Job in Usability

Here, you can find local (i.e. New England - New York) job opportunities that are available at our member companies, or have come to our attention via any other means. There is no charge for employers/recruiters to post these jobs, so any organizations or human resources recruiters who are looking for full-time or part-time usability/human factors professionals are encouraged to contact the chapter for posting. At present, please contact the Chapter President, Dr. Ruth Frank, or the webmaster with any requests.

On an associated note, several of our members are available for consulting/free-lance work. If you are looking for contract consulting help, please contact any of the individuals listed below directly.

Lastly we will provide a few links to web sites that specialize in human factors/usability specific job opportunities. Please contact our webmaster if you would like your site to be included on this list.

Current Job Openings

Information Architect at ESPN

This is a mid-level IA role, probably paying somewhere between $45-55/hr, with some flexibility. The position is anticipated to be a one-year contract.

Responsibilities:

  • Understand both business and user goals (and, as appropriate, helping to define/refine same with other team members)
  • Participate in user studies to understand user behaviors/preferences and build, from this understanding, informed user interface solutions
  • Assess the project's informational needs and dynamics
  • Scope, develop and understand technical considerations with the assistance of the project Technical Lead and, as required, with the client and/or third party partner(s)
  • Work collaboratively with designers to develop interface functionality (and when applicable, support the Senior IA)
  • Visualize concepts quickly and cleanly through sketching and other rapid prototyping methods
  • Produce clean, concise site maps, transaction flows, diagrams and interface schematics
  • Assist in authoring functional requirements and related proactive business communications
  • Present, clearly and concisely, various stages of interface design development to stakeholders
  • Keep all IA-related project files - paper and electronic - extremely well organized
  • Work collaboratively with Interface Engineers to define page types and templates for production
  • Participate in quality assurance checks during production

Candidates should possess:

  • 3+ years of experience in interactive media design (preferably within a creative team)
  • A minimum of 2 years in a role exclusively addressing information architecture
  • Ability to research, understand and organize specialized content
  • Excellent writing, speaking, presentation and interpersonal skills
  • Experience and/or interest in mentoring others
  • Proficiency in one or more of the following: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Visio, HTML, Dreamweaver

Please contact: Chris Kolarik, Account Manager - APEX Systems, Inc.
472 Wheelers Farm Road, 3rd Floor
Milford, Connecticut 06461
Office (203) 701-1140
Cell (203) 767-2928
Fax (203) 701-1141
ckolarik@apexsystemsinc.com
Posted August 15, 2008

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Work Practices Designer (User Researcher) ~ HCR Group

Curious about people, creative, smart & quick. . . If this describes you read on.
  • We are looking for people who understand people.
  • We are looking for individuals who enjoy technology.
  • Do you wish that software would work the way you want it to?
  • Does working in a team-based, collaborative environment interest you?
  • Do you enjoy travel?
  • Does finding the right piece to a puzzle bring you satisfaction?

Our client is looking for candidates who answered yes to the above. Our customer centered team-based approach is the framework for designing technology applications, websites, internal systems, etc.that their clients require help with? Contextual Design is their front-end, customer-centered design methodology used and taught world-wide.
Individuals receive the training and mentoring to excel as a Work Practice Designer (User Researcher) participating in the full design process -- from ethnographic field interviews to interaction design. Being a part of this innovative, disciplined process provides skills and training that our employees believe to be invaluable – and produces best-in-class designs for clients.
Those who have a background in the social sciences, technical writing, human-computer interaction, business analysis, information systems, user research or other related fields are ideal candidates for our Work Practice Design. Or perhaps you are a product manager or software engineer who wants to work in a small company environment and focus on designing products that are driven by actually face-to face customer research.
This position is ideal for someone with a Bachelor’s degree and 4-5 years of experience – or candidates with a Masters or PhD with 2+ years experience – and who are looking to expand their horizons by performing in a fast-paced, consulting environment. Travel is expected as part of this job.

We are looking for people with these characteristics:
  • Training or experience in ethnographic research or related methods
  • Experience with layout, wireframes, informational architecture, writing of specs and/or user research work
  • Eagerness to learn the Contextual Design process and follow it
  • Excited to produce innovative and practical designs that impact the life and work of the end user/employees while meeting the business needs of our client.
  • Exceptional communication skills, both writing and presentation
  • Good interpersonal skills, can get along easily with others working on small, collaborative teams over extended periods of time while maintaining a positive attitude
  • Able to track activities, stay organized, and eventually lead project

Special consideration will be given to candidates with any of the following: background in business process redesign or Six Sigma; speaks multiple languages. Join the organization that is in the forefront of technological design and client satisfaction with their user friendly, customer-focused processes. We offer an excellent benefit package, competitive salary and an opportunity to learn from industry leaders. Equal Opportunity Employer

Location: Concord, MA
Reports to: Sr. Manager, Work Practice Design

Please contact: Christine Rocha, Recruiter
HCR Group
179 Bear Hill Road, Waltham, MA 02451
781.665.2813
crocha@hcr-group.com
www.hcr-group.com
Posted August 19, 2008

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Senior User Experience Researchers and Designers ~ The MathWorks (multiple positions)

Come work at a great, stable company where:
  • The development organization understands and supports user centered design.
  • User centered design happens on our products, our web site, *and* the internal tools our employees use to do their jobs.
  • You can be part of a dynamic team of other usability specialists.
  • The company is profitable, growing, fun, and committed to changing the world with our products.

So what will you do? You will be responsible for providing user centered design activities related to several MathWorks product areas. You will work with teams to understand the user centered design needs of their projects and then develop creative solutions for meeting these needs. You will make recommendations to team members about what usability methods to use to answer their questions about users and design directions for their projects. You will work closely with the team members to help them develop user profiles and create task lists. You will help them create paper prototypes, and review online prototypes developed by others.  If your skills lie in visual and interaction design, you'll take on design projects for your teams. You will run usability tests, conduct interviews, organize surveys, and complete any other usability assessments you think are appropriate. You will help the developers' record and interpret the results, and you will be responsible for making sure that the project team understands what users' feedback means. You will help the team decide what to do about feedback, and will provide input for design decisions based on that feedback. You will participate in documenting requirements and functional design specifications.

Qualifications
  • BA or MA in cognitive psychology, human factors, or related field, or equivalent experience
  • 4-8 years as a usability engineer in software development, with direct experience with a variety of usability methods
  • Knowledge of MathWorks products or Perforce a plus
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
  • Ability to balance needs of a large number of concurrent projects


All positions are located in Natick, Massachusetts.
For more information or to submit your resume, please contact Amy Kidd, Manager of MathWorks Products Usability at akidd@mathworks.com

About The MathWorks

Join us in accelerating the pace of discovery, innovation, and learning in engineering and science. At the MathWorks, we cultivate an enjoyable, participatory, and rational environment that nurtures individual growth, appreciates diversity, encourages initiative, values teamwork, shares success, and rewards excellence. The MathWorks, creator of MATLAB® and Simulink®, was founded in 1984 and currently employs more than 1,800 people worldwide. The company has been profitable every year since its inception and is privately held.  Come join us!
Posted August 20, 2008

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Job Links

Here are some great links to national sites advertising jobs for all usability related- disciplines. Our Connecticut members will probably note that several of these openings are in the New York - Boston area, so may be of interest.

Usability Professionals Association
Human Factors Careers
Internet Technical Group Job Bank
HCIRN Job Bank
Boxes and Arrows

Consultants

Coming Soon!