May’s Refresh Detroit meeting will be on the 21st, from 6:30 to 8:30 at the downtown Ann Arbor District library in Ann Arbor. Map to the location.
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We will be having a few quick presentations by members of our great group, and general discussion on the latest news, challenges, projects, and ideas that the group members have encountered in their web related occupations/hobbies/activities.

The event like always is free to anyone who is interested.

The current speakers will be

Nick DeNardis

Designer of the Wayne State University Library and Information Science website. He will discuss the latest release of the website, their goals, process and challenges.

Brian Kerr

Information architecture, user experience, and django development guru. Exact topic details to come…

Paul Tarjan - Yahoo! SearchMonkey

The fine folks at Yahoo! are sponsoring this event and promise to bring lots of swag as well as give a short presentation on their new open source semantic web search in your own applications and websites. This new product they are releasing is called “Search Monkey” and you can read more at:

http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000523.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/24/yahoo-open-search…
http://searchengineland.com/080424-113600.php

We had a great meetup tonight as about 20 people attended our February meeting at the Ann Arbor District Library. Almost half the people attended for the first time, many referred by the a2b3 group (thanks for sharing the news about Refresh Detroit!).

Brian Reindel of Niche Retail spoke about JavaScript namespacing, constructors, and callback functions. We had a lively discussion about the various popular libraries, as well as the potential for developers and designers to use JavaScript without consideration for the user experience and accessibility issues involved.

Thanks again to Brian for speaking to our group; I really enjoyed the presentation. For those people at the meeting who asked about the slides and code samples, Brian kindly provided his presentation in PDF format for download (PDF: 103K).

Join us at the fourth annual Internet User Experience (IUE 2008) at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan the week of March 31, 2008-April 3, 2008. Organized by the Michigan Usabiity Professionals Association in collaboration with Washtenaw Community College’s Internet Professional Program, the User Experience Network (UXnet), Refresh Detroit, and other sponsors, the conference promises four days of presentations, panels, training sessions, and workshops on optimizing web sites so they are effective, compelling, and profitable for businesses.

I attended the event the first two years and can tell you I had a great time! Wonderful sessions, excellent panels, and the opportunity to network with other web professionals involved in designing and improving the user experience was, in the words of MasterCard, “priceless”.

The conference is invaluable for

• company web site managers and stakeholders
• product managers
• marketing professionals
• advertising professionals
• web developers
• user experience professionals
• information architects
• professional communicators
• students in any of the programs

Experts in search engine optimization, online communities, and user experience management will lead sessions at the conference. Tutorials and training are also available to attendees with 1/2 day and full-day workshops before and after the main conference days.

Discounts are available for Usability Professionals Association members and several other organizations, as well as full-time non-working students.

The event will be held at the Morris Lawrence Auditorium at Washtenaw Community Colllege (map).

For more information and details on registration, visit Michigan Usability Professionals Association or the conference website.

Just heard from Refresh-Detroit co-founder Dennis about another opportunity in warm California at Yodlee, the company that Dennis works at. As a point of reference, today in Michigan, the wind chill has the temperature hovering at 0 degrees Farenheit. Good to hear from you Dennis!

Yodlee is looking for a Product Manager - Personal Finance. Responsible for assisting in the development/maintenance of the strategic product direction and supporting tactical roadmaps for assigned products under the direction of management. Responsible for developing knowledge of industry trends, potential market opportunities in order to ensure appropriate convergence within the Yodlee PersonalFinance solution. For more info, check out the job description.

Has anyone used NVDA? If yes, I would like to know your thoughts on it, vs. JAWS or Window Eyes.

NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access) is a screen reader (free and open source) for Windows XP/Vista. I heard about NVDA from Steve Faulkner’s article, and wondered if others have used it. I installed it, found it easy to use, and used it to test a few of my client sites with Firefox under Windows XP.

Dennis Lembree, co-founder of Refresh Detroit, sent me a message about some great sounding job opportunities at his company in California. Great to hear from you Dennis! Thinking of you in California reminded me how warm the temperatures must be on the West Coast as we deal with negative double-digit temperatures with the wind chill here in southeastern Michigan.

Dennis’s company is Yodlee Inc., located south of San Francisco. If you’re interested in any of the positions, contact Dennis directly at dlembree at gmail dot com or Brittni Dickens at bdickens at yodlee dot com. If you contact Brittni, use Dennis’s name as a reference. The job opportunities are:

-Director Sales Operations
-User Interface Manager
-2 Product Marketing Managers
-2 Senior Engagement Managers
-Consulting Sales representative
-Regional Sales Managers (East, West, and Midwest)

More details about the positions can be found on Jobvite.

For our first meeting of 2008 Refresh Detroit will be partnering with the Michigan Usability Professionals and speaker/usability expert Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus.

Subject:

Live Website Usability Evaluations:
Branding, Messsage, Content, and Usability.

Commercial web sites wither or thrive based on their usability, upon
the translation of brand image to the web site, and the clarity of
their marketing message. But what about web sites for non-profit
organizations? Whether organizing volunteers, educating people, or
gathering donations… for the non-profit web site, usability,
branding, message, and content matter!

Come and experience Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus conducting evaluations on
a number of non-profit web sites that have been submitted by
attendees. This session provides you with a rare opportunity to see it
live, experience the interactions with the stakeholders and designers,
and, time and bandwidth permitting, discuss YOUR site directly with
Dave.
Time, Date, Location:

This meeting will be on January 30th, 2008, from 6-8:30 pm at the
Perficient office in Livonia.

Map to Perficient Office

Please RSVP to events@miupa.org. Also, if you are interesting in
submitting your non-profit website, please send a separate message to
events@miupa.org.

Price

Because we are teaming up with MIUPA there will be a fee, but it will be worth it!

$5 Students, $10 STC, Refresh Detroit and UPA members, $15 all others.

For more information visit MI UPA or Refresh Detroit

ForeSee Results Inc is currently seeking a Usability Auditor to conduct usability audit reviews aimed at improving the interface of websites to enhance the user experience. The Usability Auditor participates in all phases of the usability audit review delivery process—from conducting in-depth usability audits to delivering results verbally and in written format to the client. Specialized training will be provided by ForeSee Results.

Responsibilities include:

• Review satisfaction data and communicate with Satisfaction Research Analysts to determine area of focus for usability audit
• Conduct usability audits and write up expert usability evaluations
• Create slide presentations to support audit reports
• Deliver audit findings to client via PowerPoint presentations
• Conduct usability reviews of prototypes, including wireframes and requirements documents
• Management of usability audit database application
• Conduct ad hoc research regarding usability principles and best practices
• Act as internal resource regarding usability and the Usability Audit Review service
• Maintain ongoing professional development to stay current with key thinking in the field

Requirements:

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant usability experience in an online environment
  Bachelor’s Degree in Human Factors, Usability Human Computer Interaction, or other related discipline
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proven ability to work effectively as a team member
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work with minimal supervision
• Ability to work well with a variety of high-profile clients
• Good analytical and quantitative skills and the ability to make sound recommendations
• Keeps up-to-date with industry research and developments
• Solid interpersonal skills and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate in small and large groups as well as virtually
• Ability to clearly convey methodologies and report findings verbally and in written form
• Must be self-motivated, energetic, self-directed, extremely detail-oriented, well-organized, display effective time management skills, and able to multi-task
• Ability to create deliverables that are simple and direct
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook,
• Experience with virtual meeting software tools, Visio, and SnagIt preferred

Apply by emailing your resume and salary requirements to: servicesresumes@foreseeresults.com

3.7 Designs is moving office space until a great location on Main St in downtown Ann Arbor. We are looking for one small (1-2 persons) additional company to move into the space along with our current setup. The rent will be from $250 - $350 a month depending on what your needs are and will offer:

• Private conference Room
• Personal Storage Space
• Personal Desk / Area
• Shared Amenities (coffee, fridge, etc)
• Mailing Address + Logo on Door

Those interested please contact ross -izzzaattt- 3point7designs -dizzott- com

Currently we have the following small companies signed on board

• Facebook application development company
• Information Architect
• Search Engine Consulant
• Design + Marketing

Should be a great opportunity for project sharing and joint business growth!

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