Pioneering the Agile UX Frontier

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Mara EvansDispatches from the field report an ever growing need and desire for Agile software development teams and UX professionals to work together to produce software that delights rather than frustrates. Scott Amber, in an excellent article on this topic wrote: “User experience and agile practitioners need to learn about and respect each other’s philosophies and techniques, and then actively find ways to work together. This requires both communities to make minor changes to the way that they work, but if they choose to make these changes I suspect that their work products will be much better for it.”

Organizations have been crying out for individuals who have the skills and knowledge to bring these two worlds together.

In this presentation, we will explore some of the challenges and triumphs experienced by teams as they attempt to forge a new way of working. Attendees will learn successful strategies for integrating UX into Agile, a combination that could very well be the next big step in a paradigm shift in software development.

About Our Speaker

Mara Evans has been working in the realm of software development for over fifteen years. Like many others in this industry, her role is ever changing and evolving Dash/Connector – but almost always within the context of a high performing team. She has played the part of product manager, project/program manager, Solutions Architect, business analyst, designer, UX champion, High Tech Anthropologist™ [Menlo Innovations], QA, and Agile Coach. But she also has another realm of experience and background that brings an interesting if not unique perspective to the art of building teams and building software.

Mara’s academic background is in Anthropology and Transpersonal Psychology with specialization in spiritual psychology as well as organizational development. Integration of these two worlds has become her foundation – as well as her core work. For Mara, it is really about the people, their relationships, and creating a phenomenal team dynamic. The product, or the software, becomes incidental – yet reflective of the quality of human collaboration from which it sprung.

Mara is currently working with the Institute for Social Research, helping to define and deliver their cutting edge survey management system. She is also part-time faculty at Washtenaw Community College, a transformational consultant for organizations, and a spiritual coach for individuals and groups through her consulting business, Arammai Services.

Location

ProQuest
789 E. Eisenhower Parkway
Ann Arbor, MI (map)

Cost

$5, Current students
$10, Michigan Usability Professionals’ Association members
$20, All others

Register online at Guestlist so we know who’s coming and how much refreshments to go around. We’ll also take payment (cash or check) at the door. Questions? Email events {at} miupa dot org.

Schedule

6:00pm, Networking, food, announcements
7:00pm, Program begins

Do Better Design Reviews

Michigan UXPA1 Comment

Thursday,  July 14, 2011

Critiquing each other’s designs is an important part of user experience work, but unfortunately we often run into problems of ego, politeness, and less-then-helpful feedback.

This workshop will show you a simple model for facilitating design review sessions that addresses those problems. We’ll start with going over the rules, run a quick demonstration of the process, and then break attendees into groups to do their own design reviews.

So please come prepared with real projects that you’d like to get reviewed, and a lucky few of you will have your projects critiqued with a small group of peers using this model. Your projects can be anywhere from sketched ideas to interactive prototypes, or even already delivered products.

This is going to be a fun evening and you’ll leave with a great technique that you can start using in your projects right away.

What You’ll Get Out of This Presentation

  • A way to get useful feedback from clients, project managers, and programmers!
  • Feedback from your peers
  • Deluca’s pizza!

About Our Speaker

Davin Granroth got his start in the field in the mid-90s by helping students and faculty learn how to write better for the web.

These days, Davin is the User Experience Manager at Covenant Eyes, where he spends his days managing and developing the newly added User Experience team, coordinating UX research and design work across the company, and advising the executive, management, and product development teams.

To find out more about Davin’s experience, check out his LinkedIn profile.

When

Thursday, July 14, 2011

6:00 PM — Networking
6:45 PM — Announcements
7:00 PM — Speaker
8:30 PM — Wrap up and more networking

Location

Second Gear Coworking
1134 N. Washington
Lansing, MI 48906
Map

Cost

$5, Current students
$10, Usability Professionals’ Association members
$20, All others

Register

Register online at Guestlist so we know who’s coming and how to plan for refreshments. We’ll also take payment (cash or check) at the door. Questions? Email events {at} miupa dot org.

Senior User Experience Specialist

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Cengage Learning in Farmington Hills is seeking a Senior User Experience Specialist in the Gale Research business unit of Learning & Research Solutions. In this position, you will collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to create solutions that are more valuable because they solve problems critical to users’ success in academic and library settings.

Responsibilities:

  • Lead efforts to establish ongoing user research in user environments through ethnography, contextual inquiry, and related techniques. Identify and recruit users and customers for markets and topics of interest and bring representatives from multiple functional areas along to support solution discovery and concept validation
  • Work with solution strategists to design new solution concepts for most advanced yet acceptable (MAYA) user experience: one that helps to establish new, improved workflows while establishing consistent presentation and branding standards
  • Conduct usability evaluations including heuristic evaluations, one-on-one usability studies, competitive benchmarking, and similar research
  • Participate in recruitment activities for user study participants including: developing criteria, creating questionnaires, making calls, tracking progress, and preparing forms
  • Design mockups, wire frames, and clickable prototypes for rapid, iterative user interface improvement
  • Review information architecture and make recommendations for changes to improve the user experience, and increase usage and relevancy of results
  • Works with solutions strategists and business analysts to convey user-centered designs to technology

Qualifications:

  • Five years experience in user research and user centered design
  • Knowledge and experience in usability evaluation, research, and design methods with a focus on human-computer interaction for Web products
  • Experience working with end-users, customers, marketing, product management and developers. Communicates very well verbally and enjoys speaking with people
  • Sensitivity to the physical, cognitive, emotional, environmental, social, and cultural needs of the people who interact with Cengage Learning solutions
  • Ability to work effectively in a multifunctional team and to adapt to changes in business, product, organization, or individual needs
  • A BA/BS or greater degree in Interaction Design, Industrial Design, Psychology, Information Architecture, or equivalent discipline is required. MA/MS is preferred
  • A user experience portfolio showing examples of design direction, creative process, research strategy, or equivalent user experience accomplishment is a plus
  • Familiarity with public and academic libraries, the library market, or library science is a plus

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

User Experience Architect

Deborah Edwards-OnoroLeave a comment

Enlighten, a digital marketing agency in Ann Arbor is seeking a User Experience Architect to join the User Experience Strategy team on a contract basis with the potential for full time.

As a UX Architect at Enlighten, you’ll research and develop intuitive user interfaces that meet both user and business objectives using tools such as wireframes, personas, and prototypes. You’ll work closely with content strategists, client stakeholders, visual designers, creative leads, engineers, and analytic and social media experts to shape the information architecture, usability, and interaction design of the digital experience – websites, mobile applications, and social media.

Responsibilities

  • Lead strategic research efforts to determine what types of research and artifacts are appropriate within projects; coordinate existing research inputs and new efforts. Use a wide range of general, industry, and site-specific research inputs to develop a user-centered plan for design and features.
  • Build a thorough understanding of business and user needs. Conduct stakeholder interviews to determine business and site objectives and help clients integrate online processes with offline business practices. Employ a variety of user research techniques to bring new insights into how clients understand their users’ interactive needs.
  • Work collaboratively to translate business requirements, user goals and creative strategy into engaging experiences.
  • Observe, conduct and analyze qualitative and quantitative user research, such as focus groups, interviews and surveys. Design and conduct user testing including prototype and post-launch evaluation.
  • Clearly and concisely communicate impactful findings to clients, designers, engineers, and other project stakeholders.
  • Create and refine necessary documentation to develop user experience and provide needed deliverables to other project members, such as content inventories, heuristic evaluations, task analysis, CMS content models, user scenarios, personas, site maps, wireframes and other specifications.
  • Maintain awareness of evolving UX standards and best practices while continually seeking to innovate and revolutionize processes and deliverables that lead to internal efficiencies as well as client satisfaction. Be an ambassador advocating for the user and UX Research within the company and industry.

Qualifications

  • Three to five or more years of experience as an Information Architect (IA), User Experience (UX) Specialist, Interaction Designer (IxD), or any other role which involves strategizing and architecting user experience design for high-traffic, dynamic digital properties. Interactive agency experience is a plus.
  • Strong knowledge of user-centered design and HCI principles as applied to current Web and app technologies.
  • Experience designing and conducting usability tests and using site diagramming software, such as Visio or Axure.
  • Exceptional analytical and creative problem-solving skills.
  • Strong written communication and presentation skills.
  • Ability to closely collaborate as a part of a team comprised of business, creative and technical types.
  • Work effectively with project managers to meet expectations on time and on budget.
  • Ability to articulate and present ideas based on sound user experience and interaction design principles.

Enlighten offers a generous benefits package, along with an attractive compensation and bonus plan. If you’d like to join their team, check out their website. To apply for this position, send cover letter and resume to jobs AT enlighten DOT com.

User Experience Specialist (Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills)

Michigan UXPALeave a comment

As a User Experience Specialist in the central User Experience team of Learning & Research Solutions you will collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to create solutions that are more valuable because they solve problems critical to users’ success in academic, library, and professional settings.

Primary responsibilities:

  • Document and maintain user experience methodology and design standards.  Regularly communicate with all members of the user experience team to identify, gather, edit, and distribute templates, patterns, style guides, and other best practices
  • Work with solution strategists to design new solution concepts for most advanced yet acceptable (MAYA) user experience: one that helps to establish new, improved workflows while establishing consistent presentation and branding standards
  • Conduct usability evaluations including heuristic evaluations, one-on-one usability studies, competitive benchmarking, and similar research
  • Participate in recruitment activities for user study participants including: developing criteria, creating questionnaires, making calls, tracking progress, and preparing forms
  • Participate in end user research and concept development including contextual inquiries, persona and scenario development, and ideation sessions
  • Design mockups, wire frames, and clickable prototypes for rapid, iterative user interface improvement
  • Review information architecture and make recommendations for changes to improve the user experience, and increase usage and relevancy of results
  • Works with solutions strategists and business analysts to convey user-centered designs to technology.

Qualifications

  • Knowledge and experience in usability evaluation, research, and design methods with a focus on human-computer interaction for Web products
  • Experience working with end-users, customers, marketing, product management and developers. Communicates very well verbally and enjoys speaking with people
  • Sensitivity to the physical, cognitive, emotional, environmental, social, and cultural needs of the people who interact with Cengage Learning solutions
  • Ability to work effectively in a multifunctional team and to adapt to changes in business, product, organization, or individual needs
  • A BA/BS or greater degree in Interaction Design, Industrial Design, Psychology, Information Architecture, or equivalent discipline is required. MA/MS is preferred
  • A user experience portfolio showing examples of design direction, creative process, research strategy, or equivalent user experience accomplishment is a plus
  • Expertise in accessibility, findability, or information architecture a plus

More information can be found at the online job posting.