Interaction Designer, IDEO

Mid-Level Interaction Designer
We are seeking a mid-level/senior interaction designer to join the IDEO Boston location. Candidates should have 5+ years of experience, and a focus on hardware / software integration and physical interface design. Candidates should show strong visualization and prototyping skills for both graphical and tangible user interfaces, and a clear passion for combining the two worlds through the design of compelling experiences. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to work across a range of projects, as well as comfort working in multidisciplinary teams, and excellent communication and problem solving skills. Additional areas of skills and perspectives are listed below.


1. Client facing skills
Successful candidates must be comfortable with clients and be able to effectively share their point of view and expertise. Candidates must be able to understand the scope and boundaries of projects.

2. User centered perspective
Candidates must truly believe in a Human-centered approach to design and be comfortable going out into the world for inspiration. They understand basic Human Centered Design methodology, are comfortable with ambiguity and want to push design methodologies.

3. Communication skills
Candidates must have strong presenting, verbal and written skills. They understand the business environment and what clients need to make something actionable and how to make clients feel comfortable throughout the innovation process. Additionally, successful applicants understand the value of design and brand within a design and business
context.

4. Team skills
Successful applicants believe that better work is done through collaboration and have the ability to lead and inspire teams through collaboration as well as direction, vision and
planning. The ability to relate to individuals and nurture talent also a requirement.

5. Technical skills (craft and tool mastery)
Successful candidates must know what excellence is. They not only identify and evangelize best practices, but are able to push new boundaries and explore new territory in order to deliver innovation.

6. Visual design sensitivity
Candidates for this position know the difference and spot the difference between good and great work and are able to nurture teams to deliver great work.

7. Prototyping skills
Successful applicants for this position understand that you succeed sooner by trial and experiments. Understand that prototyping can be done at many fidelities and have experience doing and leading that work. They understand that grounding ideas in concrete designs is the best way to gain learnings and move forward.

Additional skills required:

Information Architecture
UI Development for Functionality
Visual UI Development Skills, such as Flash (Actionscript proficiency preferred); Illustrator / Photoshop / Fireworks; Processing
Hardware Prototyping Skills, such as General electronics knowledge; Knowledge of sensors & actuators; Arduino programming; Microcontroller programming (such as PICs); PC board layout
Machine shop & rapid prototyping skills are a plus

Interested candidates should apply on-line to upload a resume, cover letter, and PDF portfolio plus any web links, and/or work samples that demonstrate evidence of the above skillset.