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October 25, 2007 — Abe CrystalJob: Information Architect
October 19, 2007 — Abe CrystalOccupational Summary
As an Information Architect for hesketh.com, you will be responsible
for developing user-centered workflows, information architectures,
user interfaces, and information designs, balancing usability and
cultural factors with strategic goals and objectives. You will also
collaborate with the programming and visual design teams to ensure
your vision isn’t lost when the functionality is developed and the
window dressing (branding) is applied.
Details: http://hesketh.com/about/careers/information_architect.html
About hesketh.com
hesketh.com offers a unique work environment. At hesketh.com, one
thing we all have in common is passion about what we do. We further
distinguish ourselves from the competition with our customer-centric
approach an unrelenting determination to be responsive and exceed
expectations. We work in an environment of cooperation, respect, and
trust. Of course, as CEO, it’s my job to say nice things, but don’t
just take it from me. Come and talk to our team 🙂
Send resumes and salary history to…
hesketh.com/inc.
ATTN: Personnel
5400 Glenwood Avenue
Suite G11
Raleigh, NC 27612
fax: 919.834.2554
email: careers@hesketh.com
World Usability Day 2007
October 18, 2007 — Jackson Fox- Where: Ruvane Auditorium @ GSK
- When: November 8, 2007 — 6:00PM to 9:00PM
- RSVP for World Usability Day!
Join UX professionals from around the Triangle area for an Interactionary (a live design competition), keynote speech, food, drink, and fun!
Keynote Speaker:
Anthony D. Hall, Ph.D.
IBM Global Web Strategy and Enablement
Interactionary
Simply put, the Interactionary is a live team-based design competition. Teams are given a design problem and 10-20 minutes to design a solution to the problem. Teams then present their design to the audience, and the judges.
Job: User Experience Analyst
October 15, 2007 — Abe CrystalIf you’d like to join a team where people enjoy what they do and are given the resources to define their careers through opportunity and choice, then it’s time to build a career with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. BCBSNC was recently recognized by Working Mother magazine as one of the top 100 companies in the nation in terms of commitment to work-life balance. Our training and on-site degree programs are nationally recognized by ASTD and other organizations. We are the first company in North Carolina to offer an on-site back-up child care center. And, we have an on-site nurse practitioner who can assist with your medical needs.
The vision of the Usability Practice at BCBSNC is to make healthcare management easy for everyone. Each day we strive to achieve this vision by understanding and empowering the user through the design of intuitive interfaces that fulfill business needs. Our User Experience Analysts are a critical link between the business customer and the development team and must have excellent relationship-building skills as well as broad technical knowledge.
At BCBSNC, you will have the opportunity to work on a wide variety of both internal and external Web applications as well as our IVR system, while assessing and meeting the needs of our diverse target user groups.
Key Responsibilities:
- Conduct requirements gathering sessions with business owners and project stakeholders
- Translate business requirements into information architecture, user interface and interaction design for successful user experiences
- Collaborate with Developers to ensure proposed designs are technically feasible
- Develop user experience documentation detailing proposed solutions
- Work with graphic designers to ensure visual design is user-friendly and consistent
- Work with copywriters to ensure that all copy (including navigation, button and field labels) is clear, concise and user-friendly
- Plan, organize and conduct usability testing sessions with both internal and external users
- Plan, organize and conduct field research (contextual inquiry) with key user groups
- Perform heuristic evaluations of Web sites and applications
- Document and present research findings and recommendations
- Communicate and integrate activities with business analysts, project team, business owners and other IS departments to foster good relationships and ensure success
- Support the achievement of goals at the team, department, and company levels
- Comply with all business and professional requests from management staff
Minimum Hiring Requirements:
- Bachelor or technical degree required (advanced degree in HCI, information design, cognitive science or related field preferred)
- Four years experience in information architecture/usability engineering or development of Web sites in a professional development environment required
- Experience with large-scale/complex sites preferred
- Demonstrated expertise in user experience design and usability research methods
- Demonstrated knowledge of industry standards and trends, platform standards and software development
- Excellent analytical, organizational, collaboration, facilitation, interpersonal and communication skills
- Experience working with project teams to accomplish aggressive goals within short time frames
- Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively through various formats (both oral and written), both individually and in groups
- Demonstrated ability to document designs in site architecture, workflow and wireframe formats
- Must have working knowledge of Microsoft applications
- Demonstrated experience with HTML and diagramming tools such as Visio
- Demonstrated commitment to user advocacy
- Able to work individually or in a team
- Must be self-disciplined, flexible and innovative
Interested? Apply online.
CED Tech conference and Game Night Reception 10/11
October 11, 2007 — Jackson FoxCED’s annual tech conference is this Friday:
CED’s Tech 2007 will explore the future of emerging and converging technologies that are reshaping today’s hottest industries. Now in its 17th year, Tech 2007 will focus on the latest cutting-edge markets and global opportunities in clean technologies, medical devices, new materials, nanotechnology and more, as well as telecom, internet, software and hardware.
Also, regional gaming companies will be demonstrating their most recent wares at the Game Night reception, 5 – 7pm.
Job: User Experience Designer
October 10, 2007 — Abe CrystalOccupational Summary:
As an User Experience Designer for hesketh.com, you will be
responsible for developing user-centered workflows, information
architectures, user interfaces, and information designs, balancing
usability and cultural factors with strategic goals and objectives.
Details:
http://hesketh.com/about/careers/user_experience_designer.html
About hesketh.com
hesketh.com offers a unique work environment. At hesketh.com, one
thing we all have in common is passion about what we do. We further
distinguish ourselves from the competition with our customer-centric
approach an unrelenting determination to be responsive and exceed
expectations. We work in an environment of cooperation, respect, and
trust. Of course, as CEO, it’s my job to say nice things, but don’t
just take it from me. Come and talk to our team 🙂
Send resumes and salary history to…
hesketh.com/inc.
ATTN: Personnel
5400 Glenwood Avenue
Suite G11
Raleigh, NC 27612
fax: 919.834.2554
email: careers@hesketh.com
Job: User experience Designer
October 8, 2007 — Abe CrystalTemporary contractor: User Experience/Information Architecture
Capstrat is a mid-sized strategic communications firm based in Raleigh, NC. Capstrat’s service areas include media relations, interactive (Web), design, dynamic media, public relations, government relations, public affairs, and marketing communications
Capstrat Interactive engages with clients on a variety of interactive projects including:
• Micro site development
• Podcasting
• New internet/intranet site design
• Internet/intranet site redesign
• Online viral/engagement marketing
• Online dynamic media
• Custom CMS (content management system) development
• Content strategy and development
• Online communities
• Blog strategy/development
• Usability testing
Capstrat is seeking a candidate to perform user experience (UX) and information architecture (IA) duties. This will be a three month contract position with possibility of extensions and/or full-time/permanent position.
User Experience Designers at Capstrat are expected to:
- Conduct requirements gathering sessions with business owners and project stakeholders.
- Translate business requirements into information architecture, user interface and interaction design for successful user experiences.
- Develop user research plans and conduct research using a variety of tactics including: focus groups, 1:1 and group interviews, and surveys.
- Analyze, document and present user research results.
- Collaborate with developers to ensure proposed designs are technically feasible.
- Complete site map diagrams, content inventories and audits.
- Design and create wireframes using MS Visio templates.
- Develop usability test plans, conduct test recruitment, and analyze results and test reports.
- Assisting in the documentation and completion of functional specification documents.
Candidates should have the following skills and abilities:
- Demonstrated knowledge of user experience design and usability research methods.
- Familiarity with MS Visio
- Experience with Web technology and familiarity with current design and development Web trends
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Interest in Web design process and working in a creative environment
- Ability to use MS Office products, including Excel
If interested, please email your resume to careers@capstrat.com .
Reinventing Web Services: An Interview with Heather Hesketh
October 5, 2007 — Abe CrystalTriUPA sponsor Heather Hesketh (hesketh.com) is interviewed in the latest Carolina STC newsletter. Here’s an excerpt:
How did you get started in the user experience business?
In 1995, businesses were asking “Web what?” and I was trying to change my career from technical writing to applied anthropology. So, it was user experience that brought me to the Web. From the beginning what excited me about the Web was its potential to transform business and communication. To be effective online requires balancing business goals, user needs, and technical feasibility. User experience brings to bear methodologies from applied anthropology, computer science/human factors, and marketing to strike this balance. It took ten years to evangelize this approach such that business would embrace it. For our part, we advocate the use of user centered design methodologies not through the message of “it’s the right thing to do” but through metrics and results.
Read the full interview at the STC’s site.
Job: Java Developer
October 4, 2007 — Abe CrystalFrom TriUPA member Boyce Byerly:
Our company has recently come up with the funding to hire a new developer. I wanted to go through the grape vine to see who’s out there before using the regular mechanisms. Anybody available or know something you’d recommend? Contact Boyce Byerly, bbyerly@procourse.com.
Our company, Capital Analytics, is a very small company that specializes in business analytics. Basically, we have a product that imports large amounts of corporate data from spreadsheets and possibly other sources, does some fairly complex statistics on it, and then produces an executive-friendly report that provides answers in basic financial terms. The sort of questions it might answer are: “Did my training program pay for itself? Can you give me a demographic description of who benefitted the most? Which of my marketing programs should be combined together or given separately?” Currently, we have a version of the software, which we use in-house to service clients. A second version, with much more functionality, that will be licensed to clients, was begun but not finished. We now want to finish that second version. The product is a Java Swing Applet that retrieves data from Excel Files and stores in in XML files. You will need to be proactive in helping work out the architecture and tools used to finish the project.
Immediate opening for senior Java Developer. Must be familiar with SWING, mechanisms for parsing and generating XML/XSLT, and JDBC connectors. Pluses include expertise with CVS; Eclipse IDE; a fair ability for mathematics, especially statistics; the ability to write and communicate clearly; web site design and web server maintenance; and both Linux and Windows. This is a small organization and the ability to flexibly pick up new technologies and be useful in a number of different ways is highly prized. Database Administration abilities, or knowledge of Arabic language cultures would be big plusses.
Thorough background in Object-Oriented design expected. Independent contractors may apply. Job offers flexibility and challenge for the right person, ability to choose your tools, a real office, and stock options in growing company.
Communicating Designs Through Comics
October 2, 2007 — Jackson FoxRebekah Sedaca from Capstrat led a great discussion on using comics to communicate design at our last TriUPA local lunch. You can read about Rebekah’s experience in her Boxes & Arrows article, “Comics: Not just for laughs!” If you’re interested in trying to use comics in your work, Rebekah shared a list of useful resources you can check out:
Triangle User Experience 