If you feel qualified and are interested please send me your resume to mgaigg at esri.com. I'm also happy to answer any kind of question (except payment) you might have.

My job here

Job Description

Responsibilities

• Create sophisticated, imaginative, efficient, and visually striking interfaces for front-end solutions
• Design reusable UI components by utilizing or building UI framework components
• Develop storyboards, mock-ups, and prototypes to communicate ideas for navigation and interaction models
• Evaluate requirements and initial mock-ups; make technology recommendations that support optimal construction, maintenance, and performance
• Translate complex functional and technical requirements into detailed architecture and design prototypes
• Ensure cross-browser/platform integrity of Web designs
• Work closely with software developers and software testers to create a working end-to-end solution
• Define, maintain, implement, and enforce style guides, standards, reusable templates, and best practices for client-side software development
• Leverage the latest developments in Internet technologies
• Serve as a technical resource and mentor

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s in computer science, graphic design, visual design, human factors engineering, interaction design, information architecture, or other relevant field
• A minimum of five years of experience in user interface design, information architecture, user-centered design methodology, and implementation in complex enterprise environments
• Significant and proven experience demonstrating innovative UI visual design skills
• Ability to balance designs with the understanding of technical constraints within a software development environment
• Highly proficient with cross-browser/platform CSS, HTML, XHTML, and JavaScript; knowledge of browser compatibility issues and their workarounds
• Extensive experience using JavaScript libraries such as Dojo and jQuery
• Good understanding of user experience (UX) and user-centered design (UCD)
• Ability to take a concept from sketch to final implementation
• Ability and willingness to take ownership of projects and help drive them to effective implementation
• Exceptional attention to detail, organizational, communication, and presentation skills
• Passionate about novel user interface design and software development

Recommended Qualifications

• Experience with GIS/ESRI products and solutions
• Experience with .NET, C#, Silverlight, and Expression Blend
• Experience with JSP, Java Web frameworks, Flash, and ActionScript
• Experience with Linux, PHP, and MySQL
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite including InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator
• Ability to interface with customers, gather requirements, and implement new solutions

Employment Fraction

Work Location

Setting the stage

Learning the hard way

Catharsis

Effect on UX

Thx….this rocks……I am soooo gonna use u for this shit :)

Lessons

• Take your customers serious.
• Turn supposedly unwanted correspondence into contextual insight (observations drawn from data that resonates with an understanding of the business).
• Turn them into business opportunities. Let them help you make better and faster decisions or simply improve the quality and perception of your application.
• Optimize your automated emails following the guidelines for transactional email

General Discussion

Advantages

• Reduced (or no) travel time and expenses.
• Higher exposure through easy screen sharing (managers can sneak in easily).
• Actual user environment, familiar and comfortable.
• Possibly fewer drop-outs.

Disadvantages

• Facilitator not physically present (degree of separation can be challenging).
• Can't see facial expressions or non-verbal cues.
• Difficult to build rapport and trust.
• Difficult to control environment.
• Possibly technical difficulties (firewall, etc.).
• Setup and use of software or usability lab might be challenging and requires a liaison.

Time estimates & Costs

Task Breakdown

• Preparation (18 hours)
  • User screening: 8 hours
  • Task creation: 8 hours
  • Environment: 2 hours
• User testing (10 hours)
  • 2 hours per user
  • 5 users per round
• Post-test (32 hours)
  • Test report: 16 hours
  • Implementation: 12 hours
  • Communication: 4 hours

Summary: Our Time

How it works

Software

UserVue

Morae Manager

Session

Participant Requirements

Operating System

Web Browser

JavaScript

Security?

Can anyone "eavesdrop" on my session?

Are copies of my session data stored anywhere?

What are your experiences with Remote User Testing?

References

• Bolt, N.; Guide to Remote Usability Testing; http://www.ok-cancel.com/archives/article/2006/07/guide-to-remote-usability-testing.html
• Gough, D., Phillips, H.; Remote Online Usability Testing: Why, How, and When to Use It; http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/remote_online_usability_testing_why_how_and_when_to_use_it

Goals of eGovernment

• Connect citizens with legislative offices
• Communicate faster and more targeted
• Leverage access to public services (enhanced productivity with reduced effort)

Steps to improve eGovernment

1. Report
2. Transact
3. Interact

Get it out there

• What information is interesting?
• What is already available?

Make it useful & usable

• Pre-digest the information (e.g. into charts, comparisons, …)
• Understand the citizen’s needs (e.g. Spanish language, search, text size, …)
• Assist citizen’s in finding the information (sometimes they don’t know it exists)
• Avoid: limited business focus, internal focus, lack of shared resource

Provide self-service

• Assist citizens to walk through business logic (avoid unnecessary pages, forms, fields, …)

Track improvement

• Establish a baseline (best practices review, scorecard, usability testing success rates, web analytics, call center volume, server logs, …)
• Validate improvements (success rate, task time) & seek for support within your organization for doing this
• Continuously track usage
• Why? Avoid falling back in national ranking, reduce costs for service calls, …

Make it engaging

• “Will? Can?” Will citizens use the service? Can they find it?
• Make it exciting
• Use experiences or technologies that are current and up to date (videos, gadgets, …)

Embrace the future

• Become creative to engage citizens in governmental issues (using the citizen’s language), e.g. upload a photo of the damaged street (http://www.fixmystreet.com/)
• Encourage citizens to interact through social tools

Erase boundaries

• Integration of “Report”, “Transact” and “Interact” means to remove the disparity between organizational structures of governments and the mental models of the citizens
• Understand and channel the motivation of citizens to use online services
• Integrate offers from multiple agencies into one comprehensible user experience

Start a movement

• Create a community by involving State & Agency Leadership, Agency CIO’s and Webmasters
• Recognition and adoption are key aspects
• Embrace the chaos
• Provide useful & usable tools
• Reward contributions & demonstrate progress
• View webmasters as a partner, not as recipient

Transparency

• The user’s perspective of the organization and the actual organizational structures are mostly very different. Citizens should not need to know how an agency is organized or be familiar with its terminology.
• Focus on the citizen means to understand how they look for information!
• Integrate internal processes into one intelligent solution (iGov = integrated Government)
• Understanding the level of literacy is key to success. Easy language assists citizens in filling out bureaucratic forms.

Government must view itself as a business

• Attract and satisfy citizens. Beware of competition and consider concepts like ‘brand loyalty’. Effective interaction adds benefits to citizens.
• Convert visitors into customers meaning that citizens become active online users of the services.
• Broaden the focus onto international audience which is important to attract entrepreneurship and investment capital and is a good indicator of a strong technology market and research and development environment.

Assistance through technology, tools and continuous improvement

• Support CIO’s and webmasters through tools like design templates, standards, guidelines and an effective means of governance.
• Adjust technology to changing market conditions, population demographics and the user’s level of expectations.
• Create a culture and long-term commitment (=institutionalization) of usability within the agency!
• Establish a baseline of improvement and continuously validate and improve through benchmarks.

Your thoughts?

References

• Straub, K., Gerrol, S.; Designing the e-government experience through citizen-centered usability; Human Factors International, Inc.; White paper; March 6, 2008

UCD tries to optimize the user interface around how people can, want, or need to work, rather than forcing the users to change how they work to accommodate the system or function.

Purpose of UCD

• Who are the users of the application?
• What are the users’ main tasks and goals?
• What are the users’ experience levels with the application?
• What functions do the users need from the application?
• What information might the users need, and in what form do they need it?
• How do users think the application should work?

Benefits & Return of Investment

• Increased usability
  • Higher degree of customer satisfaction
  • Continued business
  • Higher revenues
• Project management optimization
  • Focus on important functionality early
  • Unforeseen user requirements
• Reduced costs
  • Training costs
  • Help-Desk calls and service costs

UCD Principles

• Focus on users’ needs, tasks and goals
• Spend time on initial research and requirements
  • Identify your target audience and observe them (accomplishing their tasks)
  • Let users define product requirements
• Emphasis on iterative design process
• Evaluate system on real target users

Summary

Say NO to your Clients

What you should do

• Design products with just enough features to stimulate sales
• Ensure the features are easy enough to use once the customers start using them.
• Provide a variety of simpler application, each tailored to a particular task.
• Remind your client and your team about the main task that enables their users to do something outstanding.

When to use

Cost

Output

Sample Size

Pro's / Gains

• Discover what users want/desire/belief
• Observe group dynamics and organizational issues
• Show users spontaneous reactions and ideas

Con's / Disadvantages

• Don’t trust what people say or pretend to do
• Possible bias through specialized groups

How to perform

• Select representative participants.
• Identify problem area (what you want to learn).
• Prepare a script for the moderator to follow.
• Hire a skilled moderator (facilitator).
• Allow flexibility during the test to keep the discussion flowing.
• Tape and/or observe the test.
• Create good notes of the test.