indieconf - conference for web freelancers

Posted Aug 30, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

indieconf - the conference for independent web professionals - is coming to Raleigh, November 13.  Whether you’re a freelance designer, developer, or someone in between, indieconf will help you take your business to the next level ... more

Filed under: Announcements

Web Designer opportunity @ Bronto

Posted Aug 26, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by slyons72

Bronto Software, a leading Software as a Service, (SaaS) business in the email marketing space is seeking a seasoned, energetic Web Desginer who lives and breathes online design, web interfaces, usability and information architecture ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 030 — Rapid Prototyping and Customer Development:  The Hacker’s Guide to Software Design

Posted Aug 09, 2010   |   1 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

With current technology, it is easy to build too much software, too fast. You can quickly get into a client project without helping them clearly think through their needs and goals. It is also possible to spend so much time planning a project that you never get to the hard work of actually building it.

Rapid prototyping and customer development come to our aid here. The concept is simple. Build the smallest thing possible that is at the core of the business idea and do it in a way that gives a sense of what the whole product will be. Then get it to your clients and encourage them to talk with their customers about it. Then rinse and repeat.

John will give a brief introduction and the describe techniques for putting the concept into practice. In particular, he’ll talk about using wireframes, paper prototypes, HTML prototypes, and dummy applications, as well as some designer to developer work flows.

Speaker:
John W. Long is a software developer and designer. He spends most of his time on the design side, but he can’t get away from dabbling in Ruby and Javascript. He is passionate about user-driven design and helping clients build successful businesses. John is the proprietor of http://wiseheartdesign, the creator of Radiant CMS, and an active contributor to open source.

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

Filed under: Refresh Events

Full Time Web Developer for Hire

Posted Jul 28, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by smashingboxes

Smashing Boxes is a small web centric marketing and branding company, and we are looking for a web developer to join our team full time to help us manage the growth we are experiencing. 

This is a full time, salaried position, working out of our office.  It is a great opportunity for any rising star who needs a change, wants more responsibility, more growth opportunity, or wants to have some fun while at work.

We want someone who is a team player, a problem solver, a hard worker, and has a thirst for learning new skills.  If you possess these traits and have a resume/portfolio to back it up, then contact us to set up an interview.

email resumes and a brief blurb about yourself to nick@smashingboxes.com

Filed under: Jobs

User Interface Web Developer

Posted Jul 09, 2010   |   Comments disabled   |   by SOLN

Job Title: User Interface Web Developer

SUMMARY
Responsible for delivering the intuitive interfaces to our customers by performing the following duties.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following.
• Create user flows, wireframes and visual mock ups from requirements
• Develop user interface designs and experiences
• Translates static design layouts into dynamic web interfaces.
• Work with Photoshop and Dreamweaver to produce templates of HTML and CSS
• Implement JavaScript libraries using JQuery and Prototype
• Research and analyze latest user interface paradigms being used on the market
• Works with product development team.
• Focuses on web optimization and coding of GUIs for websites and web-based applications.

Requirements
JOB SPECIFICATIONS
• Understanding of user-centered design and the ability to turn prototypes into functional designs.
• Understanding of and experience in user-centered design methodology.
• Thorough knowledge of all of the following: CSS, HTML, DHTML, JavaScript and related software.
• Experience implementing JavaScript libraries like JQuery and Prototype.
• Understanding of SEO concepts.
• Ability to work independently, as well as part of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to concept development and requirements specifications.
• Detail oriented
• 1 – 2 years experience is a plus



EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, User Centered Design, Visual Communication, Iterative Design or Related field from four-year College or university

Salary based upon education and experience level.
Local candidates only.
Graduate students welcome to apply.

Send resume to: rtptechjobs@gmail.com

Filed under: Jobs

Junior DBA - Part Time

Posted Jul 09, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by jkomenda

Merge Records is looking for a junior DBA with MySQL and Postgres experience who is interested in part-time work with the potential to turn the job into a full-time position.

Things You’d Be Doing:
- Migration of data from Postgres to MySQL.
- Development of data migration scripts.
- Optimizing database queries and structures.
- Mirroring databases for use in a development environment.
- Modifying and creating Drupal modules.
- Creating custom reports ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 029 — Focus and Empathy: Two Keys to Designing Great User Experiences

Posted Jul 06, 2010   |   5 Comments   |   by pcrump

Cary, NC — Thu, Jul 22, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

OK, so this “user experience” thing is supposed to be really important. From the tiniest start-ups to the mega-corporations, everyone wants to create products and services that are joyful to use, widely adopted, and much-loved by customers. But how do we actually go about creating great experiences for our customers? While design (including interaction, visual, and information design) is a critical component, many design teams fail to take full advantage of strategic thinking and user research to inform their work.

Let’s get up to speed on these critical practices. I’ll discuss strategy as a process of focus, and research as a process of empathy. For each area, I’ll present some key approaches that can help shift your perspective and embrace these modes of thinking. You’ll leave with a set of resources and activities for beginning to explore the use of strategy and research in your work — so you can help make your product or service better.

Speaker:
Abe Crystal, Ph.D., is a principal at MoreBetterLabs, a small but feisty company dedicated to creating a better Web through design. We’re currently developing our first product, ruzuku. Ruzuku helps passionate experts (such as authors, speakers, and coaches) create online learning communities. In addition, we work with clients (such as Duke University, NC State University, and NC LIVE), to improve their user experience. We’ve designed online communities, digital libraries, and ecommerce sites. MoreBetterLabs is also presenting “UX 101”, a 2-day boot camp introduction to user experience methods, in September. See http://morebetterlabs.com/ux101/ for details.

Location:
Railinc
7001 Weston Parkway
Third Floor
Cary, NC 27513

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 028 — Around “Hello World” in 30 Days

Posted Jun 17, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thu, Jun 24, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

Earlier this year, feeling overwhelmed by all the new technology filling the pages of his favorite tech blogs, David decided to commit himself to spending an hour with a new technology every day for a month. In this talk, he’ll share his experiences and explore the nature of motivation and what it takes to stay ahead of the programming curve. You can read about the project at http://techmonth.tumblr.com.

Speaker:
David Eisinger is a senior web developer at Viget Labs. He specializes in Ruby on Rails, javascript, and RESTful web services.

Location:
Rigsbee Hall
208 Rigsbee Ave.
Durham, NC 27701

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 027 — Learn to Speak Interface: Creating Conversations Between Developers and Designers

Posted May 03, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Raleigh, NC — Thur, May 27, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

You’re a developer. You write code. But your users don’t see your code. They only see the user interface. We’re going to have a conversation about how to think through your product’s user interface. We’ll focus on a few analytical techniques you can use to analyze your user interface and to communicate with a designer.

Speaker:
Jess’s fascination with rapidly prototyping products led him to building applications for the web where he contributed to several startups. 60% developer, 40% designer, and 100% ninja, he brings a singular focus on the end-user to any product he works on. Jess is a principal at Relevance.

Location:
Fragment Labs
226 Fayetteville Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

Filed under: Refresh Events

Launch Days Durham

Posted Apr 26, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

FYI—http://www.launchdurham.com/

Jackson Fox and I will be ‘launching’ our product, ruzuku, at this event.

Would love to see some Refresh folks there!

Filed under: Industry Events

Account Executive at hesketh.com

Posted Apr 02, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by hesketh.com

Do you like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, to write, to tell stories? Do your stories or pictures pique others interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act? Are you thrilled by learning the first few facts, by early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, and by the growing confidence of a skill mastered? Are you energized by challenges — analyzing symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the solution? Do others wish their glass were as full as yours seems to be?

Summary:
There is sales. There is consulting. And then there is you; someone with their feet firmly planted in both worlds. As an account executive you identify and solicit new business — listening for needs, making connections, and aligning strategy. You sustain, retain, and attain. Clients should feel comfortable coming to you with ideas for new projects and changes to existing ones, as well as with praise for the team or concerns to discuss. You will ensure we maximize mission, outreach, and program revenue for values-led organizations using Web technologies.

This position will work as an integral part of our business development efforts. Your primary responsibilities are to drive hesketh.com’s business objectives by actively opening new accounts, delivering superior service, managing existing accounts, and serving as a knowledge resource and in-depth business consultant to our client organizations. If you have a high sense of urgency, are highly competitive, driven by bottom-line, practical results, enjoy ongoing learning and have a desire to influence your income, this is the opportunity for you ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 026 — Delivering a Responsive UI

Posted Mar 05, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thur, Mar 25, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

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.

Location:
Rigsbee Hall
208 Rigsbee Ave.
Durham, NC 27701

Filed under: Refresh Events

NCDevCon - North Carolina’s Premiere Web Conference

Posted Mar 03, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by Jim Priest

Following the success of the CFinNC conference last October, the Triangle Area ColdFusion User Group (TACFUG) is proud to announce NCDevCon 2010.

Did we mention that the cost for this conference is the same as last year? That’s right. It’s free!more

Filed under: Announcements, Training

Drupal Developer at hesketh.com

Posted Mar 01, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by hesketh.com

Do you find beauty in the right tool for the right job? Were you so excited when you launched your first Drupal project — leveraging the power of the platform and its community — that friends thought you drank special kool-aid at a meetup? Passionate for empowering non-profits to build strong communities? Then, we are equally enthusiastic about you ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 025 — The Luxury of Contemplation: Why we owe ourselves time to reflect on our work

Posted Feb 16, 2010   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thur, Feb 25, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM

This is not a talk about sunset meetings or debriefs. It’s a talk about spending sweet, aimless, one-on-one time with your medium. I’ll speak about why I think it’s important to reflect on your work, the tools and systems I use to facilitate “productive” contemplation, and what I’ve found to be most challenging and rewarding in my efforts.

Speaker:

Beck Tench is a simplifier, illustrator, story teller and 
technologist. Formally trained as a graphics designer at the 
University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass
 Communication, she has spent her career elbow deep in web work of all 
sorts – from the knowledge work of information architecture and design 
to the hands dirty work of writing code and testing user experiences.
 Currently, she serves as Director for Innovation and Digital
 Engagement at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC where she
 studies and experiments with how visitors and staff use technology to
 plan, enhance and share their everyday lives.


Location:
Viget Labs
202 Rigsbee Avenue
Second Floor
Durham, NC 27701

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 024 — HTML 5 Now!

Posted Dec 21, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

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

Filed under: Refresh Events

jQuery & JavaScript Camp

Posted Dec 14, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by rmurphey

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 ... more

Filed under: Announcements

Refresh 023 — Delivering a Responsive UI

Posted Nov 05, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

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:

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.

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 022 — Designing Outside the Browser

Posted Oct 07, 2009   |   2 Comments   |   by pcrump

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

Filed under: Refresh Events

Director of Interactive Operations at Capstrat

Posted Oct 07, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by Todd Moy

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Senior Interactive Art Director opening at Capstrat

Posted Oct 07, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by Todd Moy

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

UI Engineer opportunity at Bronto Software

Posted Sep 29, 2009   |   1 Comments   |   by slyons72

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Web Developer for Hire

Posted Sep 25, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by copelco

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Job Opening: Nonprofit Web Developer

Posted Sep 24, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by JuliaKM

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Job Opening: Web Developer / IT Specialist

Posted Sep 14, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by maggie

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 021 — The Future of Data

Posted Sep 09, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

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

Filed under: Refresh Events

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

Posted Sep 09, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

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!) ... more

Filed under: Industry Events

TriUPA World Usability Day: Design Competition and Event

Posted Sep 08, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

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 ... more

Filed under: Industry Events

What the heck is TriUPA?

Posted Aug 29, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

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… ... more

Filed under: Local Groups

Senior Developer / Team Lead

Posted Aug 27, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by hesketh.com

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 ... more

Filed under: Jobs

rPath is hiring Two UI Engineers

Posted Aug 26, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by steveburnett

rPath is hiring two User Interface Engineers (as well as a Linux Distro Engineer, QA, and Windows Installer Engineer). If you are interested please contact elliot@rpath.com.

For all the job descriptions see http://people.rpath.com/~elliot/jobpostings
(I pasted the UI Engineer description below the cut. ... more

Filed under: Jobs

jQuery Fundamentals Training

Posted Aug 13, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by rmurphey

If you’re a designer or developer looking to add richness and interactivity to your websites, jQuery is a powerful skill to add to your toolbox. jQuery Fundamentals is a two-day class that will give you the knowledge you need to properly and effectively start integrating the popular JavaScript library into your projects. Over the course of 10 example-packed hours, you’ll learn the fundamental concepts of the language and the library to bring your sites to life ... more

Filed under: Training

Announce: RTP Semantic Web Group

Posted Aug 05, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Phillip Rhodes

Announcing the formation of a new Semantic Web Interest Group in the RTP area ... more

Filed under: Local Groups

Refresh 020 — Profitable Design

Posted Aug 03, 2009   |   5 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thur, Aug 27, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

Web design should be seen as one more way to make your business more profitable, or your organization more successful. Many times when a website isn’t performing, a complete redesign is proposed, but so often that is a long, expensive and ultimately, unrealistic option. The trick is to know where design changes make a big impact, and where they yield only incremental improvement. We’ll look at some concrete examples of design techniques that guide customers into profitable behavior, without sacrificing usability or aesthetics. The goal of the talk is to identify a few areas where small design changes can have big impact, and build a small tool kit of profitable design techniques.

Speaker:
Ferol Vernon is currently the director of product development at ReverbNation, a venture-backed, web start up that provides marketing and distribution services for musicians. A proud geek, Ferol has always had an unhealthy passion for all things web/tech/design.  Ferol graduated from Boston University with a degree in ancient Greek and Roman history, and received his MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of business with a focus in technology and entrepreneurship.

Location:
The Solution Center
1101 Slater Road, Suite 200
2nd Floor, Brighton Hall
Durham, NC 27703

Filed under: Refresh Events

TriUPA workshop—Modeling Concepts: New IA Techniques for a Web 2.0 World—September 8th, 2009

Posted Jul 30, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

What: Modeling Concepts: New IA Techniques for a Web 2.0 World

When: full-day workshop: 9am - 5pm | Tuesday 9/8/09 | coffee & lunch included

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development in RTP

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

Filed under: Local Groups

Gig: Joomla implementation

Posted Jul 27, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by Abe Crystal

Gig: Joomla implementation for a history reference website ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Web Designer / Front-end Developer

Posted Jul 22, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by hesketh.com

We’re hiring!
Do you find beauty in the right tool for the right job and well-written, semantic markup? Do validation errors make you bristle with righteous indignation? Do you believe responsible web design goes beyond pretty pictures and incorporates concepts like accessibility and progressive enhancement?

If you answer yes to these questions, then hesketh.com may be the team for yo ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 019 — Edward Tufte and Information Design Strategies for the Web

Posted Jun 26, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thur, Jul 23, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

“Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and complexity - rather than to fault the data for an excess of complication.” --Edward Tufte.

No matter how sophisticated the technology nor pleasing the design, your Web visitors are really interested in one thing. (No, not that.) They’re after great content like your essay, your photo, your widget, your tutorial. It’s what makes the Web so great: exploring, learning, and sharing what we know. And the task of a designer - whether of user interfaces, graphics, data or type - is to present this information appropriately and elegantly; to remove obstacles to understanding, not introduce them.

In this presentation, Nathan Huening first presents an overview of the work of information design expert Edward Tufte and then discusses concrete applications and examples for applying his principles of analytical design to the Web. Selected themes include: contrast and meaning in design, avoiding “chartjunk” and “computer administrative debris”, clarity and clutter, the value of aesthetics, and simplicity vs. minimalism.

Edward Tufte is Professor Emeritus of statistics, information design, interface design and political economy at Yale University. In addition to his touring workshops, Mr Tufte has written four books on the display of information and analytical design: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1983), Envisioning Information (1990), Visual Explanations (1997), and Beautiful Evidence (2006).

Speaker:
Nathan Huening is a principal at Sprocket House, a creative firm based in Chapel Hill that specializes in Web and print design. When he’s not writing client copy or puzzling over UI design, he enjoys making messes in the kitchen and falling off his unicycle to the bemusement of curious onlookers.

Location:
Rigsbee Hall
208 Rigsbee Avenue
Durham, NC 27701

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 018 — Everything You’ve Been Told About Entrepreneurship is Wrong!

Posted Jun 15, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thur, June 25, 2009, 6:30-8:30PM

We’ll be joining forces with Startup Drinks and North Carolina Startup Blog this month, so you’ll hear a short bit from Marc DeWalle on those efforts. Also, be sure to follow in the Startup Drinks tradition and BYOB. Light snacks will be provided.

For the main presentation, Robbie Allen will share how his experience as an entrepreneur runs counter to much of the conventional wisdom in the startup community. He’ll talk about starting StatSheet and what it has been like to build a web startup from scratch in the Triangle.

Robbie is the sole founder and developer of the StatSheet Network, a collection of websites that do interesting things with sports stats.  He’s authored or co-authored a dozen books with O’Reilly Media on a variety of topics and has degrees from MIT in Information Technology and Engineering Management.

Location:
Viget Labs
202 Rigsbee Avenue
Second Floor
Durham, NC 27701

Filed under: Refresh Events

jQuery Fundamentals Class

Posted Jun 15, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by rmurphey

Announcing jQuery Fundamentals, a two-day class at Carrboro Creative Coworking (July 29-30) that will give you the knowledge you need to properly and effectively start integrating jQuery, the popular JavaScript library, into your web development projects. Over the course of two days, you’ll learn the fundamental concepts of JavaScript and jQuery and tackle real-world exercises to solidify your understanding of the language and the library ... more

Filed under: Training

JSMag May 2009 now available

Posted May 22, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

The May 2009 issue of JavaScript Magazine - JSMag - is now available at http://jsmag.com/latest.  Topics include JavaScript Mashups, jQuery Custom Events, Testing with Windmill, Flex/AJAX Bridge “Gotchas” and more.

Filed under: Announcements

Senior User Experience Designer, EMC/RSA

Posted May 18, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by steveburnett

Saw this opening for a Senior User Experience Designer with EMC (RSA) in RTP and I thought I’d share it ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Merge Records looking for Content Management Internship (1-2 days a week)

Posted Apr 27, 2009   |   Comments disabled   |   by thomas

Content Management Internship (1-2 days a week)

Merge Records, founded in 1989, is an independent music label based in downtown Durham. The label releases approximately 30 albums (in LP, CD, and digital formats) each year, representing artists from the U.S., Canada, and Europe ... more

Filed under: Jobs

TriUPA workshop—Sketching for Interaction Design—June 24th, 2009

Posted Apr 21, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

What: Sketching for Interaction Design

When: A full-day workshop: 9am - 5pm | Wednesday 6/24/09

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development in RTP

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

Filed under: Local Groups

JSMag April 2009 available

Posted Apr 16, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

The April 2009 issue of JSMag is now available at JSMag.com.  This issue features the ‘Object Literal’ pattern, Profiling JavaScript with either Firebug or YUI’s Profiler, the JazzRecord JavaScript ORM library, and more.  RefreshTheTriangle members can redeem coupon code jsrf10 for 10% any purchase.

Filed under: Announcements

Refresh 017 — The Semantic Web

Posted Apr 16, 2009   |   1 Comments   |   by pcrump

Cary, NC — Thur, May 28, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

Phillip Rhodes is primary architect of the open-source social-networking platform OpenQabal. His previous experience includes software engineer with Lulu.com and software engineering positions with Ineo USA, Red Hat, IBM and Voice Data Solutions.

The Semantic Web is the World Wide Web Consortium‘s vision of a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners.  The Semantic Web is about common formats for integration and combination of data drawn from diverse sources, where the original Web mainly concentrated on the interchange of documents.

Location:
The Atrium
11000 Regency Pkwy
Cary, NC 27518

Filed under: Refresh Events

HASTAC Seeking New Media Strategist

Posted Mar 24, 2009   |   1 Comments   |   by steveburnett

Duke University is hiring a New Media Strategist for HASTAC ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Your Web Job Just Launched - Job board for web pros

Posted Mar 20, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by onwired

Your Web Job is a hub for job-seeking web professionals — project managers, copywriters, SEO experts, usability folk, social media gurus, and yes, even designers and developers — and for those who want to hire them ... more

Filed under: Announcements

Refresh 016 — Stand-Up Hour

Posted Mar 16, 2009   |   1 Comments   |   by pcrump

Carrboro, NC — Thur, Mar 26, 2009, 6:30-8:00PM

In true “we’re-being-hosted-by-a-comedy-theater” style, we’ll take a break from the formal presentations this month for some improv web sharing. We’ll take 45-60 minutes to geek out on some of the latest web industry news and share some personal favorites, valuable secrets, tips, tools, or whatever you feel could benefit the group.

Come ready to share anything you’d like — a headline or news item, a site, a tool, a snippet of code, a device, a book excerpt — anything large or small that you feel is current and elevates our web knowledge. And don’t think it has to be entirely unique (as in no one else knows about it already), it’ll kill the vibe. Just come with something that you know has been valuable/noteworthy to you, and don’t over-think it. It can be as quick as sharing a URL and a sentence about why we should visit the site. Or it can be as long as 5 minutes in a text editor demonstrating a few lines of code.

So stop for a few minutes before you head out and think of something to share. Do that, come relaxed, and the results will be sweet. See you there.

Location:
DSI Comedy Theater
200 N. Greensboro Street (at Carr Mill Mall)
Entrance behind Elmo’s Diner and Fleet Feet
Carrboro, NC 27510

Filed under: Refresh Events

JSMag launched - new magazine for JavaScript developers

Posted Mar 12, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

JSMag.com, the magazine for JavaScript developers, launched March 6, with articles on debugging, unit testing, functional programming and more ... more

Filed under: Announcements

Last chance to register for “Adaptive Path’s Design Research” workshop

Posted Feb 17, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

Deadline to register

TriUPA’s upcoming workshop on design research methods (”Adaptive Path’s Approach to Design Research”—http://triupa.org/DesignResearch), will be held on Friday, February 20th at CED from 9am - 5:00pm (lunch is included in the cost of the workshop).

» You must register online by 5:00pm Wed 2/18/09 to attend the workshop.

Don’t let money be an object to your attending the workshop! Contact Abe Crystal if you can’t afford the workshop fee, particularly if you’re between jobs or you can’t get expense approval from your employer ... more

Filed under: Local Groups

Preation’s Eden Platform

Posted Feb 17, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Preation, the group that helped host Refresh 014, is spreading the word on their Eden Platform solution. It’s a web-based website content management system with search engine optimization built in. Eden Platform allows businesses and organizations to easily optimize their websites for more search engine traffic with no technical or web marketing expertise required. Check the platform out, and help spread the word if you like what you see.

Filed under: Sponsors

JSConf 2009 April 24 & 25 2009 Washington DC

Posted Feb 10, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by voodootikigod

Meet industry experts and learn how to use JavaScript to build cutting edge mobile, desktop, server, and web applications. This conference based in Washington DC is a must attend for any web designer, web developer, or JavaScript developer. The conference is digging deep into the vast world of JavaScript to expose how wonderful of a language JavaScript really can be. Did you know that you could build thick client desktop applications with JavaScript? Hows about that it is one of the only languages to bridge OO and Functional? Also it can be used for testing any web framework and is used everyday by people with all levels of programming ability. Some (myself included) would say its one of the most under appreciated languages around. Well it is time to change that and we are starting with JSConf by bringing together the brightest and most exciting JavaScript developers together. The conference admission price is right now $450 which includes 2 days with 16 speakers and a beer and wine tasting social event. There will be vendors seeking talented individuals for employment as well, it is the perfect networking opportunity for you. Sign up today before it sells out! For more details and registration see http://www.jsconf2009.commore

Filed under: Industry Events

Refresh 015 — Ten Things Designers Do That Piss Developers Off (and Vice Versa)

Posted Feb 04, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Cary, NC — Thurs, Feb 26, 2009, 6:30-8:00pm

This talk was originally going to be called “Effective Collaboration Between Designers & Developers,” but when they sat down to create their slides, David and Mindy realized they had deeper issues to resolve: he wanted to generate them with a custom templating engine; she wanted drop shadows and vector images of Che Guevara. Instead, they’ll battle it out at this month’s Refresh meeting and rant about all the things they just can’t stand about their web counterparts. You’ll be enlightened as to why your co-worker glares at you when you walk in the door and leave with a few good ideas on how to communicate, empathize and avoid bloodshed.

Location:
Calvert Holdings, Inc.
1225 Crescent Green, Suite 115
Cary, North Carolina 27518

Filed under: Refresh Events

Project Coordinator Available for Hire

Posted Feb 03, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by NicoleR314

I am a Project/Production Coordinator that has recently moved to the Downtown Durham area from New York. I have 3+ years freelance working experience on national television commercials, still shoot advertisements, internationally syndicated publications, and a great rapporte with well-known design houses ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Interactive Art Director

Posted Feb 02, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by cjsnicolls

We’re seeking a talented candidate for an Interactive Art Director position. Are you creative and do you understand what it takes to design within the confines of a Content Management System or Portal product? Do you have an award-winning Web portfolio ... more

Filed under: Jobs

TriUPA Workshop—Design Research (Todd Wilkens/Adaptive Path)—Friday 2/20/09

Posted Jan 18, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

TriUPA is hosting a full-day workshop on “Design Research,” presented by Todd Wilkens of Adaptive Path.

»» See TriUPA’s website for full details, and to register for the workshop ... more

Filed under: Local Groups

The Triangle microISV Group

Posted Jan 09, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

A microISV (Independent Software Vendor) is a small software shop, usually with between 1 to 10 people, which is focused on growing organically (not through venture capital) and handles all business tasks (development, sales, PR, etc.) itself.

Are you running or part of a microISV in the Triangle? Or maybe interested in starting one or hearing from those who have? If so, the group is for you. It’s getting started on January 21 in Durham, so check out details on the microISV Group Meetup page and come on out.

Filed under: Industry Events, Local Groups, Announcements

TriUPA’s 2009 Professional Training workshop series

Posted Jan 05, 2009   |   0 Comments   |   by Abe Crystal

What’s TriUPA?
TriUPA is a local chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association based in the Research Triangle, NC.

We’re offering an extensive workshop program in 2009, which we hope will be of interest to folks throughout the Southeast.

About TriUPA’s Professional Training
TriUPA is excited to announce our 2009 Professional Training workshop series.  The goal of our workshop series is to bring to our community the best thinking and latest practices in the user experience field.

TriUPA focuses on four areas of practice…

1. usability evaluation and testing
2. user research
3. interaction design
4. information architecture

... and our workshop series is designed to address each of these areas ... more

Filed under: Local Groups

Refresh 014 — Barometer for the Web-Based: Lessons Learned, Current Pressures, & Future Forecasts

Posted Dec 30, 2008   |   1 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Jan 22, 2009, 6:30 - 8:00pm

Join us as Abe Crystal (Ruzuku), Stephen Fraser (Spoonflower), and Nicholas Napp (DisruptorMonkey) briefly share their adventures in web-based business through reflections on past experiences and outlooks for 2009. This will be a casual, conversational, panel-like group discussion, and will be an ideal opportunity to ask questions and discuss how we all might better leverage the potential of the web in 2009.

Location:
iContact
2635 Meridian Parkway
Durham, NC 27713

Filed under: Refresh Events

TriUPA Workshop — Reboot Your Work: Modern Methods for Productivity, Sanity, and Control

Posted Dec 30, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

When: 9am - 4:30pm, Monday 1/12/09 or Tuesday 1/13/09
Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development
How: Register online (Cost is $50 - $195)

Start the year by freeing up your brain so you can think clearly, do more, and work creatively ... more

Filed under: Industry Events

New Javascript Group forming

Posted Dec 17, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

I’m putting out a call for anyone interested in a Triangle Area Javascript Group to visit http://jsusers.com/groups/triangle-area-javascript-user-group and register your interest.  Thank you.

Filed under: Local Groups

013 Recap

Posted Dec 05, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Steve and Matt presented to about 30 people last night on Progressive Enhancement. Steve kicked things off by providing some history on why he coined the term "progressive enhancement" and the landscape of web design at that time.  Matt brought us up to speed on how current best practices reflect progressive enhancement.

Hesketh was a terrific host (with very cool office space) - thanks again to them for the support. We had a great time at The Raleigh Times afterward. Check out the photos on Flickr.

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 013 — The Enhancement of Progressive Enhancement

Posted Nov 18, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Raleigh, NC — Thurs, Dec 4, 2008, 6:30 - 8:00pm

Steve Champeon and Matt Henry of Hesketh.com will give a brief overview of Progressive Enhancement and then will bring us up to date on how it’s being affected/transformed by Web 2.0 and interactive Web applications.

Location:
Pilot Mill Building
1101 Haynes Street
Suite 109
Raleigh, NC 27604

Filed under: Refresh Events

World Usability Day Celebration 2008

Posted Oct 31, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

When: 6pm - 9pm — Thursday, November 13th 2008
Where: Ruvane Auditorium at GSK
Cost: Free to all!  Food and drink will be served!  Please sign up so we have an idea of how big the crowd will be.
How: Register at http://triupa.org/2008WorldUsability (if you’re a TriUPA member, be sure to click “Login to Register” once you get to the RSVP page ... more

Filed under: Industry Events

012 Recap

Posted Oct 24, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Clinton gave an awesome presentation last night on all kinds of tips and tools for improving your productivity online. Full of humor and personal anecdotes, Clinton’s talk was very memorable and lots of fun. The main points seemed to be - reduce distractions! reduce repetitiveness! and be accountable! He showed us lots of tricks for using your computer more efficiently and pointed out several online tools for keeping track of your activity (to promote accountablity).  He was kind enough to make his links available to everyone - enjoy.

Thanks again to Brian Russell at Carrboro Coworking for hosting the meeting and providing delicious food and beverages.

Filed under: Refresh Events

Lightweight Programmer / Web Designer

Posted Oct 17, 2008   |   1 Comments   |   by CalebWright

FA is looking for an intern or part-time programmer to join our web team. You’ll need to be a strong communicator with skills in Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP and AJAX, as well as producing standards compliant XHTML and CSS. Working Knowledge of OOP (object oriented programming) and Agile development principles and experience with e-commerce and content management solutions is important. Background knowledge of Information Architecture, Flash/Actionscript and other development platforms (Java, Ruby on Rails, .NET) would be a bonus. You’ll need to be passionate about problem solving, user centered design and usability, and capable of leading complex development projects from spec to launch ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 012 — Unearthed Arcana for Web People

Posted Oct 01, 2008   |   3 Comments   |   by pcrump

Carrboro, NC — Thurs, Oct 23, 2008, 6:30 - 8:00pm

Clinton Nixon, senior developer at Viget Labs, will present and facilitate this talk about how to avoid trivial, repetitive tasks and increase your productivity with your computer. We’ll cover both software you already have, and free/cheap software you might not. If you’ve got a tip of your own, bring it! We’ll have some free time to share at the end.

Location:
Carrboro Creative Coworking
205 Lloyd Street, Suite 101
Carrboro, NC 27510

Filed under: Refresh Events

011 Recap

Posted Sep 26, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Last night, Simon Brown presented a great overview of Yubikey, an inexpensive encryption hardware device. Simon gave us a nice demonstration of how the tool works and presented some of the advantages and disadvantages of using it. He fielded questions from the crowd of 35 and we enjoyed lively discussion after the meeting. Photos of the meeting are up on Flickr. Viget Labs was happy to host. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Filed under: Refresh Events

Web Producer / Developer

Posted Sep 11, 2008   |   Comments disabled   |   by maggie

Job Description: Web Producer / Developer

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 Europ ... more

Filed under: Jobs

TriUPA Training Series #2: Dr. Deborah Mayhew presents “Designing for Efficiency”

Posted Sep 08, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

We are excited to announced the second event in TriUPA’s new training series!  These events will provide cutting-edge, industrial-strength, knock-your-socks-off UX training in TriUPA’s four focus areas: usability testing, user research, interaction design, and information architecture. This 1-day course is aimed at anyone (developers, user interface designers, usability engineers, information architects, graphic designers, software end-users and end-user managers, marketers, trainers, etc.) who has an interest in helping their organization achieve end user productivity (i.e., efficiency) through the design of software tools. Find out more.

Filed under: Industry Events

Refresh 011—DIY Hardware Based Authentication

Posted Aug 29, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Sep 25, 2008, 6:30 - 8:00pm

Simon Brown has been a software developer for more years than he cares to admit, currently specializing in the development of large scale web applications. He will discuss the new, open, and inexpensive encryption hardware Yubikey. We’ll look at ways it can be combined with open source or your own software to put a new twist on the problems of authentication. Come along and learn how to integrate encrypted one-time-passwords into your next software project. Simon promises not to go too deeply into hardware or cryptography details ... unless someone asks.

Location:
Viget Labs
202 Rigsbee Ave, 2nd Floor
Durham, NC 27701

Filed under: Refresh Events

010 Recap

Posted Aug 29, 2008   |   1 Comments   |   by pcrump

Last night’s Refresh on Social Design Patterns was both informative and thought-provoking. Jackson shared some brief but valuable history on design patterns in general, and then led us through some of the current thinking and examples surrounding social design patterns. One which raised a number of eyebrows was the “fake follow”, which looks to now be a reality rather than a discussion. Anti-Patterns were also a hot topic, and the follow-up discussion centered largely around many of the bad patterns that have been identified. There will be more resources to follow when Jackson is able to connect us to his slides, but in the meantime, check out Yahoo’s design pattern library or Chris Messina’s flickr collection of design patterns as general design pattern resources.

Thanks again to Jackson for preparing such an engaging presentation, and to Jeff and Calvert Holdings for being such amazing hosts and showing us such a good time.

Filed under: Refresh Events

The Refresh Site and Brave Colours

Posted Aug 29, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

The Refresh site made it into Function’s post from a month or so ago on 32 Examples of Websites with a Brave Colour Scheme. Some cool examples in the article, check it out.

Filed under: General Discussion

Refresh 010 — Social Design Patterns

Posted Aug 25, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Cary, NC — Thurs, Aug 28, 2008, 6:30-8:00pm

Jackson Fox, user experience designer at Viget Labs, shares:

These days it seems like every new site, and even venerable old sites, are embracing social features. We have dozens of friends lists, more inboxes than we can count, libraries of avatars, and everything can be shared with anyone. In the process we’ve had to struggle with loss of privacy, new security challenges, and new forms of online etiquette.

As social software evolves, we’re starting to see emerging patterns of behavior and design. We’ll take a look at some of these emerging social design patterns, both good and bad, and look ahead at the patterns that we still need to create.

Location:
Calvert Holdings, Inc.
1225 Crescent Green, Suite 115
Cary, North Carolina 27518

Filed under: Refresh Events

009 Recap

Posted Aug 01, 2008   |   2 Comments   |   by Jackson Fox

This month’s Refresh the Triangle 009 was our quarterly show-and-tell meetup, where we geek out on some of the share interesting news, valuable secrets, hot tips, neat tools, or whatever else happens to pop into our heads.

Clinton Nixon kicked things off with a really-fast recap of OSCON 2008 where he gave a tutorial on building Rails plugins. He also recommended Douglas Crockford’s new book Javascript: The Good Parts.

Mindy Wagner shared two new sites she’s been using — PatternTap is a collection of web interface patterns and examples, and ScrnShots is a site for sharing and tagging screenshots. Both are great resources when you’re looking for some design inspiration, or if you’re interested in building out your own library of inspiring designs.

Casey was recently introduced to the prototyping tool Axure and gave us a tour of the kind of wireframes he’s been building with it. Axure lets you build interactive prototypes in a GUI designer, and then export those prototypes to HTML.

Casey also recommended SpringLoops, hosted Subversion service with some nice tools for deploying web apps and connecting to Basecamp, and IE Tester, a tool for running multiple IE versions. IE Testing lets you show versions side-by-side, but seems to be a bit rough around the edges still.

I attempted to demo the slick new user testing tool Silverback from Clearleft, but the projector refused to cooperate. Instead, I talked about using Ethnio and UserVue for remote usability testing, and demoed Balsamiq, a flash-based wireframing tool.

Following up on our Silverback discussion, Nathan talked about his new favorite screencasting tool - Screenflow. Screenflow does all the standard recording tricks, but also includes a decent video editor with effects for panning, zooming, and highlighting user actions.

Lastly, Michale Kimsal was nice enough to start our very own Refresh the Triangle room on FriendFeed.

Thanks everyone who came out and shared with us! You can check out photos from Refresh 009 on Flickr.

Filed under: Refresh Events

Web Strategist

Posted Jul 17, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by cjsnicolls

Ironworks is still growing! We are looking for a Web Strategist who can work closely with our creative and technical teams while leading the delivery of client-specific work ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Todd Warfel’s full-day workshop on effective prototyping

Posted Jul 17, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Mon, Sept 15, 2008, 9:00AM-5:00PM

Are you interested in making prototyping a key part of your design process?  Or do you currently practice prototyping and need some fresh ideas?

This highly detailed, practical, and hands on workshop will provide a framework for creating and testing prototypes. We’ll discuss what prototyping is, when to use it, when to use other methods, and what to expect.

This is the first event in TriUPA’s new training series.

Filed under: Industry Events

Need one-off wordpress/podcasting help

Posted Jul 07, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

Hello all:

I’ve got a friend who needs some one-off work doing some wordpress upgrades, itunes/podcast tweaking, and a few other housekeeping chores ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 009 — Fresh Perspectives

Posted Jun 27, 2008   |   1 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Jul 31, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM

As we’re trying to do once each quarter, we’ll take a break from the formal presentations this month to have a group share. We’ll take 30-45 minutes to geek out on some of the latest web industry news and share some personal favorites, valuable secrets, tips, tools, or whatever you feel could benefit the group.

Come ready to share anything you’d like — a headline or news item, a site, a tool, a snippet of code, a device, a book excerpt — anything large or small that you feel is current and elevates our web knowledge. And don’t think it has to be entirely unique (as in no one else knows about it already), it’ll kill the vibe. Just come with something that you know has been valuable/noteworthy to you, and don’t over-think it. It can be as quick as sharing a URL and a sentence about why we should visit the site. Or it can be as long as 5 minutes in a text editor demonstrating a few lines of code.

So stop for a few minutes before you head out and think of something to share. Do that, come relaxed, and the results will be sweet. See you there.

Location:
Independence Park Apartments
(mini-movie theater!)
215 William Penn Plaza
Durham NC, 27704

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 008 Recap

Posted Jun 27, 2008   |   1 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to watch and discuss the webinar from Jared Spool. We drew a small crowd by the usual standards (about 17 people attended), but our discussion afterwards was Refresh at its finest.  If you were there and you learned something or shared something, feel free to leave a comment.

Mindy Wagner wrote up a recap of the meeting and we posted photos on Flickr. We’re looking forward to seeing you next month on July 22nd. We’re looking for a host / sponsor - let us know if you’d be up for it.

Filed under: Refresh Events

A Great Opportunity for a Great Designer

Posted Jun 26, 2008   |   Comments disabled   |   by Rick DeNatale

Overview
You understand beauty. You care about both form and function.  You understand the power and possibility of AJAX technologies to make a web experience that is dynamic and compelling. You are comfortable in Photoshop but also in the guts of CSS and HTML. You might even know Javascript and frameworks like Ruby on Rails.

Come join our product team in RTP. We’re using cutting edge technologies on a leading Web 2.0 collaborative community site. We have a dynamic start-up environment with proven leadership and established market traction. Help shape the future of the web together ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Information Architect/ UE Specialist

Posted Jun 25, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by cjsnicolls

Information Architect. Web Strategist. Usability Pro. Client Champion. Could all of these be in your title? If so, you could be the one to help grow the User Experience practice of Ironworks Consulting’s Cary office ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 008 — UIE’s Strike Up the Brand

Posted May 23, 2008   |   10 Comments   |   by pcrump

Location: Durham, NC — Thurs, June 26, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM
In this virtual presentation, Jared M. Spool, User Interface Engineering’s Founder, will discuss UIE’s recent usability research into how people perceive brands on the internet and how teams can ensure their designs strengthen each user’s relationship with the brand. You will learn:

• The two important outcomes of branding efforts—affinity and dispositional returns—and why designers need to understand how these work
• Why ‘message’ branding doesn’t strengthen engagement, but ‘experience’ branding does
• The important role that user experience research plays in the design process for branding
• How measuring brand engagement can show the effects of a design

In his presentation, Jared will show how Amazon, Walmart, Ford, Apple, and Netflix have attempted to increase their users’ brand engagement ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 007 Recap

Posted May 23, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Refresh 007 was a big hit! Stuart Halloway was highly engaging and his presentation, “Ending Legacy Code in Our Lifetime,” gave everyone lots to talk about - not just the developers, but the designers and “others,” too.  Stuart’s slides are available, and I know of at least one recap of the event.

Many thanks to Stuart for being our speaker. We’re also grateful to the West End Wine Bar - they let us have their downstairs, The Cellar, all to ourselves at no charge.  The ceilings were low, but the vibe was great. I think everyone had a lot of fun. 

Photos are on flickr.  See you next month!

Filed under: Refresh Events

Designer, Developer, and Writer, Oh my

Posted May 14, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by bart

The DukeHealth.org team is looking for a Web: designer, developer, and writer.  Follow the links for more details.

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 007 — Ending Legacy Code In Our Lifetime

Posted May 07, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Location: The Cellar — Thurs, May 22, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM

Most software developers don’t have an exact definition of legacy code, but to paraphrase Potter Stewart, they “know it when they see it.” Unfortunately, legacy code has something else in common with Stewart’s famous subject — it is embarrassingly ubiquitous.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Stuart Halloway, CEO of Relevance, will share:

• A better definition of legacy.
• How existing technologies and development practices guarantee that most code will slide into legacy immediately.
• How you can stave off legacy by writing low-ceremony, essential code.

Agility can be done right. By respecting the dynamic, living nature of software/human systems, you can create systems that evolve to meet changing needs ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

006 Meeting Recap

Posted Apr 28, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by David Eisinger

Refresh 006 was a major success. Nathan Huening from OnWired gave a great talk called “Dr. jQuery (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the DOM),” and his passion for the material was evident. In a series of increasingly complex examples, Nathan showed off the power and simplicity of the jQuery JavaScript library. He demonstrated that most of jQuery can be reduced to “grab things, do stuff,” starting with simple CSS modifications and moving to AJAX, animation, and custom functionality ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events, Sponsors

WANTED: Best Web Designer in the RTP

Posted Apr 15, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by onwired

We’re Looking for the Best Web Designer in Town
Are you passionate about pushing pixels? Are you a typographic genius? Do you always design on a grid? Can you produce gallery-worthy designs in a variety of styles ... more

Filed under: Jobs

Refresh 006 — Dr jQuery (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the DOM)

Posted Apr 01, 2008   |   2 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Apr 24, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM

The web isn’t what it used to be: with advanced browsers and powerful Javascript frameworks like jQuery, websites deliver user experiences that rival those of traditional desktop software. Nathan Huening, Director of Web Development at OnWired, will share the nuts and bolts of jQuery and how you can use it to build rich, professional interfaces. It’s easy! No programming experience required ... and feel free to bring your laptop since you can expect live, hands-on examples. To participate, you’ll need a copy of Firefox with the Firebug extension installed ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

005 Meeting Recap

Posted Mar 28, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

The laid back, free-form approach to the meeting was sincerely enjoyable and on spot. Thanks to Ogilvy and specifically to Callie, Noah, Chris, and Kendall for making it all happen. If you missed the meeting but have the chance later, make a reason to head over to Ogilvy for a visit — awesome people, immaculate space, and a ton of engaging work. There was no lack of sharing either — thanks to everyone for being plugged in and willing to speak up. If you’re looking to catch up on what went on, here’s the flow ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events, Sponsors

Refresh 005 — Kick Back, Freshen Up

Posted Mar 06, 2008   |   4 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Mar 27, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM

For various reasons, we’ll take a break from the formal presentations this month. Come on out to Ogilvy where we’ll socialize a bit more than usual, eat, drink, and share. Share what? We’ll take 30-45 minutes to geek out on some of the latest web industry news and share some personal favorites, well kept secrets, tips, tools, or whatever you feel could benefit the group.

Come ready to share anything you’d like — a headline or news item, a site, a tool, a snippet of code, a device, a book excerpt — anything large or small that you feel is current and elevates our web knowledge. And don’t think it has to be entirely unique (as in no one else knows about it already), it’ll kill the vibe. Just come with something that you know has been valuable/noteworthy to you, and don’t over-think it. It can be as quick as sharing a URL and a sentence about why we should visit the site. Or it can be as long as 5 minutes in a text editor demonstrating a few lines of code.

So stop for a few minutes before you head out and think of something to share. Do that, come relaxed, and the results will be sweet. See you there.
... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 004 — Justifying Design

Posted Jan 25, 2008   |   4 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Feb 28, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM

Great design requires every design decision to be rationalized and justified. Explore the design process of great designers and discover tools and techniques to justify your own work.

Rob Goodlatte is an award-winning interactive designer and developer. Currently an undergraduate at Duke, his short design career has included work for Disney, Microsoft, and Stanford University. After graduation, he will be joining Facebook as a product designer ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

003 Meeting Recap

Posted Jan 25, 2008   |   0 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Last night we gathered at Bronto’s inspiring office for our first “Lightning Sessions” meeting. If you missed it, you should check out the flickr photos and Wayne’s video. Attendance was awesome as the Refresh momentum continues to build - we had about 35 people come out.  The Lightning Sessions approach was successful - presentation links are below. We hope to do Lightning Sessions about 4 times per year, but we have some ideas for improving the model next time around ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

Refresh 003 — Lightning Sessions

Posted Dec 10, 2007   |   15 Comments   |   by pcrump

Durham, NC — Thurs, Jan 24, 2008, 6:30-8:00PM

Starting in 2008, we’ll be using the first monthly meeting of each quarter for “lightning sessions”. Think of this meeting type as a 1.5 hour BarCamp or similar event where members shape the outcome, and the approach toward sharing and discussing is rapid fire. The meeting will consist of 5 predetermined presenters each facilitating a 10 minute lightning session on a predetermined topic. Topics will be a mix of web design, dev, and technology. So for the January meeting, we’re looking for 5 topics and 5 presenters. Please share comments on topic ideas and/or express your willingness to lead a session ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events, Announcements

New Refresh Site Calendar

Posted Dec 10, 2007   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Refresh has now switched over to using the SocialCarolina.org calendar as our event calendar, so update your XML or iCal subscriptions. Feed URLs are found at the top of the calendar page.

Filed under: General Discussion, Announcements

002 Meeting Recap

Posted Dec 07, 2007   |   0 Comments   |   by Emily Bloom

Last night’s meeting may go down in RTT history as the most amusing talk ever.  Clinton R. Nixon has a knack for not just explaining web app security vulnerabilities and solutions, but for doing so with humor and flare.  We had about 30 people in attendance and another 5 or 6 following live on ustream.tv.  If you missed the talk, you can watch the video or check out the photos ... more

Filed under: Refresh Events

MySQL Presentation by Jay Pipes

Posted Nov 27, 2007   |   1 Comments   |   by Michael Kimsal

Jay Pipes from MySQL will be speaking at the next PHP/MySQL group meeting on December 12 in Durham ... more

Filed under: Local Groups, Speakers, Announcements

SocialCarolina.org Launched

Posted Nov 20, 2007   |   0 Comments   |   by pcrump

Events about technology of some kind happening in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. Check it out at socialcarolina.org.

Filed under: General Discussion, Industry Events, Local Groups, Announcements