Apologies for the late recap! Last Wednesday we had our April event at Manifest Digital, which was a panel format with the PhizzPop Challenge team discussing the process they went through to meet the challenge of designing experiences to encourage sustainable living in the city of Austin. The solution was designed to integrate into a municipal structure at many levels: governmental, community, activist, and individual citizen, and included:
- An online set of tools, including ones for monitoring your individual output (reading from a Smart Grid that tracks usage over time) and encouraging carpooling with others along your common routes - A Surface table solution encouraging selection of eco-friendly materials for home renovations, that can exist in a home improvement store - Design of kits containing eco-friendly products - Ideas for displays in the physical world that indicate neighborhoods and corporations that come together to meet green standards We also followed with a discussion of other Surface capabilities and attendees were invited to try it out for themselves. Thanks to everyone who came - we had a great turnout! If you missed the event, video was streamed and can be seen here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ixda-chicago-local-event Our next event will be held on May 13th at Designkitchen, where there will be a series of presenters talking about future online trends. June's event is in the works and will be on the topic of incorporating user-centered practices into an Agile process. If you have experience with this and would like to be involved in the event, please respond directly to this email with a short introduction. We'd love to hear from you! Also, there's an Agile-related event below that may be of interest to you. Follow up announcements: EVENT ThoughtWorks hosts a monthly lunchtime seminar in our offices in the Aon Center on a hot topic in Software Development. This month's topic is Agile Methods & User Centered Design. It will happen May 1 at 11:30 at our offices on the 25th floor. Here's a link to a microsite that has details of the event and a link to registration which is required to enter the building. http://connect.thoughtworks.com/UCD/ JOB POSTING User Experience Architect Whether you enjoy an open working atmosphere, sharing your playlist over the company network, or grabbing lunch from our indoor food court--our positive and collaborative environment cultivates award-winning creative and visual design, while encouraging growth, discussion and free thinking. Acquity Group has a proven track record of developing tailored solutions that leverage our breadth of expertise and deep understanding within strategy, design and technology to help companies enable their digital channel. Acquity Group possesses not only the knowledge to conceptualize and build our clients brand, but the experience needed to elevate their business. Headquartered in Chicago, IL we have offices in Irvine & Los Angeles, CA; Overland Park, KS; Scottsdale, AZ and Dallas, TX serving many leading brands including United Airlines, General Motors, Kohl's, Motorola, Shimano and American Express. For more information, visit www.acquitygroup.com. Position Description We’re looking for a User Experience Architect who is seeking an opportunity to lead large-scale engagements and expand the role of User Experience in all phases of digital channel enablement. This is a unique opportunity to help guide/influence end-to-end business solutions to maximize audience engagement and transform our clients’ businesses. Our User Experience Architect works in tandem with Business Analysts and Technical Architects to analyze define and provide holistic solutions while supporting Visual Design, Front End Development and Digital Marketing teams. As a member of the high-growth Interactive Marketing group, you will work on a wide range websites, extranets, intranets, portals and micro sites across a myriad of industries and companies. You will help integrate multiple user needs, business opportunities, and technology capabilities into highly-intuitive user experiences, and be responsible for managing and/or executing all phases of project deliverables from stakeholder interviews and discovery initiatives through user testing, production of detailed wireframes, workflows, functional requirements, interaction specifications and user interface guides. You will also work closely with the User Experience Solutions Director to define and build the operations, processes and roles of user experience solutions and services for the company and our clients. Essential Duties & Responsibilities • Participate in client discover sessions and assist in defining business requirements, discover user personas/archetype and interpret user goals/priorities • Serve as an expert consultant during the detailed design phase by reviewing interaction design, copy and visual design for usability best practices • Conduct both formal or guerilla user research • Plan, facilitate and manage usability evaluations through usability labs, paper and live questionnaires, live interviews, surveys and benchmark testing • Conduct audits of existing systems and web sites, based on clarity and usability best practices, and prepare reports of findings and improvement recommendations • Develop detailed site maps that will define the page hierarchy, navigation schema, taxonomy and nomenclature • Architect complex content and information systems into usage scenarios and use cases, wireframes, content outlines, mocksups/storyboards, interaction notes as well as paper and interactive prototypes • Develop content and workflow maps indicating process and systems implications, navigation and content relationships • Provide heuristic evaluations and reviews of early visual mockups and/or prototype designs • Assist in the development of standards, methodologies and repeatable processes for delivery of UX services • Assist in structuring engagements and preparing cost estimates • Partner with Art Directors, Search Specialists, Technical Leads, Copywriters and other Interactive Marketing team members on strategies for clients • Mentor less experienced team members Qualifications • A minimum of 6 years’ experience, including leadership roles in client engagements and project management • Strong client relations and thought-leadership abilities • Proven ability to design and lead discovery activities including stakeholder interviews, user inquiry, website and business performance metrics audits • Hands-on experience with project deliverables—discovery findings, heuristic evaluations, information architecture, wireframes, interaction specifications, user interface guides, etc. • Experience or interest in working closely with business, technical and process analysts. • Strong interpersonal and communication skills • Strong understanding and application of Web technologies • Experience designing and leading user research and/or translating user research into design decisions • Experience or interest in content management, business and other back-end technologies • Strong analytic and strategic problem-solving skills • Strong writing, and presentation skills required • Experience in marketing strategy, customer segmentation and analysis and multi-channel communications or Visual Design skills a plus. • Travel 50% travel flexibility - more or less depending on project; candidate should be comfortable with travel and overtime as client commitment requires. Competitive Benefits & Compensation Acquity Group offers excellent compensation and benefits including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), short and long-term disability, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), paid, flexible vacation and holidays. In addition to a competitive base salary Acquity Group offers a unique variable compensation plan which provides additional reward to employees that demonstrate outstanding performance. * Applicants for employment in the U.S. must possess work authorization which does not require sponsorship by the employer for a visa. * Acquity Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer For consideration, please contact [email protected]. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... 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