Austin UXPA

May meeting: Online usability testing

sasha — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:28:48 +0000

This month we are pleased to announce our speaker Ryan West, User Experience Director at Dell and creator of TestRockit.com. Ryan will be speaking about online usability testing.

Ever wanted to try online usability testing but didn’t know where to start? Unsure whether online testing is right for your project? Or want to improve your online testing process? Then this meeting is for you.

Pizza and drinks provided by 8-bit Bear Consulting!
http://www.8-bitbearconsulting.com/

Please note the new start time:
When: 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 7
Presentation: 7-8 p.m.

Where: BuildASign
11525A Stonehollow Dr.
Austin, TX 78758

Cost: Free

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/257574501046240/
Don’t use Facebook? RSVP to candice_mcfarland (at) yahoo (dot) com

STC Austin Salary Survey

Julie — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:56:35 +0000

Every year, STC Austin does a salary survey to track how the job market in Austin is doing. It’s not just for writers: UX and IA and usability and artists and web designers and more should all be taking it. The 2013 survey (for 2012′s earnings) is open now.

April meeting: SXSW Interactive Roundup and Review

Candice McFarland — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:31:44 +0000

If you went to SXSW Interactive, we want to hear about it. What was insightful, interesting, fun, thought-provoking?

Those of us who didn’t go can get a mini SXSW for free!

For those of you who want to share, this doesn’t have to be fancy. No slides or other materials are required unless you have them and want to share.

Contact Candice McFarland at candice_mcfarland (at) yahoo.com if you want to discuss this further.

No food and drinks at this location, so eat beforehand.

When: 7-8 p.m. April 2
Presentation: 7-8 p.m.

Where: BuildASign
11525A Stonehollow Dr.
Austin, TX 78758

Cost: Free

RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/382423401864743/
Don’t use Facebook? RSVP to candice (at) mcfarland@yahoo.com

Job opening: User Experience group at IBM Austin

sasha — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:39:26 +0000

The Power Systems Software User Experience group at IBM Austin has an opening for a Long-Term Supplemental employee.

We are looking for a UX professional with broad skills in user research, usability evaluation, and the design of web applications (not web sites). Familiarity with a variety of user research and evaluation methodologies and the ability to define and manage a comprehensive user research program is most important. Experience with wireframing/prototyping tools and usability test tools is desirable. A background in enterprise computing, including familiarity with Systems Management and Virtualization, especially in a Unix or Linux environment, is a real plus. Experienced professionals are encouraged to apply, but new graduates with advanced degrees in HCI, Psychology, or related fields will be considered.

Who we are: Our Austin-based team is responsible for simplifying the end-to-end process of ordering, installing, configuring, and managing IBM servers, and the operating systems and other software that run on those servers. We are part of a global development team charged with delivering innovative Virtualization Management interfaces on aggressive schedules. Our product support activities span the entire usability engineering lifecycle, from user research to usability testing, often in parallel as we synchronize with Agile development cycles.

Things to note:
* This is full-time position, working directly for IBM, for a three-year period.
* No visa sponsorship is available — candidates must have current US work authorization.
* No financial support for relocation — local candidates are preferred.

If you’re interested in this position, please send your resume to Jack Alford (alfordja [AT] us.ibm.com)

Free Intro to Web Development Course March 9-12 in Austin

sasha — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:32:33 +0000

This year on March 9-12 during SXSW, digital agency Huge (http://www.hugeinc.com) is hosting a FREE intro to web development course while we are in Austin. The program is aimed at giving digital professionals the skills they need to write code and work with developers, and participants will learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image production using Photoshop.

For more details and to apply, interested individuals should visit this page and complete the application form http://www.sxsw.hugeinc.com/web-development-intensive-austin-2013.html.

Job opening: Usability Architect at Office Depot

sasha — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:17:09 +0000

The Usability Architect is a new role at Office Depot and is junior to the Sr. Usability Architect. This role supports usability of the online design process and has responsibility for the success of mid-size projects. The Usability Architect will function as part of a cross-functional, matrixed team with responsibility for research, strategy execution, product definition, and design refinement. This role will function as an innovative designer, a product manager, a confident team member, team player, and skilled client partner.

See full posting for details:
http://jobs.officedepot.com/austin/ecommerce/jobid2969878-usability-architect-jobs

2013 Austin UXPA board members announced

Candice McFarland — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:40:32 +0000

We are pleased to announce the new Austin UXPA board members for 2013. They are Candice McFarland, President; Sasha Wolosin, Vice President; and Julie Lowe, Secretary.

Candice McFarland is the customer engagement manager for Dell’s B2B websites globally. What does that mean? Well, she’s a combo researcher/strategist with a huge dollop of user advocacy. (Go, IT pros!) Before that, she was in Dallas working with clients like Disney, Microsoft, Michelin and Moen on fabulous methodologies like usability testing, card sorting, cognitive walkthroughs and focus groups. When she’s not stalking Tom Tullis, you can find Candice watching reality dance shows and keeping things she reads in UTest a state secret.

Sasha Wolosin (www.sashawolosin.com) is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. Her current research focuses on the influence of motivation on human memory. Sasha has experience with UX research and design, and plans to work in these areas after completing her degree. She is passionate about good design, bikes, music and travel.

Julie Lowe is a Sr. Interaction Designer at Mutual Mobile. Coming from a usability research background, she loves being able to put findings into action through design. When she’s not working on reducing user tears, you can find her socializing with the UXPA and IxDA communities in Austin, going out swing dancing and tackling the occasional DIY home improvement project.

February Meeting Recap: Modeling the Experience with Travis McCutcheon

sasha — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:20:21 +0000

Thank you to all who attended the meeting on Tuesday! And a big thank you to our speaker, Travis McCutcheon. Through real world examples, Travis conveyed with energy and enthusiasm the importance of user research and iterative testing early in business development, and demonstrated how to implement these methods to create effective business models.

Slides from the meeting can be found here: http://l4m.co/uxpa

If anyone is interested in trying to seed these concepts within their organization, Travis can be reached at:

http://leapformankind.com
travis [at] leapformankind [dot] com

Job opening: Rock Star Senior UX Designer Wanted

Candice McFarland — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:51:36 +0000

Rock Star Senior UX Designer Wanted
When presented with a thorny problem, do you immediately grab pencil and paper to figure out the solution?
Are you always considering ways that the real world can better organize and present information (e.g. restaurant menus, store signage, forms from the DMV) so can can get in, get out and get on with your life?
Are you good friends with boxes and arrows? Post-Its and Sharpies? OmniGraffle, Visio, Illustrator and Axure?

If you answered an emphatic “yes” to these questions, we would love to talk to you.
Design For Use is a user experience consulting firm with offices in Austin, USA and Gurgaon, India.
We are looking for Information Architects and Interaction Designers with 3-5 years of experience who are passionate about their craft and want to make the world a better place through design. Together we can make brilliant experiences!
Considering the international structure of our team, living in Austin is not a requirement for this position. As long as you’re a good fit for the job, you have the option of working remotely.

Send your resumes and portfolios to:
David Richard
President, Design For Use LLC
drichard@designforuse.net

February Meeting: Modeling the Experience; UXPA Elections

sasha — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:19:52 +0000

At our meeting next week, Tuesday Feb 5th, Travis McCutcheon of Leap for Mankind will present “Modeling the Experience”, discussing how to use design activities to validate a business model.

We will also be holding elections for the 2013 Austin UXPA board briefly before the presentation. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please email us by Feb 2nd (contact: Candice McFarland, candice_mcfarland (at) yahoo.com). For more information: http://www.austinupa.org/2013/01/call-for-austin-uxpa-board-members-election-on-feb-5/

Presentation starts at 7 p.m.

Modeling the Experience

Travis McCutcheon

Success of new products depends on viable business models. Too often the model is formed around technology or marketing. Incorporating the voice of the customer into the foundation of your model allows you to create delightful experiences while building sustainable products. This presentation walks through a business model illustrating how each element corresponds to a design activity. It will encourage you to think holistically about product development while creating, delivering and capturing value.

Where:
Opal Divine’s Downtown
2nd Floor
700 W 6th St
Austin, TX 78701
http://www.opaldivines.com/

Opal Divine’s has great appetizers, dinners and beer. Bring your appetite.

When:
Tuesday, Feb 5th
Networking/Hanging Out/Eating/Drinking: 6:30 p.m.
Elections: 6:50 p.m.
Presentation: 7 p.m.

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/529460487084208/

Call for Austin UXPA board members: Election on Feb. 5

Candice McFarland — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:51:10 +0000

Dear Austin UXPA members,

We will hold elections on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to elect Austin UXPA board members for the 2013 calendar year. This is a volunteer (non-paid) position with the following benefits and responsibilities. We encourage you to reach out to the current board members (email addresses below) with any questions.

Deadline to express interest by email: Feb. 2

Positions include: President, Vice President, Secretary and Social Media Chair.

Benefits:

Steer Austin chapter of the national User Experience Professionals Association
Have access to the national organization’s resources
Be part of a great community with wonderful members

Responsibilities:

Help organize monthly meetings along with three other board members (no one person does all of these every month)
- Determine locations
  - Reserve chosen location
- Suggest/find/elicit speakers
- Bring supplies (pens, name tags, sign-in sheets, etc.)
- Be able to attend the majority of meetings throughout the year (usually the first Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8:30 p.m.)
Administrative
- Add new members to the Google Groups mailing list
- Post events on Facebook, our website and Twitter, as well as send out announcements to the Google Group
Social Media

January meeting: The Next Level of Card Sorting

Candice McFarland — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:45:06 +0000

Christine Holcombe and Valle Hansen of Design for Use will present, “Ours Goes to 11: The Next Level of Card Sorting.”

Card sorting may be one of the less sexy aspects of user research, but Christine and Valle’s new take on this practical exercise will provide participants with a new method for improving the labels, structure and overall usability of their websites.

While the traditional 30-card limit for online card sorting is effective in evaluating a small website, it may not reveal meaningful results for sites with thousands of pages. The ladies have developed a staggered card sort method that deploys several versions of a card sort that contain complementary content. The approach provides a “safety net” by testing a small group of content, but also enables deeper exploration through larger card sorts.

Christine and Valle will demonstrate their methodology by facilitating a live card sort using their staggered sorting method. We — yes, us! — will steer the demo, conducting the card sort ourselves and participating in the analysis.

Where:
Opal Divine’s Downtown
2nd Floor
700 W 6th St
Austin, TX 78701
http://www.opaldivines.com/

Opal Divine’s has great appetizers, dinners and beer. Bring your appetite.

When:
Tuesday, Jan. 15
Networking/Hanging Out/Eating/Drinking: 6:30-6:45 p.m.
Presentation: 6:45-7:45 p.m.

Please RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/events/584043414945922/

Austin to celebrate World Usability Day

Candice McFarland — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:25:41 +0000

Join the Austin user experience community Thursday, Nov. 8, as we welcome two speakers discussing the usability of financial systems: Danielle Smith of Paypal/X.Commerce and Stephanie Schuhmacher of NetSpend.

Stephanie Schuhmacher’s talk will be, “Money Outside the Mainstream.” Almost 10 million Americans either don’t have a bank account or have opted out of using mainstream banks. Learn more about the unique and complex financial challenges that affect the unbanked and underbanked, and how NetSpend identifies their attitudes and goals to design alternative financial products.

A huge thanks to Mutual Mobile for hosting us!

When:

6:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8

Where:

Mutual Mobile
206 East 9th Street, Suite 1400
Austin, TX 78701

RSVP on Facebook

September meeting recap: Accessibility 101 with Ella Jane Moore

sasha — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Thank you to all who attended our September meeting!

For anyone who missed it, Ella Jane Moore, the Community Programs Manager at Knowbility, came to speak to us about Accessibility. We learned about the basics of web accessibility such as providing captions and audio, using good descriptive language in alt text and links, the importance of not relying on color alone, and considerations for screen readers. We also learned about ARIA, the future in web accessibility standards.

Here is the link to the presentation.

Additionally, we learned about how to participate in Open AIR (Accessible Internet Rally). Participants have free access to training worth over $4,000, and will have the opportunity to win tickets to SXSW Interactive 2014! Registration is open now through October 1st: http://www.knowbility.org/v/open-air/

Other useful links:
Jim Thatcher’s page (check out the links in the right hand sidebar)
W3C before and after demos
JAWS- a screen reader

September Meeting: Accessibility 101

Julie — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:44:31 +0000

September Meeting: Accessibility 101 (plus, how you can get involved)

We are so excited to announce our September speaker, Ella Jane Moore of Knowbility.

Accessibility is fast becoming a hot topic in the development world: With a Justice Department ruling that websites fall under the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many organizations are scrambling to remediate their websites. Join us to learn the basics of accessibility – why it matters, how it improves usability, when in the development process it should be considered, and basic considerations and techniques.

We’ll also discuss Open AIR (Accessible Internet Rally), a fantastic opportunity to learn the ins and outs of accessibility while making an impact on your community.

Ella Jane Moore is the Community Programs Manager at Knowbility, an Austin-based 501(c)(3). She got her start in the nonprofit world making summer camps accessible to kids with special needs, and has graduated to doing the same for the Internet.

RSVP on Facebook

WHAT: September Austin UXPA Meeting: Accessibility 101

WHERE: Opal Divines, upstairs meeting room. 700 W 6th St, Austin, Texas 78701 (no host food and drinks available)

WHEN: Tuesday, September 4th, 6:30pm networking. 7pm meeting starts.

August Meeting Wireframe tools and tips

Craig — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 02:27:38 +0000

August UXPA Meeting: Wireframing tools and tips

Our August UXPA meeting is for anyone wondering what tools to use to create low-fidelity mock-ups. We have a panel of designers and testers who will share with you some of their favorite wireframing tools, and some tips and tricks they use when they are designing. After our panelists have their say, it’s your turn! We will open up the discussion to you and the rest of the audience to share your thoughts on tools, tips, tricks and more!

Our panelists include:

Tim Ballew – Tim will talk about Balsamiq and just maybe give a copy away during that meeting!
Amanda Klohmann – Amanda will talk about mobile considerations and using InVision to create interactive prototypes with wireframes
Sara Wingfield – Sara uses Illustrator but uses almost a “counter-wireframing” approach that offers you an alternative to wireframes

After the panelists review their favorite tools and techniques, it’s your turn to share your favorite tool with your fellow UX fans. This meeting will be at Opal Divines, and no-host food and drink will be available. Plan to arrive early and take advantage of the great networking, food and drink, and we’ll see you there!

WHAT: August Austin UXPA Meeting: Wireframing tools panel.

WHERE: Opal Divines, upstairs meeting room. 700 W 6th St, Austin, Texas 78701 (no host food and drinks available)

WHEN: Tuesday, August 7th, 6:30pm networking. 7pm meeting starts.

WHY: Learn about UX practitioners favorite wireframing tools, tips and techniques, and share your own!

HOW: There’s no fee to come by and learn some cool wireframing secrets, just RSVP on the Austin UXPA facebook wireframing meeting page and we will see you there!

June Meeting at BuildASign

Craig — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:13:05 +0000

“The Modern E-Commerce Site: Optimizing for Conversion and Usability”

Come join your fellow Austin UPA and UX fans for a real-world example of eCommerce usability optimization in practice. Our hosts, BuildASign, will be providing pizza and drinks while they walk us through actual examples from their eCommerce website optimization. In addition, the BuildASign team of Cameron and Bobby will offer both the business and the design perspective for what makes a good website experience.

The presentation will walk through the redesign of BuildASign.com as a case study for sharing best practices around creating a site that offers best-in-class user experience while still driving conversions. It will cover the primary challenges of the original site and the reasons for redesign. In addition, they will cover the strategy and goals for the redesign including early tests and the results shown. They will provide insights into the key elements for any redesign effort. Finally, they will review the plan moving forward.

RSVP: Please RSVP on our Austin UPA Facebook even page, and we will look forward to seeing you there!

WHAT: June Austin UPA Meeting, “Modern E-Commerce: Optimizing for Conversion and Usability”

WHEN: Tuesday, June 5^th, 6:30pm (networking) 7:00pm (presentation)

WHERE: BuildASign, 11525A Stonehollow Dr. Suite 100, Austin, TX. Located at the corner of Metric and Stonehollow

WHY: Come enjoy food and drinks while you learn about an tips and best practices from an actual E-Commerce site that is using UX and usability to improve conversion and sales.

BuildASign.com™ is a national e-commerce leader in custom signage and development of related industry innovations and software applications.

Senior UX UI Designer and Developer at Adlucent

Craig — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Job Opening for Senior UX/UI Designer and Developer at Adlucent

A friend of the Austin UPA sent us a recent job opening for Senior UX/UI Designer and Developer at Adlucent in Austin. Here’s the details:

As a Senior UI Developer, you will

Lead UI/UX efforts
Own interaction design
Work closely with our software engineers and product managers
Create clean, elegant code using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Contribute to the evolution of our style guides, markup library (e.g., future development and extension of widgets sets) and digital icon library

About You

You get slightly anxious if something is a few pixels off
You can bend JavaScript, CSS and HTML to your will
You excel at taking feature lists and turning them into clever and intuitive user interfaces
You have a great eye for stunning visual design
You love to collaborate with users, developers and product managers to make beautiful and simple software that’s a joy to use

Must Have

At least 3 years of solid UI/UX experience transforming your designs into actual code
Expertise in HTML, CSS and JavaScript
A design portfolio of completed works
Experience working in the software development environment
Passion for graphic design, human-computer interaction and interaction design
Strong eye for typography, color and hierarchy
Familiarity with user research methods
A commitment to producing quality, innovative work
Excellent communication skills
Desire to work in a collaborative environment where you thrive on iteration

Nice to Have

Icon design experience
Knowledge of HTML5 beyond the buzzwords
Experience with Backbone.js or Ember.js
Familiarity with version control systems, especially Subversion
Working knowledge of Java and GWT

For more information on this position:

http://adlucent.com/careers/

Review of Austin UPA Usability Workshop

Craig — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:37:50 +0000

Austin UPA Meeting Review: Usability Workshop

Usability testing workshop

Our Austin UPA chapter May meeting was a usability workshop and based on the feedback receive was in every way a resounding success!

Attendees had a chance to learn, via hands-on training, exactly how to conduct a one-on-one moderated usability session. Based on the survey feedback we received this was one of the best meetings yet, as members enjoyed having a chance to learn how to conduct a session, and got to flex their usability testing skills.

A few comments from the surveys included:

“I think the hands-on experience was great”
“Nice overview of user testing”
“Super helpful”

The meeting started with networking, always a favorite with our members. Each member had a chance to get to meet fellow members and learn a bit more about them, where they work, what they do and how they became interested in UX and usability.

Next, the meeting started with a quick review of the entire usability testing process, which among other things includes creating Personas, identifying critical tasks, developing a usability testing protocol, recruiting participants who match the Personas and conducting and analyzing the test. For purposes of this meeting we focused just on the moderation techniques necessary for a 1-on-1 performance based test.

The board then went through a brief demo of how a typical usability test works. Members watched as the moderator asked the user to try to accomplish a critical task on a website. In this case the critical task was to book train travel for her parents, who live in New Jersey, to visit her in Austin, Texas via amtrak.com. As it turned out, the usability of amtrak.com caused several issues. The group listened intently while the user tried to accomplish the goal, using the think out loud method so everyone could evaluate the experience.

User and moderator at the usability testing workshop

After the brief demo, our members broke into groups of three. One member took the role of moderator, one took the role of the user, and the third took the role of observer. Testing started by having the moderator ask the user to conduct one critical task on a website they were already familiar with. The moderator practiced asking non-leading questions to help probe for potential issues, or to gather additional insight into user expectations vs. the actual experience.

After ten minutes of testing, the group stopped and the observer provided feedback to the moderator on the technique he or she used, offering tips on what went well and where the moderator might want to focus on technique.

After the usability testing review was completed, the team of three switched roles, the moderator becoming the observer, the user becoming the moderator and the observer becoming the user role. The next session of 10 minutes started and at the conclusion of testing the new moderator received feedback from the observer. This process then continued a third time, so that each of the three participants had a chance to do each of the three roles.

Usability testing workshop in full action

At the conclusion of the workshop, each participant voiced their thoughts to the group on the key things they learned from the workshop. All members agreed the workshop was a resounding success and they learned practical information they could put to use immediately at their work. One participant even noted that just that quick test of his application had uncovered several issues he couldn’t wait to address the next day at work!

Based on the resounding success of this meeting we will plan on doing more hands-on workshops in the future around other UX and usability methods!

May Meeting: Usability Testing Workshop

Craig — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:26:54 +0000

May Meeting: Usability Testing Workshop

Hi Austin UPA members!

You’ve been asking for it, and we’ve listened! This meeting will be a hands-on workshop of how to conduct a 1-on-1 performance based moderated usability test. If you’ve ever wondered how to set-up and run a moderated usability test, or how usability testing works, this is your chance! We will conduct an example usability test for you to watch, explaining how it works and what to do (or not do).

After that it will be YOUR turn! We will divide you and your fellow members into groups and let you do your own practice usability test. If possible, make sure you bring your laptop with wireless so you have access to a website.

In this workshop, you will learn:

What is a 1-on-1 moderated Usability test?
How do you set up a moderated usability test?
Who do you test?
How do you run a moderated test?
What do you do with test results?

This is a great session for beginners or advance usability practitioners alike. Improving moderated usability testing is the easiest and fastest way to gather user feedback that can directly be used to improve performance of any website or application.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to get hands-on with usability testing!

WHO: Austin Chapter of the UPA

WHAT: Usability Testing Workshop

WHERE: The Atrium Office Building, 1st floor conference room. 8701 N Mopac Expy, Austin TX (http://g.co/maps/9c3ur)

WHEN: Tuesday, May 1st, 6:30pm Networking, 7:00pm session starts

WHY: Learn about how to conduct moderated usability testing or hone your skills

RSVP: Please RSVP on our Austin UPA Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/events/348516511871426/

We look forward to seeing you there!

Meeting Review of Your UX Career, Today, Tomorrow and Into the Future

Candice McFarland — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:32:52 +0000

We had a great roundtable discussion last week talking about individual members’ UX careers, as well as where we think our industry is heading.

What do our members do? Everything from information architecture (IA), research, interaction design, strategy, project management, graphic design, coding and teaching. Some UX professionals specialize in one area, while others have a more broad range of skills. We found that almost no two people share the same set of skills, and every job is different.

What is the future of the UX career? While we don’t know the answer, one thing is clear: Many companies, especially smaller ones, expect UX employees to have a wide set of skills.

So who’s in the best position right now with that wide set of skills? We think the answer is the IAs. We noticed the IAs in our group were most likely to be generalists rather than specialists, and came equipped with a number of UX skills.

How can the specialists in the group ensure they stay competitive? Either by continuing to specialize and maintain focus on what keeps us us or by adopting new skills, especially in the interaction design and information architecture areas.

Job posting for UX Designer

Candice McFarland — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:56:35 +0000

athenahealth is recruiting a senior ux designer for our Austin office.

This position is part of a small/growing cross-functional office in Austin. The role is to support the development of one of athena’s newer products. This is an excellent team with an ambitious project calendar.

athenahealth is looking for high-level design thinkers who can dive into complex design challenges and create solutions to help transform the health care industry. Our UX team of top-notch designers, copywriters, and usability researchers has grown significantly this past year, and we need additional talented interaction design professionals to join us in transforming the UX of health care applications. Do you have a passion for solving complex design problems, and for designing solutions that balance practical constraints with the needs of health care professionals for efficiency and clarity in multiple contexts? Do you thrive when working on critical business challenges at a fast pace on small cross-functional teams? Do you take pride working collaboratively to produce client value every day? If so, help us help doctors better manage their practices, patients, and cash flow as we revolutionize the health care process.

More info: https://sjobs.brassring.com/tgwebhost/jobdetails.aspx?jobId=608784&PartnerId=25409&SiteId=5492&type=mail&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=5492&JobSiteInfo=608784_5492&gqid=0

Job Posting for Senior UI/UX Designer

Craig — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:47:05 +0000

Hi all,

Here’s a job posting sent to us by a friend of the Austin UPA. If interested please contact Laura:

Senior Level UI Designer

Full-time

Cambridge, MA Relocation assistance offered

The company

My client is a small startup looking to make a big splash. With Google Ventures as their lead investor, they’re hoping to scale their product into a game-changer for the consumer web. And, lucky for designers, the organization truly believes that great design is the way to get this done. What they’re looking for: To put it simply, they need a solid UI designer that knows their way around HTML and CSS.

Responsibilities

Prototype user experiences with both low and high fidelity wireframes
Develop pixel perfect Photoshop comps of said wireframes
Work with their engineers to implement the experiences you design
In a pinch, implement designs into production-quality HTML and CSS
Where applicable, both adhere to and develop our brand guidelines.
Help concept new ideas for product and testing

Requirements

A great portfolio that demonstrates your design skills.

Working knowledge of front-end development — HTML, CSS, jQueryStrong Adobe CS skillsBFA/MFA or equivalent experience

Bonuses

Responsive design experience
User testing experience
Street Fighter Alpha 2 or NBA jam experience

What you’ll get from my client:

They only hire great people, so that’s what you will find there. They love their product, love working together and love to go home with the feeling that they accomplished something everyday. They’re looking for great candidates and take hiring very seriously.

Interested parties will please email a resume with current portfolio of great design sample to me for consideration.

Thank you!

Laura

Laura Hunter

Vivid Resources

424-237-2602-O

559-303-9018-M

310-919-1801-f

Laura.hunter@vividresources.com

April Meeting: Your UX Career — Today, Tomorrow and Into the Future

Candice McFarland — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:20:46 +0000

Hi all,

Join your fellow UX professionals for Austin UPA’s April meeting, a roundtable discussion on the UX career: today, tomorrow and into the future.

Networking starts at 6:30 p.m. and we’ll start the meeting at 7:00.

What do you do right now? Do you wear a bunch of hats? Or are you a specialist? Where would you like to be headed?
Where do you think our industry as a whole is headed? What are our options?
When someone asks you what you’re going to be doing in 5 years, what do you say? UX management? Really good at what you’re doing now?
Let’s read the tea leaves for what’s really going on in our industry.
Is the conversation around specialization/generalization or something entirely different – say moving away from UX and into marketing, product development or somewhere where UXers typically aren’t found?

Start the conversation now by Tweeting us at @AustinUPA.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 3, 6:30 p.m. networking, 7 p.m. meeting

WHERE: Atrium Office Building, 8701 N Mopac Expy, Austin 78759, 1st Floor conference room
Map: http://mapq.st/GJOKdT

RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/322703007784845/
—
www.AustinUPA.org
AustinUPA@gmail.com
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Meeting Review of Near Field Communication with Rachel Youens

Craig — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:00:08 +0000

Meeting Notes from the Austin UPA March Meeting: SXSW Preview of Near Field Communication Discussion with Rachel Youens

Rachel Youens giving a talk at the Austin UPA meeting regarding near field communication

Our latest meeting of the Austin Chapter of the UPA was a packed audience of UX practitioners who were receiving valuable insights into the latest on Near Field Communication. Our host and presenter, Rachel Youens of Mutual Mobile, provided an excellent overview and latest status on Near Field Communication, a cousin of RFID but with key user experience differences.

The meeting started with a very well received networking session, in which attendees had a chance to get to meet each other and learn more about their fellow UX advocates. The networking session included people looking to hire, and people looking for their next career opportunity, which provided to be very beneficial for all involved.

Austin UPA members listening to Rachel Youens discuss Near Field Communication

If you’ve not come to an Austin UPA meeting yet, and you are involved in any way with User Experience and would like to network, then be sure to attend one of our meetings! Austin UPA meetings are a great way to get introduced to the Austin UX community!

Yours truly, Craig Tomlin, President of the Austin Chapter of the UPA , started the meeting by introducing everyone to the Usability Professional’s Association (UPA). The UPA is an organization devoted to promoting good UX practices through research, education and networking. There are multiple benefits to being a UPA member, many of which are described in the UPA member benefits page.

With SXSW also coming up, a show of hands indicated that only a couple of the 25+ attendees were planning on attending. This is disappointing as there are multiple UX tracks, and meet-ups, for user experience fans. The major issue was the cost, which at the full Interactive-only rate of $950 is completely understandable, as that is VERY expensive especially given the economy.

Rachel Youens and Mutual Mobile, our host, provide free food and drinks which were very well received by the attendees. After the networking, Rachel began her presentation by providing a brief overview of Near Field Communication (NFC). Her presentation is a sneak preview of her 2012 SXSW discussion, NFC No Freakn Chance?

For those of you new to NFC think of the ability to pass data from one source to another like RFID, but enhanced because security is improved, as is the ability to pass more data. The “near” in NFC means your device needs to be not more than about (if I recall correctly) four millimeters away from the other device. This can mean problems if the chip is closed behind a glass divider or other object that increases that distance.

The security component of NFC is enhanced, Rachel explained, because payment transactions will require a PIN, unlike the current more loose security of RFID. However, this can cause problems as well because the usability of how users will tap devices, enter pins, and be informed of transactions completed is still something being worked on.

Rachel Youens speaking about near field communication at the Austin UPA meeting

Likewise, Rachel noted that NFC is itself still being worked on, from a standards point of view. There’s still much work to be done, including determining what icon to use, and how to notify users if a transaction has occurred, or not.

Rachel told the audience that an industry consortium composed of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon has banded together to create Isis, the NFC payment standard that they hope will become the new standard in secure mobile payments. But Rachel informed us that the latest news for NFC and Isis is troubling, because WallMart and Target have pooled their own resources to create a competitor NFC standard to NFC and Isis. Which one will eventually win out is at this point not a safe bet, according to Rachel.

After Rachel’s presentation we opened up the floor to questions, and to comments and feedback. There were really good discussions on the UX of Near Field Communication and the implications from a design and standards point of view. We finished the evening by thanking Rachel Youens and Mutual Mobile for their hospitality. Preliminary survey results from the attendees indicated this was an excellent presentation and excellent meeting!

If you’ve not yet been to an Austin UPA meeting, don’t miss out! Plan on attending one of the next meetings and you too can network with your fellow UX advocates and learn some very interesting and useful information!