Senior User Experience Researchers and Designers at The MathWorks (multiple positions)

Posted January 18, 2008 by Carl Turner
Categories: Jobs

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 a plus or Web 2.0 technologies 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 Mary Beth Rettger, Director of Usability, mrettger@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!

Job: Usability Analyst

Posted January 16, 2008 by Carl Turner
Categories: Jobs

SAS is offering an entry-level opportunity for a Usability Analyst in Cary, NC.

As a member of the Solutions & Analytics Usability team, this person will design, prototype, and document SAS product user interfaces. The duties of this position will include producing wire frame UI concepts and detailed UI design specifications; supporting usability evaluations; ensuring user interface consistency within a multi-application suite; creating and maintaining usability standards; evaluating new technology, and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Essential
* Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Industrial Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, or related field.
* User interface design experience.

Additional
* Knowledge of design aesthetics and specifications.
* Good user-centered design knowledge and skills.
* Ability to translate user needs into functional requirements and use cases.
* Communication and presentation skills necessary to present, explain, negotiate, and monitor design solutions.
* Ability to produce UI prototypes of various fidelities with different prototyping tools.
* Ability to work effectively with system architects, GUI developers, and product managers.
* Ability to work on multiple projects and assignments.

Preferences
* Advanced degree in Computer Science, Industrial Design, Human-Computer Interaction,  Cognitive Psychology, or related field.
* User interface design experience on web applications.
* Experience designing web applications using Web 2.0 interaction techniques and technology.
* Experience applying 508 accessibility standards to web applications.

Additional Information

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status.

The level of this position will be determined based on the applicant’s education, skills and experience.

Resumes may be considered in the order they are received.

Applications should be submitted online; use job # 08001099.

Job: User Experience Designer

Posted January 10, 2008 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Jobs

Tags:

User Experience Designer with industry leader!
$60-95K + great benefits package

Our client is seeking a User Experience Designer to provide interaction and interface design for software and systems used by wireless customers.  The User Experience Designer will work with carrier customers, product managers, client services and engineering to understand and address requirements and expectations.

 Responsibilities:

  • Works closely with business managers to design and architect user experiences for consumer wireless device-based and web-based portals
  • Collaborates with business stakeholders to develop and analyze software requirements to design an effective user experience
  • Designs and creates user experience architecture diagrams (site maps, task flows) and wireframes
  • Writes user interface specifications, detailing interaction design functionality
  • Collaborates with visual designers and production engineers to ensure integrity of experience throughout design phases
  • Works with product development and quality assurance to support implementation
  • Assists in user research and usability testing of user interfaces
  • Contributes ideas for improving processes and deliverables

Qualifications:

Essential:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline

Experience: 3-4 years of professional GUI and interaction design experience in an e-commerce or software development environment; experience designing for a wide range of interfaces.

Knowledge: Strong knowledge of Microsoft Visio

Skills:

  • Ability to think creatively
  • Strong interaction design skills
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Ability to evaluate customer needs and interpret software requirements to design effective solutions
  • Exceptional critical-thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment

Desired:  

  • Prior experience using Jesse James Garrett’s visual vocabulary
  • Familiarity with the software development lifecycle
  • Proficiency in standards-compliant XHTML and CSS
  • Prior usability testing experience

If you are interested please send a Word copy of your resume to Lisa@selectgroup-rtp.com.

Tools of the Trade Presentations

Posted January 7, 2008 by Jackson Fox
Categories: Events, UXnet

Tags: , , , ,

At our final event of 2007, Janey Barnes and I (Jackson Fox) presented on “Tools of the Trade:”

Our presentations are now available online:

Morae

UserVue & Ethnio

Job: User Interface Engineer

Posted January 4, 2008 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Jobs

Tags:

User Interface Engineer

Position Description
Human factors and usability specialist responsible for applying user-centered design principles toward the creation and validation of user interfaces for Lenovo personal computing products and services.  Conducts task analyses, requirements gathering, competitive assessments, interactive design evaluations, and benchmarking studies with representative users in formal and informal settings using a broad variety of methodologies.  Defines user scenarios based upon collected requirements.  Writes detailed user interface specifications and creates prototypes for demonstration and evaluation purposes.  Works with representatives from product development, marketing, support, technology, and strategy worldwide to implement and track usability objectives appropriate to the defined user audiences.  Assumes additional responsibilities as assigned.

Position Requirements
Bachelors degree in related field. Masters degree preferred.

3 to 5 years directly related UI experience.

Experience with usability test methods.

Extensive experience with Visio, Captivate or related software system required. Some programming experience preferred.

Apply online.

EOE/AAP

Job: Usability Analyst

Posted December 17, 2007 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Jobs

Description:

As a member of the Solutions & Analytics Usability team, this person will design, prototype, and document SAS product user interfaces. Duties will include producing wire frame UI concepts and detailed UI design specifications; supporting usability evaluations; creating and maintaining usability standards; and other duties as assigned.

 

Qualifications:

 
Essential:

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Industrial Design, Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, or related field with;

5 years of user interface design experience.

 
Additional:

Excellent user-centered design knowledge and skills.

Ability to translate user needs into functional requirements and use cases.

Communication and presentation skills necessary to present, explain, negotiate, and monitor design solutions.

Ability to produce UI prototypes of various fidelities with different prototyping tools.

Ability to work effectively system architects, UI developers, and product managers.

Ability to work on multiple projects and assignments.

 

Preferences:

Masters degree in Industrial Engineering, Industrial Design, Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, or related field.

Experience applying 508 accessibility standards to web applications.

 

Additional Information:

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status.

 
The level of this position will be determined based on the applicant’s education, skills and experience.

Resumes may be considered in the order they are received.

Job: Software R&D

Primary Location: US-NC-Cary

Organization: SAS Institute Inc.

Classification: Full-time

How to apply:  Applications accepted online only.  All other forms of application may not be considered.  Please refer to job# 07003016 when applying online.

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Job: Usability Engineer

Posted November 26, 2007 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Jobs

Seeking:
iContact is a four-year old venture-backed 70 person company based in Durham, NC, that provides on-demand software that makes online communication easy. The iContact product is the leading email marketing and online communications platform used by over 15,000 companies worldwide ranging from small businesses to blue chip clients like International Paper, Ford, Bank of America, Super 8 Motel, Symantec, Re/Max, United Colors of Benetton, Nissan, and LG Electronics.

The company is seeking a Usability Engineer with 3-5 years of experience working on web-based applications.   The ideal candidate will possess the following: experience managing the usability aspects of development projects; strong interpersonal and negotiating skills; user interface design skills; proficiency in statistics, data analysis and survey design; experience with all (or most) parts of the usability engineering lifecycle; ability to make strategic and tactical design recommendations based on results from usability tests, customer surveys, etc; an advanced degree in Human Factors, Cognitive Science or a related discipline.

Additional desired skills include (X)HTML; knowledge of Agile development techniques; exposure to design and prototyping tools such as Photoshop; love for mentoring others in usability best practices; familiarity with Section 508 accessibility requirements.

Responsibilities include:
· Coordinating ongoing user testing & assessment for existing and new features
· Performing usability analysis on prototypes (high-fidelity and low-fidelity) and implemented features
· Participating in the iterative design process of new features
· Conducting heuristic analyses where appropriate
· Suggesting and evangelizing usability improvements to existing features
· Working closely with user interface designers to author UI pattern documents that guide the design and development of all interfaces
· Creating user profiles and personas
· Leading all user research, including user interviews, contextual inquiries, field studies, and surveys
· Identifying, prioritizing, and tracking usability issues and making design recommendations

Salary/Benefits
Salary commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits are provided including health care coverage, a 401(k) plan, a Flexible Spending Account, free sodas, foosball, ping pong, company activities, an entrepreneurial and creative environment, and being part of a rockstar team that acts like a family.

For More Information:
If you are interested and/or would like more information, please send resume with cover letter to Sharon Cox @ scox@icontact.com

If we determine you to be a qualified candidate we may send a questionnaire or contact you to schedule either an in-person interview or teleconference interview. Additional information on the company and software can be found at www.icontact.com.

Contact Information
Company: iContact
Contact: Sharon Cox
Email: scox@icontact.com

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World Usability Day 2007 Opens on November 8 With Live Webcast Plenary Session

Posted November 5, 2007 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Events, World Usability Day

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Live Webcast Plenary Session — Download Required in Advance

Our opening plenary session, which will be webcast live on November 8th at 8:30 am United States Eastern Standard Time, will feature an address from World Usability Day’s founder and director, Elizabeth Rosenzweig, and a panel discussion with distinguished speakers supporting the 2007 theme - Healthcare!

The panel discussion focuses on novel strategies and integrating solutions to healthcare challenges from a user centered design perspective. Challenges range from drug delivery, technologies, and medical devices, to pediatric healthcare and personal healthcare records. The panelists use these examples to show how the application of user centered design principles benefit vital issues in human health and how this will continue throughout the upcoming year and beyond.

Job: Design Researcher

Posted November 3, 2007 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Jobs

Insight is looking for a talented and innovative design researcher to work in our Raleigh, North Carolina office. Insight is a world-class product strategy and design firm with offices in Boston, Chicago, Raleigh, and Shanghai. Our teams work on a variety of exciting consumer, medical, and industrial projects and our researchers push past the limits of traditional consumer and product design research methods to provide our clients with knowledge, opportunities, and direction that lead to meaningful product and service experiences. Our researchers are part of a multi-disciplinary team involved in the design process from defining the strategic direction through full development, representing the voice of the end consumer.

Responsibilities:

  • Participate in research programs to investigate user workflow, goals, tasks, and desired experiences
  • Participate in and lead research programs to explore consumer needs, emotive responses, expectations, and beliefs
  • Develop and apply innovative ways of collecting and analyzing data to uncover and describe new product opportunities, categories, features, and innovations
  • Contribute to product definition and strategy by utilizing and integrating multiple sources of information and working closely with product strategists, designers, engineers, model makers, and interaction designers
  • Work with consumers and designers to evaluate concepts and existing products on the market for improvement opportunities
  • Work interactively with clients to understand their needs for research and to collect their domain and product knowledge
  • Support interface and interaction design projects with design, review, and evaluation

Requirements:

  • Minimum 2+ years of professional experience in research, product development, or related fields
  • Experience with contextual research methods, interviewing, survey development, observational research, usability testing, heuristic analyses, and other qualitative and quantitative methods for collecting consumer needs and understanding experiences and environments
  • Background in business, marketing, product strategy, anthropology, sociology, human factors, psychology, cognitive science, or ergonomics is beneficial
  • Excellent analytical, writing, and presentation abilities
  • Strong, collaborative interpersonal work style
  • Ability to plan and schedule quantitative and qualitative research studies in an organized and detailed manner while being adaptable to changes in schedule and scope
  • Experience with both generative and evaluative research methods
  • Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and familiarity with drawing or layout programs such as Adobe Illustrator / InDesign; familiarity with video processing and editing software like Adobe Premiere a plus
  • Experience and skills in user interface/interaction design a plus, but not required
  • Familiarity with database and other data manipulation programs; capacity to plan and conduct statistical studies a plus
  • Ability and willingness for travel domestically and internationally
  • Self-motivated, creative, and a desire to improve your skills and abilities

Send your résumé and work samples to:
hr346@insightpd.com

Please put “RES 1007″ as the subject of your email.

2007 National UPA Salary Survey

Posted November 2, 2007 by Abe Crystal
Categories: Surveys

The UPA 2007 Salary Survey will close on November 15. If you haven’t completed
it, now’s your chance!

Every two years the UPA surveys user experience professionals to attain in-depth data about the development of the user experience field. The survey is anonymous and open to all user experience professionals, not just UPA members. A version of the report is freely
available to all, and will be ready in approximately three months.

Please help us by taking the survey.

You can also read the 2005 salary survey report Acrobat PDF file.