Author: Michigan UXPA

Michigan UPA 2011 Board Elections Call for Nominations

Michigan UXPALeave a comment

How would you like the opportunity to steer the direction of the Michigan chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association? We have just the opportunity for you: run for one of our board positions or volunteer for one of our committees! We have five leadership opportunities:

  • President
  • Vice-President
  • Treasurer
  • Events Director
  • Secretary

and two volunteer committees:

  • Events
  • Outreach

Election Details

  • Chapter elections will be held in November.
  • Terms are 13 months and run from December 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012.
  • You must be a Usability Professionals Association member prior to running for election (note: Michigan UPA sponsors the membership of its board members).
  • As an officer, you will commit to an average of five to fifteen hours each month.
  • If you’re interested in running for a board position, submit a brief biography, photo, and statement (500 word maximum) and tell us why you are the best candidate for the position. Submit your nomination to secretary@michiganupa.org by October 31, 2011.
  • Have questions about running for the board? Contact Michael Beasley or any Michigan UPA officer.

Volunteer Committees

Volunteers are critical to the success of our outreach and events. As a volunteer, you’ll:

  • Work with board members
  • Gain valuable experience while maintaining a lower level of commitment
  • Commit one to five hours each month

Ready to volunteer? Contact Michael Beasley or any Michigan UPA officer. Note: you don’t have to be a Usability Professionals Association member to become a Michigan UPA committee volunteer.

After elections, we’ll get our committees organized and ready to go for 2012.

Officer Role Descriptions

Below are the duties of specific board positions. Board members are expected to have a position on one or more of the committees, such as Events. In addition to the specific activities listed below, officers attend a board meeting once a month.

President

  • Ensure smooth operation of chapter by delegating tasks (including any of the following) and following up
  • Be the primary point of communication with UPA and other professional organizations
  • Complete annual chapter report
  • Call officer meetings

Vice President

  • Fill the president’s role when the president is unavailable or incapacitated
  • Prepare to fill the presidency in a future term

Treasurer

  • Oversee chapter funds
  • Complete annual chapter financial report
  • Develop chapter budget
  • Report financial status of chapter to board

Events Director

  • Coordinate the Events for MI UPA with the assistance of the Events Committee
  • Coordinate and run the Events Committee and post minutes on the wiki
  • Communication for events
  • Post events to the Google UX calendar
  • For each event, the Director and Committee members:
    • Find a Speaker
    • Find a Host
    • Find a Sponsor (hopefully the Host) for food
    • Prepare description of the event with assistance from the Speaker
    • Promote the event by posting on MI UPA website, sending out announcements, posting of public forums, coordinating mailings with the secretary
    • Create online registration for the event (currently using Guestlist)
    • Prepare for the event by printing nametags and attendance lists
    • Attend event and assist with setup and take down, which can include room arrangement, speaker setup of computer/projector, food, and sign in.
    • Send out follow up thank you messages to host(s) and speaker(s), update website posting

Secretary

  • Ensure chapter’s compliance with chapter and UPA bylaws
  • Propose changes to bylaws to reflect changing chapter needs
  • Take and post notes for monthly board meetings
  • Manage email newsletter. Design, write, test and publish three newsletters each month
  • Maintain social media presence on Twitter and LinkedIn with regular postings and engagement on usability related news, activities and MI UPA events
  • Manage MI UPA website (oversee Outreach committee members). Upgrade as needed, review posts, update and maintain information.

Immediate Past President

  • Provide advice to board members
  • Ensure continuity of organizational memory

Committees

Each committee consists of a chair either from the ranks of the board or a chapter member appointed by the board, and one or more committee members from the board and the chapter membership.

Events

  • Plan and coordinate events (more details described in Event Director responsibilities)

Outreach

  • Update and maintain website
  • Public relations
  • Manage email newsletters, write content, create newsletter, publish newsletter

Internet User Experience 2011

Michigan UXPALeave a comment

Internet User Experience 2011 Conference
October 10-13, 2011
Ann Arbor, MI

The Michigan UPA is proud to co-sponsor the seventh annual Internet User Experience conference. This conference has grown every year and has now captured international attention. Come and participate as world-reknowned speakers and trainers cover aspects of web site design and strategy, including usability, marketing, branding, social media, mobile, and more. Tutorials will be offered on designing the mobile experience, personas, storyboarding, web analytics, and more.

Here are a few highlights:

  • Keynote talks by Susan Weinschenk, Peter Morville, and Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus.
  • Presentations and panel sessions.
  • Optional training tutorials will be offered before the conference.
  • Gala reception Tuesday October 11th at 5:00pm
  • Student poster session.
  • Third annual IUE Pub Crawl on Wednesday evening October 12th.
  • Exhibits and Bookseller.
  • Raffles and giveaways.

Register

Registration for this conference is now open.

Sponsor

If you are interested in marketing your company, organization, or products, recruiting, or simply supporting this conference, review the numerous sponsor, exhibit, and recruiting opportunities available on the web site.

Interactive Designer

Michigan UXPALeave a comment

Mango Languages, a nationally acclaimed language-learning software company, is looking for a kick-ass interactive designer to help us become the most loved self study language-learning brand in the world. We are a fun company that truly believes in the idea that learning a new language should be exciting, easy as pie, and even addicting. Since this belief is embedded in everything we do, we know that interactive design is an important ingredient in the learning experience.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will involve imposing your creative prowess onto all of our interactive interfaces. You will spend your time bulldozing prodigious pixel masterpieces across both our software interfaces and digital marketing pieces. And you will do it with absolute and unquestionable ease.

At minimum, you must possess mastery of the following weapons of mass construction:

  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator (or equivalent vector application)
  • Flash
  • Pencil and paper
  • The “One-Inch” Creative Punch

You must be comfortable working with a team of ruthless, knuckle-cracking programmers that literally shoot bolts of lightning from their fingertips onto a keyboard. You will build software with them, and you will stand as one with them.

This will include:

  • Wire-framing
  • User experience design
  • Prototyping & screen design
  • Storyboarding interface behavior
  • Motion design
  • Final delivery of graphical assets for assembly

You will also be responsible for heading up all digital design and layout of web pages, banners, sales presentations, and all other interactive media as required by the marketing team.

Most importantly, you will have integrity, a positive attitude, an entrepreneurial spirit, a strong ability to innovate, a high standard for quality, and an ability to balance fun and discipline (we call this “fundipline”).

While local candidates are preferred, telecommuting is an option if your portfolio is so hot that it melts our computer screens when we look at it. Since we’re a language-learning company, bilingual candidates are a huge plus!

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision and 401(k).

Please email your résumé and portfolio to recruiting@mangolanguage.com or visit Mango Languages and click on the Interactive Designer opportunity to submit your information online.

Information Architect/User Experience Professional

Michigan UXPALeave a comment

Capital Area District Library is requesting proposals from qualified vendors for information architecture services as described in the pdf found at http://www.cadl.org/about/bids/CADL-Info-Arch.pdf/at_download/file The Capital Area District Library will accept proposals until 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 17, 2011. Please contact Sheryl Knox, Technology Director, at knoxs@cadl.org with any questions regarding this request.

A selection of information from the RFQ:

Scope of Services

CADL is seeking professional information architecture and user experience (UX) design services to assist us in creating the “blueprint” for a remodeled online branch. We envision the following activities:

  • Develop a deep understanding of the content, functionality, and target audiences that CADL will have already identified and described for the online branch.
  • Categorize and label content and tasks in a user-centric architecture.
  • Create a navigation system.
  • Create a strategy for improving search.
  • Create one or more wireframes for the architecture and navigation.
  • Test the wireframe(s) with users.
  • Based on user feedback, improve and finalize wireframes.
  • Create specifications and documentation to be used for engaging a web development firm to
    create the online branch.
  • Provide input into the selection of an appropriate Content Management System (CMS). (CADL
    staff is currently engaged in an evaluation process.)
  • Depending on outcome of CMS selection, potentially create a taxonomy in support of the
    architecture/navigation/search.

Proposals

Your proposal must include:

  • A description of the firm including contact information, history, size, range of services, and volume of work.
  • Identification of the principal in charge for our project and any other staff proposed for work on it, setting forth roles and responsibilities, including the resume of the principal.
  • Using the size and complexity of our current web presence as a guide for the scale of the project, a proposal outlining your recommended plan of action addressing all of the envisioned activities in Scope of Activities above. As a budget-stretching measure, your recommendations as to the degree to which your firm will perform these activities vs. guide CADL staff in performing or assisting with activities should be included in your proposal.
  • Estimated fees, showing details as to how they are calculated. (Proposed activities, number of hours per activity, hourly rate, expenses, etc.)
  • List of similar work your firm has conducted. Include at least 3 references that can provide information on your firm’s work during the past two years.

For more information and to apply, please visit the online posting (pdf).