Last night was a great, low-key happy hour event in Chicago! A big thank you to Chris Bernard at Microsoft for sponsoring the drinks, which were much appreciated by the folks who attended. It was also interesting to see the showcased work for the Olympics, Hard Rock cafe, and several other sites shared by Chicago's interaction designers - truly inspirational.
Here's a recap of some of the announcements of the evening, followed by job postings gathered from the RSVPs. Looking forward to seeing you at the next event! -Carolyn *Announcements* We are in need of a venue and topic for September's event. This would fall on September 10th (or we could do the 17th if there's a venue available then). Hosting is easy and fun! Hosts can provide the topic as well, or simply the space for about 40+ people; we'll help with coordination. Also, if you're interested in leading a discussion for a topic, let us know - just respond to this Chicago IxDA address. For those who mentioned some possibilities last night, we'll be following up with you shortly. Microsoft is holding another PhizzPop design competition. This was a great event last year, with companies competing for the title of best design, creating future-facing Silverlight-based experiences for airlines (congratulations again to last year's winner, Clarity Consulting!). Companies interested in entering the competition can contact Chris Bernard, or visit here for more info: http://phizzpop.visitmix.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Microsoft* Chris Bernard is hiring a User Experience Evangelist. Email me for more details. [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Designkitchen* Designkitchen is looking for User Experience professionals, both contract and full-time, with a passion for understanding people and designing fabulous experiences for them via the web and mobile. We're looking for the brightest, next generation of interaction design and usability talent who want to push user experiences beyond what's expected. Projects include both business-to-business and business-to-consumer, which provides variety and a range of user interface challenges on clients such as Brookfield Zoo, Oprah's Angel Network, Motorola, Hotel Sierra, Burger King, Exelon, Bosch, Cayman Islands, Chicago Fashion Resource, Coventry Health Care and Life Fitness to name just a few. Founded in 1992, Designkitchen is a 80-person tight-knit shop, growing quickly, and offering the rewards of being to make an impact at a smaller, progressive interactive agency. We're housed in a three-story industrial loft west of the Loop in downtown Chicago. Applicants should have 2-10 years experience applying iterative, user-centered research and design principles to designing and developing digital solutions. Applicants should be interested in creating experiences hands-on rather than solely directing others. Please contact Kathy Beymer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Full job posting is located at designkitchen.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Motorola* We need media designers, we need interaction designers/IA folks, we need UI researchers. Please go to http://www.motorolacareers.com/ & search on "United States - IL - Chicago" for all the positions in downtown Chicago. We also have positions for the Libertyville office as well as Sunnyvale, CA. If you email Charles Berg, he will be more than happy to spend time talking about Motorola's needs and how one can fit in. And talk about positions that are being prepped for advertisement but haven't made it out just yet. Charles Berg [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Sears Holdings Company* User Experience Architect – Chicago, IL and Hoffman Estates, IL - Contract Sears Holdings is seeking an experienced UXA to join our User Experience Team. Currently, we are interested in candidates with 5+ years of demonstrable experience and who have had a background involving large scale web initiatives. The ideal candidate will have exceptional analytical skills, be well versed in user-centered design practices, and can turn business and user requirements into elegant user interfaces and compelling interactive experiences. As an integral part of the User Experience team you will collaborate closely with visual designers, front-end developers, and business stakeholders to take on new design initiatives and platform enhancements across sears.com, kmart.com and the associated portfolio of brand properties. You will be responsible for conducting and analyzing research, gathering business and user requirements, identifying technology constraints in order to synthesize intelligent and successful design solutions. Additionally, making informed recommendations on design strategies, leveraging best practices, accurately estimating and tracking your time across multiple simultaneous projects, as well as working with the UE staff to develop and document methodologies, standards and best practices for the group. All candidates under consideration must be able to present a comprehensive portfolio. Responsibilities: • Conduct user research, profiling and analysis • Create detailed page-level wireframes and functional specifications • Generate and maintain detailed design specifications • Requirements gathering, documenting and tracking • Process and task flow modeling • Concept generation and modeling • Low-fidelity and hi-fidelity prototyping techniques • Develop new and effective design solutions on time and in scope • Collaborate with stakeholders to deliver on new business initiatives and platform enhancements • Develop methodologies, standards and best practices for the group • Document content structure, page templates, and interfaces • Develop user interface standards • Track and analyze customer site behavior/feedback • User research, competitive research, and usability testing • Group facilitation Core Competencies: • Deep understanding of user-centered design, usability, information design, interaction design, and goal-oriented design • Experience and familiarity in the capabilities of HTML, DHTML, CSS, Flash and AJAX-based applications. • Excellent communication skills – in person, written and presentation. • Ability to prioritize and track multiple tasks across multiple projects, under tight deadlines. • Willingness to switch gears quickly and be flexible to work on concurrent projects. • Ability to create clean, precise and detailed IA documentations. • Proficiency in industry standard UI software such as Visio, OmniGraffle, Illustrator, Photoshop, PowerPoint and Acrobat. Desired Qualifications: • 5+ years experience working as an information architect, interaction designer, or user experience designer. • 3+ years experience in retail merchandising/marketing, advertising, product development, e-commerce or related field. • 3+ years experience with usability testing including preparation, execution and analysis. • Familiarity with current user experience and usability research, theories, best practices and methodologies. • Degree in a related field, such as information design, human-computer interaction, library science, cognitive science, graphic design, or industrial design a plus. • Experience with Localization Issues and Web Accessibility Standards a plus. • Agency/Design Firm experience a big plus. • A portfolio of your best recent work will be reviewed. Contact: Mark FelcanSmith [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject line: Information Architect - #A0000362 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Visde* UX Media Manager Location: San Jose or Chicago. Visde is a human-centered design firm based out of Chicago with offices in Evanston, IL and San Jose, CA. We are a small, fun and growing team of Designers, Engineers and other creative professionals. To learn more about Visde and Visde Labs, please visit our Website at: http://visde.com/ Vide seeks a UX Community Media Strategist/Manager to cultivate and manage our blog, social networking, Website content and other online & offline venues ensuring that these communities are healthy, satisfied and connected to the industry and community. Responsibility: • Create, evolve, and communicate internally and externally based on a deep knowledge of products, services and users. • Cultivate relationships with users and respond to inquiries/posts/comments from users on a timely basis. • Moderate discussions in the online forum/suggestion board and escalate urgent issues to the appropriate cross-functional team. • Be active in customer, industry & user communities. • Contribute to the blog to drive engagement and to ensure that core users feel ''connected'' to and heard. • Monitor relevant industry, product and blogosphere chatter to keep abreast of areas of interest/concern among the industry and report back to team. • Work closely with influencers and the community. • Create, launch and manage programs to provide feedback and buzz. • Alert the community to any new and breaking news or important posts. • Identify opportunities to promote/showcase case stories to external audiences. • Coordinate activities to support and leverage community and happenings. • Attend community and industry events. Qualifications: • Passion for innovation and good design that captivates and engages people. • Knowledge of product design and user-centered design • Excellent writing, editing and verbal skills. • Ability to successfully interact and build relationships with audiences. • Strong organizational and prioritization skills. • Project management, leadership and decision making skills. • Ability to work independently and as part of a team. • Ability to use good judgment and discretion required. • Strong problem-solving skills, particularly in situations where resources are limited and quick response is required. Experience: • Prior community or user group management experience, or business experience on a community-based product. • Direct experience with a design firm, product design or design services. • Experience moderating group discussions. • Experience organizing customer events (online & offline). • Experience working with PR, Marketing or equivalent. • Have blogging experience with active posts. • Experience with print media. • Bachelor's degree, preferred degree in business administration, communications, journalism or marketing. • Minimum of 3+ years experience This is position is located in San Jose (near Santana Row) or Chicago (near Northwestern University). Possibility of working remotely. Please note that no relocation expense will be offered for this position. Visde is unable to work with 3rd-Parties or Agencies or sponsor H1-B visa at this time. To apply: Send resume and writing samples to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
