[Sigia-l] Contract: Sr IA, eCommerce development - Philly 'burbs

[Marion Summerville]

This is a long-term contract position (through Jan 1, 2005) reporting
directly to me.  To be considered, email me your resume, cover letter
(including availability and hourly rate), and a link to your portfolio.

eCommerce experience STRONGLY preferred, but not required.

For more about GSI, see http://www.gsicommerce.com/


Marion Summerville
Manager, Information Architecture
GSI Commerce
summervillem at gsicommerce.com

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The Senior Information Designer (Sr. ID) works with Business Analysts, Art
Directors, Usability Engineers, and Technical Designers (HTML / JSP
developers) to define the user experience for our partners' webstores.  

The Sr. ID is responsible for:
*  Articulating the goals and expectations of the customer to internal and
external audiences, and serving as their advocate throughout the design
process
*  Devising solutions that balance user goals and business goals while
fitting within the constraints of brand, time, budget, and technology
*  Partnering with the Creative Director and Art Directors to  proactively
identify and present enhancements to existing client projects
*  Ensuring clarity, consistency, and brand-appropriateness in customer
messaging (including labels, instructional text, and help copy)
*  Documenting solutions such that the output is as clear and usable as the
solutions themselves
*  Participating throughout a project's quality assurance cycle to ensure
that the final product meets the expectations of the original project
requirements and wireframes
*  Identifying weaknesses in current functionality and creating solutions
that better serve the customer
*  Staying abreast of shifts in industry standards and online customer
expectations through research and trade publications

Deliverables include:
*  User scenarios
*  Detailed user personas
*  User analytics (including clickpath analyses)
*  Use cases (with the Business Analyst)
*  Page-type definitions (with the Business Analyst)
*  Wireframes (both low and high-fidelity)
*  Interaction design documents (page flows, annotated wireframes)
*  Taxonomies
*  Style guides
*  Client presentations


Minimum Requirements:

*  Bachelors in a design discipline, Technical Writing, Human Factors,
Library Science, or an equivalent field.
*  3-5 years as an IA or Interaction Designer for Internet design and
development; agency experience preferred.
*  Extensive experience collaborating with design and development teams on
large-scale dynamic ecommerce or content delivery systems (B2C preferred).
*  Expert conflict resolution skills, particularly in negotating win-win
solutions with stakeholders.
*  Proven ability to design methodologies for gathering user data,
interpreting the results, and translating them into solutions.
*  Expert user of Microsoft Office products; Visio, Illustrator, or
Omnigraffle; Photoshop; HTML. Knowledge of UML a plus.
*  Organized, self-directed, efficient and able to manage complex projects
in a timely manner.
*  Superior language skills, both written and verbal.
*  Thrive in a fast paced, constantly changing, quick-turn-around
environment.
*  A portfolio that demonstrates the depth and breadth of your experience.


Desirable Requirements:

*  Deep understanding of usability and industry best practices, specifically
as they relate to ecommerce design.
*  Collaborative working style, respectful of other perspectives and
ego-less where necessary.  Focused on getting the best solution rather than
your solution.
*  The ability to learn from mistakes and willingness to revisit past
solutions for further improvements.