TriUPA recently welcomed David Malouf, professor of interaction design at SCAD, for a full-day workshop on sketching for interaction design.

TriUPA member Leslie Carter was kind enough to provide some notes, ideas, and links to resources from the workshop.  Thanks, Leslie!  (You can also download a Microsoft Word copy of the notes: Notes from Sketching Seminar with Dave Malouf – June 2009).

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!

Know the difference between HCI and Hi-C? Do you make user interfaces in your Alpha-bits? Can you recite all the HTML4 tags? In reverse order?  Want to get to know other UX Professionals and win prizes?

Come out and join us for the first ever TriUPA UX Trivia Night. You’ll be able to show off your UX knowledge while answering user friendly trivia questions in a quest for fame and prizes.

• Chance to win free admission to a TriUPA workshop of your choice
• UX Books straight from our library
• Bragging rights, bragging rights, bragging rights!

Do you conduct searches that span across multiple days or weeks?

If so, we want to talk to you!

We are conducting a research study to learn about how people conduct searches for information on the Web that take place across multiple days or weeks and that involve collaborating with other people.

We are looking for people in three groups:

* UNC academic researchers (faculty, post-doc,
Ph.D. candidate – post proposal, research scientist)

* Corporate workers who have a business role that involves
searching for and sharing information

* UNC faculty and staff who have conducted on-going searches
for medical information for themselves or a family member

In order to qualify for the study, you must meet the following criteria:

* Be at least 18 years old
* Speak English fluently
* Be in one of the three groups listed above
* Have conducted on-going searches for information on a topic
across multiple days or weeks and shared the results of these
searches with collaborators (or with family members for
the medical information group)

The study consists of a questionnaire and an interview that will take about one hour.

For participating in the study, you will receive a $20 Visa gift card.

If you qualify and are interested in being in this study, please email:

uncwebstudy@gmail.com

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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.

Rho Software Development has established an unpaid internship for Summer 2009 for a college student whose program area of specialty focuses on user interfaces and usability designs of software applications.  We want to add usability design to the front end of our software development lifecycle at the point we gather requirements and develop the functional specifications for our software applications.  We are interested in leveraging a college student who had been studying these techniques in their degree program.  We would like for the research and techniques that are trialed during this internship to be well documented included training materials so we can utilize the processes/tools demonstrated once the internship is complete.  It is important at the end of the internship that the student can describe how their work has impacted designs, requirements documentation, and programmer behaviors.

Background skills preferred:

• Psychology training
• Experience with web design and page layout
• Familiar with the terms “human factors”  and “heuristics”
• Experience setting up and/or running usability studies
• Currently enrolled in a relevant Bachelor’s degree program (Usability design, etc)

Qualified applicants should submit a resume with cover letter to Careers@rhoworld.com.  No phone calls, please.

Rho, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the annual IA Summit conference, and we were lucky enough to have six local colleagues (including myself) make it out to Memphis, TN for the event. In an effort to bring the Summit back to the community, we held a recap event last Thursday. We shared our favorite presentations, and some of the larger themes we noticed throughout the event.

A huge thanks to everyone who came out, and, as promised, here are the presentations we talked about:

Amanda McGuire (BCBSNC)

• “ROI: Speaking the Language of Business,” Eric Reiss
• “Using Enterprise IA to Support Business Strategy,” Gary Carlson & Samantha Starmer
• “When Appeasement is Not Enough — Or, How to Work Within ‘Government Time’,” Naomi Norman
• “Strategies for Enabling UX to Play a More Strategic Role,” Richard Anderson & Craig Peters
• “Turning HiPPOs into Allies: How to Connect With Powerful People in Your Organization,” Samantha Starmer

Download Amanda’s Slides (PPT)

Javier Velasco (UNC SILS)

• “Experience Themes: An Element of Story Applied to Design,” Cindy Chastain
• “Evangelizing Yourself,” Whitney Hess

Anita Crescenzi (UNC Health Sciences Library)

• Dr. Michael Wesch’s Keynote
• “Revealing Design Treasures from the Amazon,” Jared Spool

Download Anita’s Slides (PPTX)

Jonell Gades (Fidelity)

• “Lessons from Slime Mold: How to Survive and Thrive in Ever-Changing Organizational Environments,” Kate Rutter
• “Motivating Teams: Motivating Teams: Inspiring People to Do Great Work,” Dorelle Rabinowitz
• “Beyond Findability: Reframing IA Practice & Strategy for Turbulent Times,” Andrew Hinton, Livia Labate, Matt Milan & Joe Lamantia

Download Jonell’s Slides (PPT)

Jackson Fox (Viget Labs)

• “Is Interaction Necessary?,” Karl Fast
• “Digital Space & the Context Problem,” Andrew Hinton

Download Jackson’s Slides (PPTX)

Other Resources

In addition to our slides and the presentations linked above, you can see many more presentations on Slideshare, and listen to podcasts of the sessions on Boxes & Arrows.

• IA Summit 2009 presentations on Slideshare
• IA Summit 2009 podcasts at Boxes & Arrows

Insight is looking for a talented interface designer to help make compelling experiences and elegant products. Ideal candidates for this position will apply critical and creative thinking, communication-oriented design, and technological savvy to make products and services pleasurable and easy to understand. In this position, you will contribute to all aspects of interface design including assessing user needs, structuring interactions, and designing user touch-points and visual interfaces. Specific responsibilities include:

• Analyze and model user needs, tasks, and environments of use
• Develop user experience concepts from sketches to mockups to detailed design
• Design all aspects of visual interface appearance and behavior including layouts, icons, typography, color palettes, transitions/animations, and interface elements
• Create mockups and interactive prototypes for concept validation and testing
• Produce comprehensive specifications, templates, and storyboards that detail design solutions and rationale
• Work with product groups, users, designers, and engineering teams to design and define workflows and interactions
• Participate in product brainstorming sessions from conceptualization to completion
• Research competitive solutions and alternative designs
• Participate and assist with user testing and interpret new ideas and user needs

Qualified candidates must have:

• +2 years of experience in interface/interaction design
• Superb problem solving and information design skills
• Thorough understanding of usability and interaction design principles
• Exceptional visual design talent applicable to a wide range of contexts
• Mastery of design tools including Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Flash
• Proven ability to convey concepts effectively through sketches and mockups, as well as through verbal and written communication

Please contact at Ross Teague at rteague@insightpd.com