Sr. Usability Specialist, Contractor, Charlotte, NC

Senior Usability Specialist Contractor
Wells Fargo
Charlotte, NC

Wells Fargo has an immediate opening to fill a 6-month Senior Usability Specialist contract in our Charlotte, NC office. There is a possibility of extending the contract up to 18 months if there is a business need.

The Senior Usability Specialist is responsible for designing and conducting 1×1 usability studies of web-based experiences. This individual will collaborate with interaction designers, business owners, developers, and graphic designers to establish the research plan and outline requirements for the test material. The researcher responsibilities include: devise screeners, manage recruiting, design study, facilitate testing, collect and analyze data, report results, make recommendations, and to effectively communicate findings to a broad audience of stakeholders.

The researcher will be part of the User Research team within the Internet Services group, and will collaborate with other senior researchers in the Charlotte and San Francisco offices (collaboration with SF is virtual). The primary focus of the research work for this position is related to the merger between Wachovia and Wells Fargo. The nature of these projects is fast-paced and complex – it requires researchers who are flexible, collaborative, with excellent problem solving skills and ability to prioritize research findings for business decision-making.

Requirements:

* 5 or more years focused experience in usability testing of web interfaces
* Excellent written and oral communication skills
* Outstanding analytical skills
* Detail orientation
* Quick learner
* Self-directed
* Demonstrated success in conducting research and testing with a wide variety of end users
* Demonstrated experience with a variety of research and testing techniques, including think-aloud, 1-on-1 interviews, card sorts, and on- site observation.
* Position is on-site in the Charlotte office during regular business hours (generally Mon – Fri, 8:30am – 5:30pm)
* Preferred Skills/Experience: Financial services experience

To Apply:

Please send resume to Caroline Beacham at caroline.beacham@wachovia.com

Job: Free Lance Researchers, Charlotte, NC

Wells Fargo in Charlotte is looking for free-lance user researchers who would work with us on a per-project basis from time to time when we have overflow.  This would be an ongoing opportuntiy.  This is 100% research, 1×1 usability testing. Please contact caroline.beacham at wachovia.com.

Free Flex, Air and Coldfusion Conference

The Triangle Area ColdFusion Users Group (TACFUG) is planning a conference called CFinNC for October 17-18, 2009 on Centennial Campus at NC State University. The topics will be ColdFusion, Flex/Flash, AIR and miscellaneous other topics. The presenters will range from triangle speakers along with presenters from all over the US. Registration for this conference is FREE for attendees.

If you are interested in learning more about Flex or other Adobe technologies such as AIR and Coldfusion this is a great opportunity to receive FREE training. For more information or to register please visit: http://cfinnc.com/

STC Carolina Competitions

STC competitions offer an excellent way for you and your team to get recognition for your technical publication, help system, artwork, training, or any other form of technical communication. Each year, the STC Carolina Chapter generally sponsors the following competitions:

• Online Communication Competition: This page describes the categories in which you can submit an online communication entry.
• Technical Publications Competition: This page describes the categories in which you can submit a technical publications entry.
• Technical Art Competition: This page describes the categories in which you can submit an art entry.

The Call for Entries has been distributed. Start working on those Competition Forms for items you or your colleagues want enter! Remember, you do not have to be an STC member to enter (but members save money on the entry fee, and even more by submitting entries by the Early Bird date.

• Entries are due by October 9.
• Early Bird rate ends September 18.

If you’re shy about submitting your work, sign up as a judge. Assessing the work of other technical communicators invariably gives you insight into your own work. Judge Training day is a great networking opportunity too. You don’t need to be a member to judge, so recruit those non-members in your office. Judge training is October 17. This year, the door prizes include four signed copies of “The Well Fed Writer” by Peter Bowerman.

Contact: Betsy Kent <lizkent@nc.rr.com> for more information.

TriUPA workshop — Escape the Lab: Remote User Research and Usability Testing — October 1st, 2009

What: Escape the Lab: Conducting Remote User Research and Usability Testing

When: full-day workshop: 9a – 5p | Thursday 10/1/09 | coffee & lunch included

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development in RTP

How: Capacity is limited — Register online now to reserve your spot!

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Intended audience

Researchers, designers, and product managers who want to watch real people use technology from the comfort of their own desks. (While saving travel costs and the planet!).

About the workshop

Nate Bolt, one of the pioneers of remote UX research — and author of the forthcoming book, Remote Research — will lead this hands-on workshop covering the latest remote UX techniques and tools.

Give us a day and we can teach you all the rocket surgery you need to conduct qualitative studies the real-time, native environment way.

Learning Objectives

What we’ll cover…

• Strengths and weaknesses of remote ux research
• Study design & scripting
• Participant recruiting options
• Moderating in the remote environment
• Tools for screen sharing, recording, and communication
• What can go wrong and what to do about it
  

About the speaker

Nate Bolt, president of Bolt|Peters, is fascinated by the personal, social, and cultural role of technology, and how research and design can transform those roles. After pioneering and directing the User Experience department at Clear Ink in 1999, which included the construction of Natural Environment and Remote Observation laboratories, Nate co-founded Bolt | Peters. He now serves as el presidente, where he has overseen hundreds of user research studies for Sony, Oracle, HP, Greenpeace, Electronic Arts, and others. Beginning in 2003, he led the creation of the first moderated remote user research software, Ethnio, which is being used around the world to recruit hundreds of thousands of live participants for research.

Nate regularly gives presentations on native environment research methods in both commercial and academic settings, and is currently co-authoring Remote Research, a book on remote testing. Working with faculty at the University of California, San Diego, he created a degree titled “Digital Technology and Society,” which focused on the social impact of technology. He also completed a year of communications studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he was jailed briefly for playing drums in public without a license.

Join the World Usability Day Design Challenge!

Would you like improve the sustainability of our world?

 Are you passionate about user centered design, graphic design, industrial/product design, engineering, human factors and/or psychology?

 If so, then you should participate in our TriUPA World Usability Day design competition!

 Participants will tackle a design issue where user centered design and usability is central to the success of a solution that drives sustainability.

 Sounds great! What do I need to do?

 1) Sign up to participate by September 23, 2009. 

 2) Attend an Information Session.

 You don’t have to attend this session to participate in the challenge, but if you have questions or would like more information, please join us on September 17th (Thursday) at 6pm at Capstrat (1201 Edwards Mill Road, First Floor Raleigh, NC 27607).   

 3) Pick a topic from our list of suggestions, or create your own! 

 4) Present your design ideas, findings and solutions.  

 Participants are invited to share their solutions during our World Usability Day event to be held November 12th from 6:00 – 9:00PM, at the SAS Auditorium. Presentations need not be formal and can be a poster, informal oral presentation or PowerPoint format. All participants should plan a presentation around 7 – 10 minutes.

 For more information or questions about this year’s event contact:

Rebekah Sedaca,  rebatilley@yahoo.com

Laura Blanchard, laura.blanchard@mac.com

Job: Interactive/UX/Visual Designer

Do you write standards-compliant code?
Dream about CSS positioning techniques?
Post to Zeldman’s wall, just ’cause you can?

Web Designers with a passion for user experience design needed for on and offsite freelance work for a large technology firm in RTP. Position starting late September. 20-40 hours per week.

Must have:
Valid (x)HTML code
Tableless CSS sites
User centered design techniques

Contact:
Heather Wrenn, AQUENT
(919) 806-4371