May 2013: Design workshop

We’ve done design workshops in the past, and they’ve proven to be popular events where our uxWaterloo community has been able to design solutions for real-world problems in a highly collaborative hands-on session.

For our May event, we have another great project lined up for the design workshop treatment.

How can a physician or pharmacist know whether a patient understands the directions provided for taking their medicine? The question is even more challenging when the patient is a senior citizen. Kelly Grindrod, of the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, thinks that a tablet app would be a great tool in answering that question. But what should the app look like? How should it behave? We’ll work in groups to generate ideas that explore possible solutions. We’ll even have some real-world users on-hand to work with on the design!

Bring your creativity and your curiosity!

Please note that this event is at the School of Pharmacy at King and Victoria in downtown Kitchener!

Register for the uxWaterloo May meeting. Hope to see you there!

Where and when

Tuesday May 21, 2013
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Room 7004, School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo
10 Victoria Street South (at King Street)
Kitchener, ON N2G 2B2

Sign up now to join the fun!

April 2013: Sound design for user experience

Designers continue to push the limits of mobile display while hardware manufacturers continue to expand the size of their devices’ screens. As hardware manufacturers reach the limits of what constitutes a mobile device, interaction designers need to start thinking outside the screen by exploring alternative sensory pathways.

Anyone who has experienced the intrusion of music or sound effects on a website understands the drawbacks of audio interface objects. From a user’s perspective, sounds in websites and applications are an unexpected and unwelcomed intrusion that, in most cases, offer no additional information or value. For most UX designers, the emotional impact of audio makes the risk of turning away customers is too high to justify wading into the highly complex and technical domain of audio design. Many have simply accepted the old adage ‘silence is golden’ and abandoned audio altogether.

Patrick Noonan, of Akendi, will present audio design recommendations that target the limitations of mobile GUI’s. These recommendations will highlight the suitability of audio features on the mobile platform and illustrate how when the same user-centered design process traditionally applied to visual elements is applied to audio elements, the result is rich, immersive mobile experiences that can save your next mobile interface design.

Register for the uxWaterloo April meeting. Hope to see you there!

Where and when

Thursday April 18, 2013
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, P2P Room
151 Charles St. W.
Kitchener, ON N2G 1H6

Sign up now to join the fun!

Job: Interaction Designer at Google

Location: Google in Waterloo, Ontario
Team or role: User Experience & Design

The mantra of the the User Interface (UI) team is: “Focus on the user and all else will follow.” As a UI Designer, you have a strong technical background and work closely with Engineers and Product Managers to design products that are simple but great for the user, focusing on interaction and visual design. Using your keen design aesthetic you design and conduct experiments with real users so that improvements to the user experience are based on real user behavior. Your job is to make sure that our products are intuitive, accessible and usable to our millions of users.

You design and lead the UI construction for complex projects with a broad scope and evolving objectives. You contribute to the overall product strategy through concept generation, prototyping and collaboration with with UX team to promote feature integration, as well as working with researchers to design user experiments to test your designs.

Please include URLs for an online portfolio in addition to resume. Submissions without a portfolio included will not be considered.

Responsibilities

• Help to define the user model and user interface for new and existing Google products and features.
• Develop high level and/or detailed storyboards, mockups, and prototypes to effectively communicate interaction and design ideas.

Minimum qualifications

• BA/BS degree in Design (e.g. interaction, graphic, visual communications, product, industrial), HCI, CS, or a related field (in lieu of degree, 5 years relevant work experience).
• 2 years relevant work experience.

Preferred qualifications

• 3 years experience designing outstanding web-based products for a consumer-oriented website.
• Excellent CSS and HTML skills; solid knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and/or Fireworks.
• Proven ability to act as a leader in communicating conceptual ideas and design rationale, all within a user-centered design process.
• Must be self-motivated to prioritize and manage workload and meet critical project milestones and deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build good working relationships and excellent problem-solving skills.

Area

Users come first at Google. Nowhere is this more important than on our Advertising team: we firmly believe that ads can provide useful information if, and only if, they are relevant to what our users wish to find. Hundreds of thousands of advertisers worldwide use AdWords to promote their products; hundreds of thousands of publishers take advantage of our AdSense program to deliver ads relevant to their site content. We build and maintain the platforms that have made Google what it is today, and are constantly innovating to deliver the most effective advertising opportunities of tomorrow.

Apply for this job at Google.

March 2013: The story of Swearnet

If you’re a fan of the Trailer Park Boys, you will NOT want to miss this month’s event. Even if you’re not a fan, mark your calendar anyway because the discussion is guaranteed to be lively.

Introducing Swearnet

Mike Smith, Robb Wells, and John Paul Tremblay — otherwise known as “the Boys” — are Canadian actors and comedians you might know from the Trailer Park Boys, The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour, and now Swearnet. This month, we get an inside look at the design and launch of Swearnet.

Swearnet is a new channel for the the Boys to share their style of humour online. It permits them to keep ownership of their intellectual property and better monetize their lives as actors — in other words, they can own the business instead of handing it over to major media outlets and multinational empires. It also frees them from regulatory bodies such as the CRTC and FCC, which to their frustration impose limits on the number of times they can say ****, ****, or even **** *** **********.

Learn about the design and launch of Swearnet

Our guide for this journey is Dan Nedelko of ArtBarn and Honeypot Marketing in Cambridge. Dan has worked with the Boys to make Swearnet’s vision a reality, guiding the production of the website. He’ll share lots of juicy insights into both the design process and the outcomes of the launch, in a 90-minute meetup you won’t soon forget.

The design concept behind the launch of Swearnet is a lot of fun: in a series of weekly videos, the Boys create a narrative arc in which the Swearnet website gets designed and developed by Randy, one of the show’s characters. In each video, they harangue Randy for being such a terrible designer while resetting his priorities for the next week; and with each new video, the website itself changes to reflect Randy’s most recent work, which continues the cycle.

If you’ve ever complained about having a nightmare client, you’ll relate to Randy’s situation. Though it’s unlikely you’ve ever had a client speak so… well, so frankly of their feelings about your work.

Please register for this free event

WARNING: Expect to encounter LOTS of foul language! We’ll be showing videos from Swearnet that make it obvious where the site got its name.

Tuesday March 26, 2013
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Private room at The Barley Works
(upstairs in the Huether Hotel)
Note the location change. We are no longer in the Lion Brewery downstairs.
59 King St. North
Waterloo, Ontario

Job: Usability Specialist

Job: Usability Specialist

Company: Desire2Learn

Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Industry: E-Learning

What would I be doing in this role at Desire2Learn?

The Usability Specialist will work across product teams to define and implement user experience standards and best practices. They will provide research support at all phases of the design process.  To drive integration of research findings, the Usability Specialist will develop written summaries and concept designs.

The Usability Specialist will also promote inclusive design by researching, specifying, designing and advocating for accessibility-oriented features and functionality.  Additionally, they will act as an ambassador for Desire2Learn user experience both internally and within the larger user community.

What would my main duties be?

• Conduct research into ergonomics and human-computer interaction (HCI)
• Ensure overall consistency and ease of use of the product suite
• Conduct design reviews
• Responsible for accessibility reviews and evangelism
• Conduct remote and in-person user research
• Facilitate user-centered design practices throughout the Product Design function
• Create and maintain all necessary patterns and design guides

What is Desire2Learn looking for from me?

• Strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Experience planning and facilitating usability testing, focus groups, and customer interviews
• Experience with software development life cycles including Agile or other project methodologies is an asset
• An exceptional understanding of fundamental design principles and graphical design fundamentals
• Knowledge of eLearning and/or Learning Management Systems is an asset

Education Recommendations

• Post-secondary degree in human factors or interaction design (or equivalent professional experience)

Company Description

Be part of the excitement as Desire2Learn continues to grow and expand! Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn is a stable and growing company that is transforming the way people teach and learn. Desire2Learn is a leader in providing innovative eLearning solutions to academic and other leading organizations around the world. We have a proven track record of client success. Our outstanding service and support has made us the partner of choice for leading organizations around the globe. We take great pride in providing our clients with the best learning environment possible. As our name suggests, we’re passionate about creating solutions that can ignite the desire to learn in anyone. With a focus on user experience, accessibility, mobility, platform security and reliability we deliver systems that our clients and their learners can count on anywhere, anytime.

To support our unique and thriving culture, Desire2learn’s highly skilled employees are encouraged to drive innovation and excellence in a dynamic environment which promotes collaboration, continual self-improvement, and effective communication. We look for people who want to make an impact and be a part of something big. We are seeking superstars who demonstrate a strong entrepreneurial drive, an enthusiastic and dedicated mindset and a thirst for challenge. The ability to think on your feet and work successfully both in independent and team-settings is essential. You will grow professionally as you help us grow as a leader in providing eLearning solutions!

Visit www.desire2learn.com/careers to learn more about our exciting career opportunities and the amazing employee experience offered by Desire2Learn! Or, apply for this job here.

Reality was indeed augmented at our last meeting

Daniel Iaboni delivered a wonderful intro to designing for augmented reality last week at our February meeting at Felt Lab. Thanks again to Daniel for traveling from Toronto to generously share his knowledge with us. Thanks, too, to REAP for hosting us at Felt Lab, a perfect venue for this particular event.

Daniel has made his slides available on slideshare for those of you who want to able to review them, or who missed the event.

See you next month!

Job: User Experience Designer

Job: User Experience Designer

Company: Innosphere Systems

Location: Guelph, Ontario

Innosphere Systems, a Guelph-based software and information technology company, is looking for a User Experience Designer. All the details can be found in the position description on their website.

February 2013: Intro to Augmented Reality with Daniel Iaboni

The last few years have seen augmented reality finally breaking into the mainstream. Designers have an exciting opportunity to create augmented reality interfaces. To do so, they need to consider not only the context of use, but also the environment in which the information is presented.

Daniel Iaboni is dedicated to creating and improving designs to provide an exceptional interaction among users, their environment and their tools. To do so, he draws upon extensive knowledge from the fields of engineering, computer science, psychology and anthropology. In this session he’ll walk us through important concepts in designing for augmented reality, including input and display technologies, current interaction techniques, and approaches to prototyping.

Daniel is currently Lead User Experience Specialist at Akendi, where he works on projects for a variety of clients.

Thursday February 21, 2013
5:30 to 7:00 pm
FELT Lab at Quarry Integrated Communications
1440 King Street North, St. Jacobs, Ontario
[Map]
Sign up now, as space is limited!

Job: UI/UX Developer

Job: UI/UX Developer

Company: Axonify

Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Immediate Opportunity for an Interactive Designer for Multiple Projects.

Axonify is revolutionizing the way organizations think about and deliver corporate learning. Our highly skilled and cohesive team of developers is building the next generation eLearning platform utilizing the hottest development technologies available, including the latest HTML5 patterns for Web and Mobile Web applications and the most recent Javascript and CoffeeScript frameworks. Everything from source control to production databases are hosted in the Cloud.

Axonify is looking for developers who want to leverage and grow their HTML5 skills, while building world-class applications. We are looking for a gifted UI/UX developer who is interested in creating a fun and engaging user experience for our corporate clients.

Skills/Experience

• Web Design
• UI/UX Design
• Graphics Design
• CSS3
• HTML5
• Game Design
• Ability to collaboratively in a team environment
• Ability to translate requirements into an elegant cross browser user interface
• Ability to create rapid prototypes using CSS and HTML
• Experience using Photoshop, Illustrator and wireframing tools like Balsmiqu

Does this sound like you? If you’re looking for a new challenge, we want to hear from you. Send us an email at: hr@axonify.com.

January 2013: Designing the restaurant experience

This month, we stretch our skills (and tease our taste buds) by getting an inside look at the role of design in the restaurant business. Many of the principles behind designing great experiences are universal, so there’s lots to learn by exchanging ideas with our compatriots in industries outside our normal fields of interest.

And as far as fields of interest go, it’s tough to knock great food & drink!

Jody Palubiski (Managing Partner) and Cindy Perri (Brand Guardian) of the Charcoal Group are hosting us at the newly-opened Beertown in Waterloo Town Square. Jody and Cindy will describe the goals, considerations, and challenges involved in designing the restaurant experience. They’ll cover ground such as the physical space, menus, logos and visuals, and more. Much of our time together will be open Q&A, so it’s a great chance to learn something new and to draw connections with your own design practice — regardless of the medium in which you work.

Come prepared to buy your own drink during this event, and there’s a strong chance you’ll find a nice selection of foods to accompany it…

Attendance is limited, so please register for this event!

Wednesday January 23, 2013
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Beertown Restaurant
(ask for UX Waterloo when you arrive)
Waterloo Town Square
75 King St. South
Waterloo, Ontario