David Malouf, one of the co-founders of IxDA, is presenting “Sketching for Interaction Design” for TriUPA.
Want to meet Dave and talk interaction design before the workshop? Join Dave and other TriUPAians for drinks…
7:30pm
Tuesday 6/23/09
Carolina Inn bar
http://www.carolinainn.com/chapel-hill-trip-planner.php
Hope you can join us!
If you are attending the 2009 Usability Professionals Conference in Portland be sure to visit the UPA Networking Event on Wednesday, June 10 to meet up with other Triangle area Chapter members! The networking event will also showcase UPA projects, SIGS, and other Chapters. If you’d like to connect with other TriUPA members prior to the conference, comment here on our blog, or contact Kim Chang at kim.chang at bcbsnc.com.
The TriUPA community needs you!
Do you have ideas for articles that you would like to see on the TriUPA website?
Are you passionate about a particular user experience related subject?
Do you have expertise or a success story that you would like to share?
If you are interested in writing for our site, please contact Kimberly Chang at kim.chang at bcbsnc.com.
Finally, job seekers get a break. Carrboro Creative Coworking, a professional workspace in downtown Carrboro, will throw open its doors in May to anyone currently searching for work.
Eager to help those who have lost jobs in the recent economic downturn, owner Brian Russell is offering free coffee, free Wi-Fi and a desk in a collaborative shared space on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the month of May.
“Our community atmosphere helps people network, which is crucial to those who are unemployed,” Russell said. “Good jobs are found through the connections people give you, through tips and personal references. Carrboro Coworking is designed to foster that kind of networking, and I wanted to share our part-time coworker service with those who need it most right now.”
A part-time coworker can use a desk in a large, shared room during Carrboro Coworking’s normal business hours. Amenities include a kitchen, complimentary coffee, free parking and high-speed Internet access. The office is on Lloyd Street, within easy walking distance of Carrboro’s shops and restaurants.
When job searchers began stopping by and asking about access to the space, Russell told them they could have the first day free, something he offers to all new coworkers. But he wanted to do more. A coworker suggested the free month, and Russell immediately took up the idea.
“North Carolina has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country,” he said. “Chapel Hill and Carrboro are traditionally considered more insulated, but they’re not as insulated as we thought. And the tech sector, which is usually considered stable, is being hit as well. I wanted to step up and do what I can.”
Carrboro Coworking welcomes entrepreneurs, telecommuters and freelance professionals in many fields, but some of its services are tailored to those who work in information technology. The space hosts Meetups on IT topics like Ruby on Rails, Erlang, Python, Rich Internet Applications and iPhone/Cocoa development.
Brown bag lunches with guest speakers, after-hours Wii games and other special events bring coworkers together and let them blow off stress. Resume coaches and free events with small business advisors will be conducted too. All events with day and time information will be posted at http://carrborocoworking.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b7219e188e737e12b84ef39d&id=82a909efc2&e=53931c7306.
“Having fun and staying focused while you hunt for a new job is key,” Russell said. “I want people to have a friendly place to go while they search for new work or maybe start up a new business. I want to help people be productive in this economy.”
Carrboro Creative Coworking is a professional shared workspace with a community atmosphere. It is located at 205 Lloyd Street, Suite 101, Carrboro NC 27510.
For more information, contact Brian Russell at brian@carrborocoworking.com or (919) 442-5301 or visit www.carrborocoworking.com.
TriUPA’s 2008 World Usability Day design challenge!
Oct 22nd: Registration deadline
Volunteers from the TriUPA community register to participate in the design challenge. At this point all that is required is a commitment to participate, you don’t need a team or a specific idea.
Oct 25th: Design Challenge Kickoff (at Viget Labs in Durham)
Teams will be asked to present their designs at an evening event on November 13th, hosted by GSK in RTP. Prizes will be awarded for innovation, practicality, environmental impact, and creativity.
Come work at a great, stable company where:
- The development organization understands and supports user centered design
- User centered design happens on our products, our web site, *and* the internal tools our employees use to do their jobs
- You can be part of a dynamic team of other usability specialists.
- The company is profitable, growing, fun, and committed to changing the world with our products
So what will you do?
You will be responsible for providing user centered design activities related to several MathWorks product areas. You will work with teams to understand the user centered design needs of their projects and then develop creative solutions for meeting these needs.
You will make recommendations to team members about what usability methods to use to answer their questions about users and design directions for their projects. You will work closely with the team members to help them develop user profiles and create task lists. You will help them create paper prototypes, and review online prototypes developed by others. If your skills lie in visual and interaction design, you’ll take on design projects for your teams.
You will run usability tests, conduct interviews, organize surveys, and complete any other usability assessments you think are appropriate. You will help the developers’ record and interpret the results, and you will be responsible for making sure that the project team understands what users’ feedback means. You will help the team decide what to do about feedback, and will provide input for design decisions based on that feedback. You will participate in documenting requirements and functional design specifications.
Qualifications:
- BA or MA in cognitive psychology, human factors, or related field, or equivalent experience
- 4-8 years as a usability engineer in software development, with direct experience with a variety of usability methods
- Knowledge of MathWorks products or Perforce a plus
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
- Ability to balance needs of a large number of concurrent projects.
All positions are located in Natick, Massachusetts.
For more information or to submit your resume, please contact Amy Kidd, Manager of MathWorks Products Usability at akidd@mathworks.com
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About The MathWorks:
Join us in accelerating the pace of discovery, innovation, and learning in engineering and science. At the MathWorks, we cultivate an enjoyable, participatory, and rational environment that nurtures individual growth, appreciates diversity, encourages initiative, values teamwork, shares success, and rewards excellence.
The MathWorks, creator of MATLAB® and Simulink®, was founded in 1984 and currently employs more than 1,800 people worldwide. The company has been profitable every year since its inception and is privately held.
Come join us!
I am looking for two small software applications or modules to use in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses. Students will write documentation and online help for the applications and then test them. Of course, I can always look around for freeware or shareware utilities that have minimal or no documentation, but I would prefer to find “real world” applications where students’ docs, help, and tests could actually prove valuable to someone. These assignment will occur in October or November. If you have a small piece of code for which you would like user documentation and some testing, please let me know.
Thanks,
Stan Dicks stan_dicks@ncsu.edu
A new year ushers in a new crop of TriUPA officers:
• Abe Crystal, SILS, President
• Jackson Fox, Lulu, VP of Programs
• Peter Warren, Insight PD, VP of Membership
• Mir Haynes, Anabo Studios, VP of Communications
• Noel Fiser, Motricity, Secretary/Treasurer
We’re eager to hear your ideas for improving TriUPA. Do you have thoughts on events we should be offering, what we should be doing online, or how we can better serve our members generally? Please comment on this post or get in touch with one of the officers.
I gave a talk at the recent IA Summit in Vancouver entitled “Facets are fundamental: rethinking information architecture frameworks.”
My talk notes and slides are now available for anyone interested.
Update: A review of my talk has been posted at Boxes and Arrows.
-Abe
Entrepreneurs Only Workshop: How to Build a Product People Will Buy
Have lunch with Barry Beith of HumanCentric Technologies and Shimon Shmueli of Touch360, the founders of two design firms that are based in the Research Triangle. They’ll share their perspectives on building products that sell and how entrepreneurs with a limited budget can utilize good design techniques without spending a fortune.
