Experience Designers--

Adaptive Path has a set of events coming up of interest to this
community. On March 31st, the price for each of them goes up.

MX San Francisco - April 20-22, now $1,495 & $395 (pre-conference
workshop). After March 31st, $1,595 & $495. (You also get a free iPod
Shuffle when you register for MX by March 31st)

A remarkable mix of inspiration and information for creative leaders
in experience design. Keynotes by Chip Heath (author, _Made to Stick_)
and Chip Conley (CEO, Joie de Vivre Hospitality), and speakers from
IDEO, Wells Fargo, Virgin, Google, and more.
http://www.adaptivepath.com/events/2008/apr/


UX Intensive Minneapolis - June 16-19, now $1,595. After March 31st,
$1,795

This is our 4 day hands-on activity-based workshop on the essential of
user experience design - Design Strategy, Design Research, Information
Architecture, and Interaction Design. This class has been road-tested
for a year now, and it's remarkably useful.
http://www.adaptivepath.com/events/2008/jun/


UX Week 2008 - August 12-15, now $1,895. After March 31st, $2,095

This is the flagship event for user experience professionals. A mix of
main-stage presentations and 3-hour workshops strike a balance between
inspirational ideas and skills-building. Presenters and teachers
include Don Norman, Scott Griffith, CEO of Zipcar, alternate reality
game designer Jane McGonigal, information visualization wizards from
Stamen, storyteller extraordinaire Kevin Brooks, the designers behind
the LIVESTRONG community, Wiimote hacker Johnny Lee, and iRobot
interaction designer Aaron Powers.
http://www.uxweek.com/

For any of these events, use promotional code FOPM for 15% off!

--peter

Hi all, sorry for the plug (and for any duplicate postings).  I just
want to get the word out that Rosenfeld Media has signed Kevin Brooks
and Whitney Quesenbery to write "Storytelling for User Experience
Design".  I think it's a pretty important topic.  We're all familiar
with the power of storytelling—most UX people already use stories to
help communicate research and data, explain design concepts, and
persuade colleagues, often without realizing it.

So perhaps the time has come for a practical book that teaches UX
practitioners to use storytelling in a more active, explicit way.  I
hope that "Storytelling for User Experience Design" will place
storytelling alongside other more conventional research and design
methods.  We invite you to engage with the book from its inception by
sharing your questions, comments and ideas with Kevin and Whitney and
others interested in the topic.  Here are the relevant URLs:

     Their "book-in-progress" site:
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/storytelling/
     The site's RSS feed:  http://feeds.rosenfeldmedia.com/storytellingbook

Whitney and Kevin bring wonderfully complementary perspectives to the
topic.  As past UPA president, highly involved in the STC, a UXnet
co-founder, and one of the instigators of World Usability Day, Whitney
is well-respected in the UX world.  Kevin is a professional
storyteller, regularly writing and performing at festivals; he's no UX
slouch either, with a PhD from the MIT Media Lab and a day job
researching new technologies for Motorola.  I'm really looking forward
to working with them both, and hope that the UX community will support
them in assembling what promises to be an excellent contribution to
the field.

Many thanks!

  --
  Louis Rosenfeld :: http://louisrosenfeld.com
  Rosenfeld Media :: http://rosenfeldmedia.com

My client is the leading local search, directory and media company that helps millions of users find businesses and services in their local area of interest.  If you are a top-notch user experience visionary who is keen on building a world-class consumer experience with an enthusiastic and energetic team, then the Consumer Product team is looking for you.

Currently, they are seeking a Director of User Experience, a leader who is passionate about building products and services that are essential to millions of people in their day to day lives.  You will direct the team that is responsible for all aspects of the consumer experience on my clients network – from community and personalization to search functionality and the presentation of relevant content. Innovation and improvement of new and existing product lines is the key focus of this group. The consumer product team in particular drives the consumer strategy and product business requirements. In this role, you will direct product strategy around user experience and design by leading cross-functional thinking, conducting competitive analysis, identifying key opportunities based on consumer needs and brand attributes, and championing creative development with passion and superior communication skills.

The position will have 2 direct reports.  The DUX will be responsible for hiring, firing and performance reviews of 2 Interaction Designers and will report to the VP of Content who reports to the President of the company.  This position is capped somewhere around 130,000 annually with full and excellent benefits and discretionary bonuses.  The environment is open, young, casual and exciting and this role will be integral in redesigning their consumer facing site.  Please have large scale consumer facing site experience to qualify for this position.

Below is a detailed job description from my client:

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director, User Experience, will lead the team responsible for shaping the user experience. As the Director of User Experience, you will be responsible for creating and implementing our user experience strategy, including creative direction and user research initiatives. You and your team will be involved in the development of every front-facing product, and ultimately responsible for the performance of those products in terms of the overall user experience. You will work closely with the product, editorial, and technology teams to communicate requirements and ensure proper implementation of our products. Finally, as director, you will champion the principles of user centered design, accessibility, and usability.

Primary Duties:

1. Responsible for providing both strategic and tactical design leadership to the company

2. Communicate and collaborate on user experience strategies with the executive team

3. Lead and mentor team of designers

4. Develop, evaluate, iterate and implement high quality UI specifications for products, services, and marketing initiative 

5. Oversee the implementation of products

6. Lead usability and user research initiatives

Education and Experience:

1. Proven success building and leading creative teams

2. Degree in Human Factors/HCI, Design, Computer Science or related field and experience

3. Six years' hands-on design experience on high volume consumer websites and applications, preferably working on media and entertainment sites with a broad audience.

4. Experience managing cross-functional creative teams and projects

5. Expert knowledge of front-end technologies and how to apply them to create useful and compelling products

6. Strong creative, conceptual, and strategic thinker who can balance technology and design

7. Product Management experience a must

Parties wishing to be considered will please email a current resume with work samples to the below address.  For questions, please feel free to call.

Warm regards,

Laura

Laura Hunter

Vivid Resources

office-559-684-1070

cell-559-303-9018

fax-559-684-0820

laura.hunter@...

www.vividresources.com

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

***please forgive any cross posts.

If you are a new IA with some experience (say, 6 months or more) on
the job and someone who understands annotated wireframes (perhaps you
even have one or two)  and their purpose, this is an excellent
opportunity for you.  My client in Tribeca and is a very nice group
of smart professionals.  There's a youthful vibe to the office but
everyone's a mature professional.  The executives are the cream of
the crop with pedigrees from MIT, Princeton and Harvard and their
clients are in the pharma and finance space.  The name of the game is
marketing consulting and you'll be creating annotated wireframes for
landing pages, brochureware, creating transactional site designs and
more.  This is an opportunity to learn and grow!  You'll be mentored
by the Manager of User Experience and work with top flight brands!
Below is a description of the position.  The salary is capped in the
$85-90,000 range with bonuses, 401K and of course benefits.
Interested parties please email a resume with work samples to this
email address.

Here's what they're looking for:
Leading and growing interactive consulting agency is seeking an
Information Architect to join our User Experience team. The
successful candidate will work under the direction of the Manager of
Experience & Program Architecture to establish the Information
Architecture for online and offline program elements for our clients.

We are looking for an enthusiastic Information Architecture and
Usability professional who has the ability to work well in a team
environment, takes initiative, creates solid documentation that
drives implementation, can think both strategically and functionally,
and always has customer insights and goals in mind.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Champion the Information Architecture, Interaction Design,
Business Analysis and Usability functions throughout the project
lifecycle.
• Work in cross-functional teams to develop effective
Information Architecture, Interaction Design and Functional
Requirements for multi-channel relationship marketing programs.
Associated tactics include static and dynamic websites, e-mail
campaigns, and interactive banners.
• Support and participate in Usability testing activities.
Understand user testing options and how to use results to improve the
user experience.
• Create deliverables such as wireframes, flow diagrams, site
maps, use cases, functional requirements specs and high-level
architecture diagrams that serve as a guide for the content, creative
and technology teams to implement. Work with all departments to
ensure the quality and clarity of deliverables.
• Analyze content, user goals, business needs and other sources
of information to help define the User Experience.
• Understand website analytics as they relate to User
Experience.
• Provide exceptional client service and work to ensure that
all efforts effectively and directly address client needs.
• Grow and integrate individual expertise into Rosetta's
overall design process.
• Support new business activities when needed.

Supervisory Responsibilities:
• Lead project teams through the User Experience process and
educate them on the methods and deliverables of the Experience team.
• Guide cross-functional team members to implement the User
Experience as designed.
• Plan and lead project meetings when required.

Experience Requirements:
• From 0 to 3 years of increasing responsibility in a complex
information architecture design environment.
• Experience in healthcare or financial services a plus.
• Strong, demonstrated understanding of user interface design,
information design and architecture, and interactive design
methodologies and
• Web technologies.
• Strong portfolio of design and documentation that led to an
end-product that fulfilled the customers' and clients' goals.
• Thoroughly proficient in Visio. Knowledge of HTML authoring
and other supporting tools preferred.
• Excellent communication, organization and time-management
skills.
• High-energy individual with agency experience is desired.

Education/Training Requirements:
• Bachelor's degree in a related field is preferred, e.g. Human-
Computer Interaction, Information Architecture, Cognitive Psychology,
Communications, Marketing, Information Systems or related disciplines.

Thank you,
Laura
Laura Hunter
Vivid Resources
office-559-684-1070
cell-559-303-9018
fax-559-684-0820
laura.hunter@...
www.vividresources.com

Just a quick announcement to say I created a new social network for
content professionals:

http://thecontentwrangler.ning.com/

I just did a formal announcement on The Content Wrangler blog this
morning and I wanted to invite folks from this list to join.

http://www.thecontentwrangler.com/article/new_social_network_for_content\
_professionals/

The site is called The Content Wrangler Community and it should prove to
be an interesting and informative community that we all can participate
in (free, of course).


Scott Abel
The Content Wrangler
scottabel@...
317-466-1840
http://www.thecontentwrangler.com

(apologies for cross-posting)

This spring I'll be teaching a new day-long workshop, "Site Search
Analytics for a Better Experience".  I won't be focusing on tools and
transactions; rather, I'll demonstrate how this method can help
designers of all types diagnose and fix problems with their sites'
navigation, search, content, and interaction design.  You can find the
full description here:

   ==>  http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa

Date/Locations
   * March 18:  Sunnyvale, CA (through Involution Studios' Master
Academy; limited class size)
   * April 4:  Boston, MA (catch Steve Krug's web usability workshop
the day before)
   * May 15:  Chicago, IL (Steve teaches his workshop the next day)

Learn more and register here:

   ==>  http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa

Thanks!

--
Louis Rosenfeld :: http://louisrosenfeld.com
Rosenfeld Media :: http://rosenfeldmedia.com

--
Kyle Pero Soucy
Founding Principal, Lead Consultant
Usable Interface
Usability and Interface Design Consulting

Phone: (603) 205-0315
Email: kylesoucy@...
Website: http://www.usableinterface.com

Hey all--

[and apologies for cross-posting]

Tomorrow night Adaptive Path is hosting an after-work soiree at Hotel
Tomo in San Francisco. We're celebrating the completiion of our first
day of our UX Intensive, and would love the Bay Area UX Community to
join us!

When: 5:30-7:00pm, Tuesday, February 19th
Where: Hotel Tomo, under the geodesic domes, 1800 Sutter Street at
Buchanan
Whatfor: Eating, drinking, and schmoozing!

Please RSVP to Pam D. at pam@....

--peter

Hello all and appologies for cross posting.

Located in the historic Schraft building in Charlestown MA,  my client is seeking an Information Architect for a 14 week contract.  They are seeking someone accustomed to presenting to a client and who is well-versed in creating wireframes, making usability recommendations and juggling multiple responsibilities.
 
On-site would be preferred but there is some flexibility.  A minimum of 30 hours a week is needed.  Additional information can be provided upon request.  Interested parties will please contact Laura Hunter at laura.hunter@... with a current resume and work samples.

much thanks!
Laura

All,

PM AcqBusiness of the US Army is looking for a Senior User Experience Specialist to join our team.  We are implementing a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) system for the Acquistion Community of the US Army.  The team consists of US Army, Civilian, and Contractor personnel.  We are based in Alexandria, VA outside of Washington, DC.  Information at http://acqbusiness.army.mil

Contact me with any questions or interest.

Brian Almeter (CSC )
(703) 797-8909
balmeter@...
brian.almeter@...

PM AcqBusiness is seeking a Senior User Experience Specialist to serve as the information and interaction design consultant on projects, performing the IA aspect of client work on project teams, and ensuring that the most effective, innovative solutions are used.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work with clients, design staff, and other project team members to architect information effectively for the FBS portal and our functionalities.
• Scope, develop and understand technical considerations with the assistance of the project Technical Lead and, as required, with the client and/or third party partner(s).
• Contribute to the development of enterprise standards, models, and guidelines including metadata architecture and methods for classification (e.g., taxonomies, ontologies, tagging, etc.). Consider ways to leverage current technologies ( e.g., web services, RSS, etc.) to integrate intranet content and gain efficiency.
• Participate in user studies to understand user behaviors/preferences and build, from this understanding, informed user interface solutions.
• Create and documents information design concepts and solutions by various means, including sketches, diagrams, maps, storyboards, and rapid prototypes.
• Develop effective user-centered solutions for various types of advanced web-based transactions.
• Work with developers and testers to ensure high usability of applications.
• Work to integrate effective information and interaction design strategies and practices into our overall design process.
• Maintain consistent focus on exceptional customer service, working to ensure that all information architecture practices effectively and directly address client needs.

Qualifications:

• Minimum 3 years dedicated experience in information architecture and interaction design Portals and large-scale web implementations.
• Knowledge of information architecture and interface design processes and methodology, and the issues particular to web-enabled applications.
• Familiarity with technical issues around web development and ability to work constructively with engineering teams.
• Flexible attitude and ability to handle change.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize, and solve problems proactively.
• Ability to research, understand and organize specialized content.
• Experience conducting user research, including contextual inquiry and usability testing.
• Superb writing and presentation skills.
• An solid portfolio of detailed page schematics, functional specifications, interaction flows, site maps, and navigation systems.
• BA/BS degree in Library Science, Psychology, Human Factors, Fine Arts or related field. Advanced degree preferred.
• Proficiency in one or more of the following: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Visio, HTML, Dreamweaver.

On 6 Feb 2008, at 14:07, Larry Marine wrote:
[snip]
> This was not a one-time aberation. We have many, many cases were
> the initial user research with exisitng or new users (depending on
> the markeintg objectives) helped refocus the product direction and
> achieve resounding success.
[snip]

Me too.

I'm somewhat surprised how many organisations see looking at their
users as a one-off task rather than a continual process. There have
been several occasions when I've seen folk complain when sales
brought certain groups to them because "they were not our customers".
Sigh.

Adrian

I'm going to challenge your statement a bit, if nothing else but to stir up some interesting conversation. True opportunities ARE in innovation, but can still be accomplished within the scope of fixing something. So far in every, and I mean every, 100% of the time, no exceptions, redesign project I've worked on, the product was solving the wring problems, albeit sometimes they were very clever or well designed solutions. Nonetheless, they were still solving the wrong problems, very well.

 

So the innovation that occurred was not so much identifying a more clever solution, but in more accurately defining the problem. In about half of the projects, we were asked to refine a client's existing solution to more closely align it with the redefined problem. These types of projects often required incremental "fixes" that had minimal impact on the tech footprint but had to have significant impact on the user-experience.

 

My point is that innovation isn't limited to just the design solutions. An innovative definition of the problem can be just as (or more) successful.
 

Larry

----- Original Message ----
From: Paula Thornton <iknovate@gmail.com>
To: experiencedesign@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 8:59:42 AM
Subject: Re: [experiencedesign] Per Brandon's Rant

[...per Bob's Rant]

 

Ah, but Gmail is free. Try lodging a complaint to Yahoo! when you PAY for an account.

 

Everyone has countless stories.

 

That's why I will continue to insist -- true opportunities are not in innovation (unless you're starting from scratch)...it is in cold hard fixing the freakin' problems that are lying everywhere preventing people from doing business with companies.

 

Shut down marketing... stop sales pursuits. Rethink what you're doing and how you're spending the money (allocating resources).

Reign in the independent budgets with conflicting goals and priorities. It's not about cost cutting it's about better resource allocation.

Be accountable ACROSS the company.

Take responsibility. Say "no" to status quo.

 

When we just randomly allow companies to continue the madness, we're part of the problem.