Refresh the Triangle

Monday, December 21, 2009

Refresh 024 — HTML 5 Now!

Durham, NC — Thur, Jan 28, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

HTML 5 provides us with all sorts of new abilities as web designers. We have new tags and attributes, richer form fields, client-side storage, and more. We’ll talk about how you can start using these features today and how to use them in a cross-browser friendly manner.

Speaker:
As the development director of Viget Labs‘ Durham office, Clinton Nixon institutes Agile development methodologies to deliver RoR-based custom solutions to clients. Clinton has more than a decade of experience in the industry and is an enthusiast for test-driven development, esoteric computer languages, and kittens.

Location:
Relevance
200 North Mangum Street
Suite 204
Durham, NC 27701

Monday, December 14, 2009

jQuery & JavaScript Camp

Join us for the second NC jQuery and JavaScript camp, an informal day centered around jQuery, the popular JavaScript library, and the JavaScript language itself. We’ll do things in the barcamp style, making a list of topics/presentations at the beginning of the day and seeing where things go from there. If you have something to share, whether it’s simple or fancy, we want to hear about it — talks can range anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.

Featured speakers will include Scott Gonzalez, lead developer for the jQuery UI project, and Peter Higgins, lead developer for the Dojo JavaScript Toolkit. Proceeds will benefit open-source JavaScript projects, including jQuery and Dojo.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Refresh 023 — Delivering a Responsive UI

Durham, NC — Thur, Dec 3, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

Update (Posted 12/1/2009):

Unfortunately, Rebecca is down for the count with back problems, so we’re going to simply meet up for drinks this month. Join us at City Beverage during the usual Refresh time slot of 6:30-8:00pm. Hope to see you there:

City Beverage
4810 Hope Valley Rd # 105
Durham, NC 27707-6631
(919) 401-6500

Thanks to iContact for the willingness to host again, and get better quick Rebecca! We’ll look forward to your presentation at a later date:

As user interfaces get more complex and browsers become home to more and more application logic, front-end performance becomes a pressing concern. Add mobile to the mix, with its slow connections and brutal cache limitations, and front-end developers have a host of challenges on their hands these days. It’s no longer enough to be able to wrangle HTML and CSS into submission—front-end developers have to understand caching, cache-busting, HTTP response codes, combination and minification of files, lazy loading, and more. At this month’s meeting, we’ll talk about the know-how that today’s front-end developers need to bring to the table to develop rich, performant, scalable web experiences.

Speaker:
Rebecca Murphey is an independent front-end architecture consultant, helping companies understand, manage, and improve the client side of their applications. She is an active member of the jQuery community, a contributor to the upcoming jQuery Cookbook from O’Reilly, and a regular contributor to JSMag, the magazine for JavaScript professionals. She lives in Durham with her partner, two dogs, and two cats.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Refresh 022 — Designing Outside the Browser

Raleigh, NC — Thur, Oct 22, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

As designers, we’re constantly looking around for sources of inspiration and influence. Spending all day working on the web, it can be tempting to limit one’s gaze to other websites. While many of the challenges we face on the web are unique, in this talk, we’ll look beyond the browser window; at the techniques designers in other disciplines have used to solve their unique design problems and how we can apply those lessons to our own work on the web.

Speaker:
Richard Powell is a freelance web designer working in Chapel Hill. Working solo and as a Terralien crew member, Rich has had the opportunity to design and build sites for saddle pad vendors and underwater photographers, acupuncturists and investment firms, software consultants and massage therapists. He enjoys the challenges of finding just the right arrangement of pixels and tags to fit each client. When the glow of the LCD becomes too much, he loves taking a quick break to play “Hullaballoo” with his wife and 2 year old daughter.

Location:
Capstrat, Inc.
1201 Edwards Mill Road
First Floor
Raleigh, NC 27607

Director of Interactive Operations at Capstrat

Do you love all things interactive? Do you have an interest in managing and growing an awesome team of interactive minds?

Capstrat seeks a dynamic interactive leader to join our team. Our Director of Interactive Operations will be responsible for managing the delivery and operation of Capstrat’s Interactive projects and campaigns.

This position will report to the Executive Vice President of Interactive and be involved in delivery management, 3rd party management, operations and people management. You will play a team leadership role, leading a group of talented developers to deliver projects for multiple clients. You will also be held accountable for key metrics like profit margins, client satisfaction and of course quality of work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage the day to day development teams’ schedule, resources, personnel and quality of work.
  
• Direct the delivery and financial profitability of the interactive team balancing scope, time, cost and quality.
  
• Develop proposals and costs and timelines for new business development.
  
• Candidate must be able to present ideas and proposals to potential new clients.
  
• Drive compliance and innovation of organizational processes and tools within the team, including quality standards.
  
• The director will have direct reports. He/she is responsible for managing them and providing feedback and quarterly reports.
  
• Partner with Executive Producer and the Creative teams Traffic Director to ensure resources are assigned correctly and timelines are being met.
  
• Identify and realize business opportunities with new or existing clients.
  
• Share and leverage best practices across the delivery leadership community.
  

EXPERIENCE GUIDELINES:

• Bachelor’s degree, advanced degree desired.
  
• 7-10 years relevant work experience, including leadership experience in leading large/medium sized client engagements in an ad agency or interactive shop.
  
• Experience in managing multiple full project lifecycles from inception to final delivery - creative, marketing and technology focused.
  
• Strong experience managing Web development teams.
  
• Must be able to manage multiple projects at the same time and be able to handle course and scope changes with ease.
  
• Experience in some or all of the following technologies: Django, .Net, HTML, Flash.
  
• Deep understanding of the digital and advertising space
  
• Strong analytical skills and business judgment
  
• Strong leadership skills, with prior experience of managing teams
  
• Extensive program management and client interaction skills
  
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
  
• Deep understanding of multiple roles and how they work together in an agency (flash, design, copy and front-end developers, media, strategy, research)
  

To apply for this position, please email your resume with cover letter to careers@capstrat.com. 

Senior Interactive Art Director opening at Capstrat

Capstrat is a multi-disciplinary, media-neutral and mega-hyphenated creative communications agency seeking a problem-solving, concept-focused, passion-fueled and equally multifaceted Interactive Art Director.

We’re a multi-disciplinary, media-neutral and mega-hyphenated creative communications agency seeking a problem-solving, concept-focused, passion-fueled and equally multifaceted Interactive art director.

We’re look for game-changing talent that thrives in redefining expectations. Is that you?

Does your portfolio show a strong grasp of concepts, user-centered design and your understanding of the importance of design in strategic business thinking?

Does your background include six or more years of experience and a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design, Interactive Design, or equivalent? Do you get CSS-based web layout, HTML, DHTML and XHTML, and can optimize graphics for web? Do you know online design from usability to information architecture to typography? In short, can you tell a story online?

If your aesthetic sense is strong and you know what makes a truly great interactive experience. If your inspiration is contagious and you’re comfortable presenting to clients, hiring illustrators and photographers and mentoring the less experienced. If you’re up on emerging trends, shunning the expected and sweating the details, then we need to meet.

We know we’re asking a lot. But we offer a lot in return. We have strong relationships with a roster of visionary clients, which means nonstop opportunities to do great work.

Further, Capstrat is a company that truly puts its employees first and believes in a healthy work-life balance. We have some great benefits too, which you’ll learn more about. Check out our stuff, send us yours and let’s see if there’s a fit.

Capstrat creative sampler: www.capstrat.com/examples/hotlist/

To apply for this position, please email your resume with cover letter to careers@capstrat.com. Be sure to provide a link to your portfolio or attach a PDF containing work samples.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

UI Engineer opportunity at Bronto Software

Do you have a love of design principles, next generation web user interfaces and coding?  Do Javascript, CSS and HTML comprise your native language? Then check out the UI Engineer opportunity at Bronto Software.

Bronto Software, a dynamic SaaS organization, is seeking a well-rounded User Interface (UI) Engineer to assist in the development of our web application.

The User Interface Engineer’s primary responsibility is to drive the interactive design process from initial concept through implementation.  The UI Engineer will work closely with the product team and other engineers to develop models/mock-ups, wireframes, workflow, and the final user interfaces.  The engineer set the course for the application appearance and usability for all existing and new features within Bronto.

Bronto is expanding our client list which includes: Trek Bikes, Gander Mtn, and Duke University.  The UI Engineer will have a direct impact on this growth and the marketability of our application.

If you have the technical experience and the self-motivation required, we would love to hear from you!  For immediate, confidential consideration, please apply online at bronto careers site

Requirements include:

• BS degree in Computer Science, Humand Factors, HCI or related area
• Extensive experience with web UI technologies, including HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX, and JSON
• Experience with OOP and SQL (PHP, Ruby, or Perl a plus)
• Experience with MVC frameworks
• Comfortable developing in a Unix/Linux environment
• Must provide a portfolio or examples of work with resume
• Local candidates only, relocation is currently not available
• Eligibility to work in the US without sponsorship
• A sense of humor helps too!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Web Developer for Hire

We’re pleased to announce that Caktus Consulting Group is looking for a developer to join our team on a contract basis!

What do we do? We build custom web applications for local and remote clients using a variety of open-source technologies.  We are a small team founded in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area (currently residing in Carrboro Creative Coworking) who believe in face-to-face contact and employ agile development techniques that emphasize teamwork and collaboration.

We’re looking for a strong software developer who enjoys working on a team and is excited to learn and experiment with new technologies.  We do have a preference for local candidates, but will consider all submissions.  Initial work will focus on maintaining small Django-powered websites.  This will involve HTML/CSS (including converting Photoshop designs), Django Templates, and writing Unit Tests.  Later work will involve creating and integrating Django apps into larger projects, deployment, and database work.

You will be working in Linux (Debian-flavor) production environments with Apache and WSGI.  Python/Django experience is not required, but will be used on a daily basis.  Relational database experience is a must.  HTML/CSS and JavaScript experience are also a must, and jQuery is a plus.

If you’re interested in this position, please send us your resume, some example code, links to any open-source projects you’ve contributed to, and expected compensation.  We’re exited to bring on a new team member!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Job Opening: Nonprofit Web Developer

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) is seeking a Web Application Developer to work as part of the IT Team to develop web applications that help universities share information and measure their progress toward meeting sustainability goals.

Position Description

Acting as a key member of the IT team, the Web Application Developer will be responsible for building web solutions using a combination of MySQL, PHP, Python, Django and Drupal.

Position responsibilities

* Developing AASHE web applications in PHP and Python
* Working with non-technical stakeholders to develop specifications
* Testing and documenting project code
* Coordinating with the IT Team on related efforts

Requirements

At minimum a BA degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Sciences or similar curriculum with software development emphasis or equivalent work experience.

* 3+ years experience in server-side web development (PHP/MySQL or Python)
* 2+ years experience in client-side web development (HTML, CSS, JS)
* Experience developing large-scale, database-driven Web applications
* Familiarity with web standards and cross-browser issues
* Experience using version control systems
* Familiarity with Django or Drupal
* Familiarity with jQuery
* Familiarity with Salesforce
* Ability to work well with diverse colleagues and stakeholders
* Commitment to sustainable practices
* Commitment to diversity in the workplace

Salary

$40,000 - $50,000 per year

Location

The web application developer should be prepared to work remotely from a home office or from our central office in Lexington, Kentucky. The web application developer will be working primarily with AASHE staff in the Research Triangle(Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh), NC and Providence, RI. As a result, being located in either region would be ideal but not necessary.

Application Instructions

Send a resume, cover letter, and AASHE employment application using our online application form. You will have to create an AASHE website account in order to use the online system.

About AASHE

AASHE is an association of colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada working to create a sustainable future. Our mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation. We do this by providing resources, professional development, and a network of support to enable institutions of higher education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research.

AASHE is committed to providing equal employment opportunity and to achieving an inclusive, diverse workplace that values every individual. Members of under-represented groups are encouraged to apply.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Job Opening: Web Developer / IT Specialist

Company:

Merge Records, founded in 1989, is an independent music label based in downtown Durham. We release approximately 30 albums (in LP, CD, and digital formats) each year, representing artists from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Mergerecords.com is a media-rich e-commerce site that receives over 150,000 unique visits a month.

Description:

The Web Developer is solely responsible for the ongoing programming maintenance and updating of mergerecords.com. In this capacity, he/she supports company-wide marketing campaigns and goals, coordinating with the marketing, press, digital promotions, and art departments. The Web Developer is also responsible for working with third-party developers as needed.

Responsibilities include:
• maintaining and updating a media-heavy custom e-commerce content management system
• maintaining email marketing campaign strategies, tools, and basic analytics
• closely working with all departments to ensure best technical practices and decisions
• coordinating and programming promotional e-commerce projects
• ensuring copy and photo editing for news and newsletters
• ensuring timely updates and producing content for mergerecords.com
• analyzing and reporting on site metrics and revenue streams
• site testing and troubleshooting
• maintaining and enforcing a site-wide style guide

Skills & Abilities:
• At lease 2 years experience with PHP and SQL databases
• At lease 2 years experience in developing standards-compliant HTML, CSS, Javascript, and AJAX techniques
• Experience working with content management systems
• Working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop / Fireworks

Preferred Skills:
• Ideally, this person can also provide basic IT support for our small office, which includes 15 computers (Macs and PCs), as well as two windows server. As such, he/she will act as the first contact for all IT issues, and coordinate with external IT personnel when necessary.
• Experience administering client PCs and Macs in a networked environment, Windows Small Business Server administration; and use of imaging backup software.

Contact:

Please submit letter of interest and PDF of resumé to jobs@mergerecords.com. No phone calls please.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Refresh 021 — The Future of Data

Durham, NC — Thur, Sep 24, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

The future of data is more uncertain than ever – traditional, server-based relational databases are being assaulted from all sides, by document-oriented databases and other forces, and by HTML5 and client-side storage. Come and learn about these attacks on the status quo, and maybe we can all bring peace to the database landscape, together.

Speaker:
At Viget Labs, Ben builds Rails applications for Web 2.0 startups (for the past four years, exclusively in Ruby and Rails). He’s spoken at a number of conferences on Ruby, Rails, and programming in general, and is the author of Practical REST on Rails 2 Projects (from Apress).

Location:
Bronto Software, Inc.
Washington Building
324 Blackwell Street
Suite 410
Durham, NC 27701

TriUPA workshop—Escape the Lab: Remote User Research and Usability Testing—October 1st, 2009

What: Escape the Lab: Conducting Remote User Research and Usability Testing

When: full-day workshop: 9a - 5p | Thursday 10/1/09 | coffee & lunch included

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development in RTP

How: Capacity is limited—Register online now to reserve your spot!

Intended audience
Researchers, designers, and product managers who want to watch real people use technology from the comfort of their own desks. (While saving travel costs and the planet!).

About the workshop
Nate Bolt, one of the pioneers of remote UX research—and author of the forthcoming book, Remote Research—will lead this hands-on workshop covering the latest remote UX techniques and tools.

Give us a day and we can teach you all the rocket surgery you need to conduct qualitative studies the real-time, native environment way.

Learning Objectives

What we’ll cover…

* Strengths and weaknesses of remote ux research
* Study design & scripting
* Participant recruiting options
* Moderating in the remote environment
* Tools for screen sharing, recording, and communication
* What can go wrong and what to do about it

About the speaker
Nate Bolt, president of Bolt|Peters, is fascinated by the personal, social, and cultural role of technology, and how research and design can transform those roles. After pioneering and directing the User Experience department at Clear Ink in 1999, which included the construction of Natural Environment and Remote Observation laboratories, Nate co-founded Bolt | Peters. He now serves as el presidente, where he has overseen hundreds of user research studies for Sony, Oracle, HP, Greenpeace, Electronic Arts, and others. Beginning in 2003, he led the creation of the first moderated remote user research software, Ethnio, which is being used around the world to recruit hundreds of thousands of live participants for research.

Nate regularly gives presentations on native environment research methods in both commercial and academic settings, and is currently co-authoring Remote Research, a book on remote testing. Working with faculty at the University of California, San Diego, he created a degree titled “Digital Technology and Society,” which focused on the social impact of technology. He also completed a year of communications studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he was jailed briefly for playing drums in public without a license.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

TriUPA World Usability Day: Design Competition and Event

Would you like improve the sustainability of our world? Are you passionate about user centered design, graphic design, industrial/product design, engineering, human factors and/or psychology?

If so, then you should participate in our TriUPA World Usability Day design competition!

Participants will tackle a design issue where user centered design and usability is central to the success of a solution that drives sustainability.

Sounds great! What do I need to do?

1. Sign up to participate by September 23, 2009. 
2. Attend an Information Session: You don’t have to attend this session to participate in the challenge, but if you have questions or would like more information, please join us on September 17th (Thursday) at 6pm at Capstrat (1201 Edwards Mill Road, First Floor Raleigh, NC 27607). 
3. Pick a topic from our list of suggestions, or create your own! 
4. Present your design ideas, findings and solutions. 

Participants are invited to share their solutions during our World Usability Day event to be held November 12th from 6:00 - 9:00PM, at the SAS Auditorium. Presentations need not be formal and can be a poster, informal oral presentation or PowerPoint format. All participants should plan a presentation around 7 - 10 minutes.

For more information:
http://triupa.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=649261&module_id=62280

Saturday, August 29, 2009

What the heck is TriUPA?

At this past week’s Refresh event, I had a few folks ask me about TriUPA and our upcoming workshop on concept models.  So here’s a quick explanation…

TriUPA, founded in 2005, is a local chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association focused on building and supporting the local community of practitioners in usability testing, user research, interaction design, and information architecture. Our mission is to add value to the local UX community through:

* engagement and participation
* learning and continuing education
* mentoring and professional development
* connections and community

Browse through our calendar of events to get an idea of the topics we address.  You can join TriUPA online.

Of course, feel free to contact me [Abe Crystal] directly with any questions.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Senior Developer / Team Lead

Do you know those mechanics who can tell what’s wrong with your car just listening to the engine? We’re looking for that, but for Web applications. You should also be able to assemble the car from the ground up and show other people how to do it as well.

If you can do all that and predict how long it will take you, then hesketh.com might be the right place for you!

Occupational Summary
The Senior Developer’s responsibilities are two-fold—project leadership and hands-on development. You will have the opportunity to mentor other programmers and hack code to your heart’s delight. You will exercise your exceptional creativity and pragmatism in the full life-cycle development of web applications.

Duties and Responsibilities
1. Application Development. Apply a deep understanding of software design to create custom software or modify packaged solutions. Decide whether to make or build. Design the system. Write tests. Deliver a working solution.
2. Team Leadership. Lead a team of two to four programmers in turning requirements and wireframes into working applications. Estimate how long projects will take to complete, and be able to execute on the project plans you create.
3. Innovation. Assess new standards, technologies and trends as they relate to our target markets of caused-based organizations and higher education. Continually learn, mentor, and grow.

Qualifications-
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.

Experience:
* 5+ years developing, integrating, extending, and maintaining large-scale Web applications.
* Experience creating estimates and scoping client work as part of new business development process.
* Consulting firm (agency) experience preferred.
* Non-profit or EDU experience desired.

Skills-
Must-haves:
* Senior-level experience with the Ruby on Rails or PHP platforms.
* Core Web development skills: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and SQL.
* Experience with content management systems such as Drupal, Wordpress, Moveable Type, and Expression Engine.
* Enthusiastic user of version control systems like Subversion, Git, and Mercurial. Experience setting up and administering code repositories is a plus
* Experience mentoring other programmers as a lead developer on a project team.
* Enthusiasm for Agile practices: user-centered design collaboration, scrum meetings, and test-driven development.
* Ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions, assessing technical feasibility, possibilities, and constraints.
* Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.

Nice-to-haves:
* Passion for doing well by doing good.
* Web server (Apache) and/or system (Unix) administration.
* Active interest or participation in open source development projects.
* Foosball skills.

Location - In-house, Raleigh, NC.
Relocation - Not covered.

Please email Cover Letter and Resume to careers@hesketh.com