Skills Required
Proven track record of applying interaction tools in products brought to market. Ability to think creatively and to champion innovative solutions. Proven ability to work with multidisciplinary team. High tolerance for change and ability to multi-task continuously. Proven ability to develop innovative HMIs. Experience with Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash, Photoshop, etc.

Contact John Shutko at Ford for more information

Learn more and apply »

Learn More and Apply »

Wednesday, April 25th, 6pm

Usually the last system to be implemented, but many times the most important lifeline for the customer, is the software help system.

Ideally, your software system is perfectly understandable and problem-free from lots of user testing and software iteration, but that’s usually not the case. Your customers may get frustrated and leave the site, and may even complain about their crappy experience to others. Providing your customers with effective Help is the last chance you have to turn a frustrating experience into a meaningful one.

As a User Experience professional, what Help strategies should you consider? What content do you need? How do you find an appropriate Help Authoring Tool for your software product? There are many vendor systems out there that offer many features. What do you really need? Attendees will learn about help system considerations such as: how to connect the help system to your software, content management features, content strategy, localization, statistics, and more, which will assist you in finding a solution that helps your frustrated customers become happy customers.

About Our Speaker

Elaine Meyer is a User Experience Specialist at ProQuest, an electronic and microfilm publisher in Ann Arbor, Michigan. With over 4 years experience managing, implementing, and producing content for user assistance systems, she has a good grasp on where and when users might need a little extra help. Elaine has implemented the ProQuest platform software user assistance (Help) system from it’s infancy, customized it to suit the platform, populated it with content, and localized that content into 18 other languages.

Before her role at ProQuest, Elaine was an application engineer for a manufacturing company. In her role, she made it her mission to provide pertinent information for her customers 24 hours a day through implementing and populating content for an online FAQ user assistance system.

Elaine earned her MSI degree in human-computer interaction (HCI) and Library and Information Services (LIS) from the University of Michigan School of Information in 2009, and is an avid cyclist, dog walker and veggie enthusiast.

When

Wednesday, April 25th
6:00 PM — Networking
6:45 PM — Announcements
7:00 PM — Speaker
8:30 PM — Wrap up and more networking

Location

Pure Visibility, Ann Arbor

Google Map

Parking is available nearby, including the Fourth & Washington parking structure.

Cost

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

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} michiganupa dot org.

User Experience Designer
University of Michigan MLibrary, Ann Arbor

The User Experience (UX) Department at the University of Michigan Library is seeking a talented and enthusiastic UX Designer. The ideal candidate will be able to create beautiful and usable interfaces, have a passion for understanding users, strong problem solving skills, and be invested in improving the library web experience. The UX Designer will focus on interface design but also take part in the full range of departmental duties, including user research/usability, accessibility, and web analytics. The UX Designer works in a collaborative team environment and participates in all stages of development – from concept to implementation.

This position will be a FULL-TIME, TWO-YEAR term appointment with the possibility of renewal. See the full job posting for more information and instructions for applying.

Contact Suzanne Chapman (suzchap-at-umich.edu) with any questions about the position.

Direct link to job posting: http://umjobs.org/job_detail/65627/user_experience_designer

Position Title Location (click on each link below for details–opens new window):

• Agile Developer/Tester II MI-Farmington Hills
• Systems Analyst II MI-Farmington Hills
• Web Services Manager MI-Farmington Hills

Description
Market Strategies is seeking a Research Director for the Usability Research & Consulting Group. The Research Director is responsible for developing relationships with current clients and prospects to generate new business, growing existing accounts, design and deliver custom research studies and ensuring that all deliverables given to clients meet or exceed expectations.

Responsibilities:

• Develop business relationships with new and existing clients.
• Prepare proposals for custom, projects involving high-end design.
• Serve as the primary client contact for all project-related issues and oversee project teams.
• Ensure the project and research design of each study meets the client’s objectives.
• Manage project budgets to ensure profitability and, as determined on a case-by-case basis, specific revenue goals.
• Conduct analysis and write reports.
• Presents research findings

Requirements

• Minimum 2 years of experience in sales of usability services or website consulting services, including direct client relationship and account management.
• Minimum 4 years of designing, conducting and managing customer experience evaluation of website, software or hardware projects including recruiting, questionnaire design, moderating usability test sessions, analysis and reporting of results.
• Ability to travel to client locations up to 40% of the time if necessary.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills

Desired Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in human factors-related discipline (cognitive psychology, industrial design/engineering, human-computer interaction, information science, etc.).
• Experience conducting research within one or more of our core industry groups: Communications, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology.
• Experience in selling and/or conducting website analytics reporting services using WebTrends, Omniture, Google Analytics, or similar.
• Familiarity with quantitative market research services: Brand studies, customer satisfaction modeling, discreet choice/conjoint, market segmentation, or messaging & communications.

Interested parties should direct inquiries to Shelly Wolfson, Corporate HR Manager, shelly.wolfson@marketstrategies.com, 734-779-6876.

Thursday, February 23rd, 6pm

As a user experience professional, how can you use web analytics data to measure how well a site works for users and show the effectiveness of your work? This presentation describes a method for cutting through the complexity of web analytics by finding a way to link business goals to users’ tasks and then to specific, measurable behavior in analytics. This will make web analytics more useful to you and help you communicate more effectively with business stakeholders.

There are a wide variety of metrics available to you, from pageviews to bounce rate and more, and they are open to interpretation with regard to user motives. That’s where the concept of analytics goals comes into play, by giving you a way to easily measure how many users are performing certain actions.

It is essential to isolate specific actions that users could only have completed intentionally, ones where you can be reasonably sure they are fulfilling their own goals (and the business’ goals). This talk will discuss an approach to eliciting specific actions that are relevant to users and measurable with web analytics, and therefore appropriate to evaluating the usability of a website.

This presentation will be grounded in real-world examples. It is geared toward people familiar with analytics, but it will be understandable for the analytics-curious, with just enough of an introduction to web analytics to provide context.

Attendees at this session will:

• Understand what can be measured with web analytics and what cannot be measured
• Choose measurable user behavior that reflects the usability of a
  website as well as business goals

About Our Speaker

Michael Beasley is the user experience team lead at Pure Visibility, an Internet marketing firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He has built their UX practice and incorporated web analytics heavily into UX activities. Mike earned his MSI degree in human-computer interaction at the University of MIchigan School of Information, has been active in his local chapter of the UPA (even serving as president in recent years), and is the author of a recent article on web analytics for User Experience Magazine.

When

Thursday, February 23rd
6:00 PM — Networking
6:45 PM — Announcements
7:00 PM — Speaker
8:30 PM — Wrap up and more networking

Location

MSU Communication Arts and Sciences Bldg. Rm 151, East Lansing
East Lansing, Michigan 48824

Campus Map
Google Map
Visitor parking is available in the structure just south of the Communication Arts and Sciences building on Red Cedar Rd.

Cost

Current students $5
Usability Professionals’ Association members $8 through Feb 15, $10 after that
All others $15 through Feb 15, $20 after that

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} michiganupa dot org.

This year, we were unable to gather enough candidates to hold an election. Although we have found members for our 2012 board, it’s not too late to get involved! The Michigan UPA’s event planning and communications rely on help from our local usability community. Please consider contacting us to discuss ways to help.

The 2012 officers are:

Mike Elledge

Mike Elledge is Associate Director of Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting (UARC) at Michigan State University. Mike performs a variety of activities at UARC, including client development, project management, user testing, focus group facilitation, and training. His interests include accessibility in web design and course management systems, and he has been active in the Sakai (sakaiproject.org) and Fluid (fluidproject.org) community source projects. Earlier in his career, Mike worked in consumer marketing and advertising for well-known companies such as Quaker Oats, Borden, Wells Rich Greene and Campbell-Ewald. Mike has an MSI from the University of Michigan, an MBA from Columbia University in New York, and an AB from Vassar College. He has been active on a number of boards including the CIC IT (Big Ten + One) Accessibility & Usability group and the Vestry at Christ Church Cranbrook.

Mike says: “The MIUPA has done a great job bringing together usability professionals in Michigan for interesting and informative sessions. I’d like to help.”

Timothy Keirnan

Tim observes people trying to get something done and then helps create tools for them to do it even better. Having worked for many years as a UX consultant after obtaining his master’s in Scientific Communication, he currently works inside an IT organization where he assists the design & development process from beginning to end.

Tim is a member of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society as well as the Usability Professionals Association. He co-founded the Michigan UPA chapter, has been its Secretary as well as President, and has given numerous presentations on UX research and design over the past 15 years at various local and international events.

In 2005, Tim created the podcast Design Critique: Products for People, which encourages usable designs for a better customer experience. Now in its sixth year, Design Critique episodes feature product reviews, method discussions, and author interviews in a wide-ranging format that can only be called eclectic. Check out Design Critique at http://www.designcritique.net.

Dave Mulder

Dave Mulder is a user experience designer for Libraries, Computing and Technology (LCT) at Michigan State University. Dave participates in the design, development, and evaluation of major institutional webpages, including the university’s homepage (www.msu.edu) and the university’s mobile website (m.msu.edu). His interests include usability research, mobile UX, and mobile web accessibility. In his free time, Dave works as a product designer for SoapBox, the company he co-founded in 2011, and volunteers time time to non-profits seeking an improved web presence. Dave graduated with a BS from Michigan State University in 2006, and is completing an MA in 2011. He is an active member of Lansing IxDA, Hackers & Hustlers, and regional GiveCamp events.

For at least the next 6-9 months, opportunities will likely be sporadic, so they might not be something that one would quit his/her “real” job for. But they are good for supplementing one’s income, for stay-at-home parents, and/or for people who are already consulting in the UX space. Here are a few specifics:

• We design web sites, employee tools, B2B portals, intranets, etc. for large and mid-sized companies in all kinds of industries. Currently, however, we are focusing on growing our Employee Productivity Group.
• Immediate needs are in the retail, hospitality, and restaurant industries, so experience researching and designing in these spaces is a plus.
• There are opportunities for both client-facing consultants and behind-the-scenes support personnel.
• Consultants work directly with clients with varying degrees of autonomy and leadership, depending on experience and demonstrated ability.
• Support personnel assist consultants by rendering sketches, creating/proofing test reports, etc. – also with varying degrees of autonomy depending on experience and ability.
• The majority of work is done from home, though consultants in leadership roles may need to travel for 1-2 days now and then to kick off projects, conduct an on-site study, etc. Travel is paid, of course.
• All contractors provide their own tools, but typically the Microsoft Office suite is sufficient.
• Time commitments vary, but most projects average about 20-30 hours per week for consultants, and 10-20 hours per week for support personnel.
• Projects can last anywhere from 1 to 3 months.
• Pay can vary depending on the contractor’s role, the expertise level, and the project.

Interested parties can send resumes to jobs@scoresby.com or they can contact me directly at the email address below. Thanks!

Dr. Kevin Scoresby, President
Scoresby Interactive
kevin.scoresby@scoresby.com