tray on top, and pen clips on the handle — Digital design render—not a photograph of a finished product.

BLENDER / BAMBU STUDIO · PHYSICAL FIT TESTING

Modular craft organizer

A coffee-mug concept for organizing diamond painting drills.

Developing a modular organizer with removable wedge-shaped bins, individual lids, a top sorting tray, and pen storage on the handle. The revised design uses five layers with six compartments per layer.

BlenderSTL / 3MFBambu StudioIterative prototyping

From model to print

Prepared separate printable files so one component can be tested without printing the entire assembly. Revised bin height and tier geometry, checked mesh integrity, and prepared a base-and-one-row print layout for a Bambu P2S.

Initial printing has begun. Physical fit, peg strength, retention, and usability still need validation before this is treated as a finished sellable product.

Research & business planning

Early-stage ideas with a focus on learning, economic systems, and feasibility.

BUSINESS PLAN · IN REVISION

Unlocking Imagination

Business planning and analysis for a proposed hybrid children’s museum and learning center, focused on educational enrichment outside traditional schooling.

Business planningEducationConcept development

INDEPENDENT CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH

Necessity Formation Cycle

A conceptual framework examining the relationships among innovation, overinvestment, correction, necessity, and resource allocation.

MacroeconomicsResearchSystems thinking

CONSULTING

A clearer view of your work.
A practical next step.

Practical help grounded in hands-on project experience. We can look at how you work, identify a manageable problem, and agree on a small, clearly defined project.

Workflow & process analysis

Map how work moves through your organization, identify manual steps and handoffs, and document opportunities for improvement.

Reporting & operational insight

Clarify reporting needs, review data quality, and explore ways to make operational information easier to use for decisions.

Practical workflow automation

Put familiar tools together to simplify recurring tasks, approvals, and documentation. My experience includes Power Automate and Microsoft 365; each solution starts with a clear scope and testing together.

Discuss a project

ABOUT JAMES

A systems perspective,
grounded in operations.

My background spans military, healthcare, legal, and operational environments. Working in those settings has shaped how I approach problems: understand the people doing the work, identify the constraints, and connect the process with the right tools.

My experience includes business intelligence, operational analysis, reporting, workflow automation, documentation, and training. Alongside that work, I develop mobile games, build e-commerce workflows, and prototype practical 3D-printed products.

My Master of Business Administration program at DeVry University is in progress.

Tools I work with

Excel · Power BI · SQL · Python · Power Automate · Microsoft 365
Unity · Godot / C# · JavaScript · Shopify · Blender · Bambu Studio

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION

The background behind the work.

Business analysis supported by practical experience in environments where accuracy, readiness, and clear processes matter.

Professional experience

OCT 2025 – JUN 2026

Business Intelligence Analyst / Independent Contractor

Bignault & Carter LLC

Workflow analysis, Microsoft 365 automation, process standardization, and legal records modernization.

2017 – 2022 · MULTIPLE ROLES

Pharmacy operations

Community Health Systems · Harvey’s Pharmacy · Nurses Etc. Staffing

Medication dispensing, inventory, automated equipment, and day-to-day operational readiness across hospital and retail settings.

AUG 2012 – AUG 2017

Pharmacy Technician

U.S. Navy · Naval Medical Center

Medication cost analysis, downtime system development, workflow improvement, training records, and emergency medication logistics.

Education & development

IN PROGRESS

Master of Business Administration

DeVry University

2026

Graduate Certificate in AI and Data Analysis