Position Description:
Phase Initiator (PI) is the only MDOT department-wide cross functional system that tracks transportation project information initiation through the five year highway program from concept design to design plan completion. As part of the Legacy Application Modernization Program (LAMP) this system was identified and prioritized for modernization during this current fiscal year. A technical consultant is required to assist the Project Planning and Delivery Section of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB), and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) as part of the team to re-platform the Phase Initiation process into a completely new system named PI. The resource will be responsible for using a combination of user centered design and agile development methods to create a highly usable user interface for the PI system. The resource will work very closely with the business analyst, technical lead and developers of the PI system to develop the system information architecture and responsive designs for the user interface during each sprint. Duties will include reviewing business and technical requirements as well as interviewing business users as required to understand their work processes and personal needs. When designing the system information architecture and screens the consultant will use current best practices and tools such as user profiles and personas; prototyping; heuristic reviews and usability reviews of developed screens; and formal and informal usability testing. The consultant designer may need to adapt personal methods to the MDOT agile development methodology. Products are developed in a web-based java development environment which includes a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) application architecture. MDOT Operations has a comprehensive Information Technology (IT) portfolio of over 150 distinct applications. The DTMB Project Planning and Delivery Section, along with its MDOT business partners, is responsible for providing software maintenance and operations support for the portfolio. Additionally the Project Planning and Delivery Section provides resources for new and on-gong development efforts in support of MDOT’s Call for Projects. To ramp up the DTMB Administrative Section Grant Unit systems new development team one Java user interaction/user experience designer position is required to complete the development project in a timely manner and also to provide quality customer support and staff mentoring.
Skills Required:
One (1) Application-Software Engineer Sr. Software Engineer capabilities with 1-8 years of experience, relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals, performs a variety of complicated tasks, may lead and direct the work of others, may report directly to a project lead or manager, a wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. This position if for what is commonly called a “UX Designer” or “Interaction Designer” in the industry. The candidate should have experience designing the information architecture, user interface and user interactions for systems. Skills should include interpreting user research to design highly usable system information architecture and screen designs. They should be able to develop both low fidelity and high fidelity prototypes and have the knowledge and skills to evaluate the designs’ usability through cognitive walkthroughs and heuristic reviews. The individual should be able to plan and execute other forms of usability evaluations including informal and formal usability tests. To be effective, the candidate should be familiar with user profiles and personas and how to use them in design development and in a walkthrough. The consultant must be able to work closely with developers and analysts during the construction of designs. Cascading Style sheets, HTML5 and javascript development is desired. Since the individual should have the skills and mindset more closely aligned with human computer interaction or cognitive science graduates than software engineers or programmers, experience or advanced degree in cognitive science and/or Human Computer Interaction (HCI) or Human Factors is desired. Visual and graphical design skills are also very beneficial.
Application/Software Engineer Designs, modifies, develops, writes and implements software programming applications. Supports and/or installs software applications/operating systems. Participates in the testing process through test review and analysis, test witnessing and certification of software. Additional Requirements (highly desirable and high priority): •1(+HCI graduate degree) to 4 years or more developing low and high fidelity prototypes for UI design •1(+HCI graduate degree) to 4 years or more performing information architecture design for system UIs •1(+HCI graduate degree) to 4 years or more experience in usability assessments of software such as cognitive and heuristic walkthroughs as well as formal usability testing •1(+HCI graduate degree) to 4 years or more experience in Agile development methods •1(+HCI graduate degree) to 4 years or more experience in interface visual design •1 to 4 years or more experience in the use of the Axure prototyping / mockup software tool •1(+HCI graduate degree) to 4 years or more experience programming in Jquery and JavaScript framework •1 to 4 years or more experience writing HTML5 code •1 to 4 years or more experience developing cascading style sheets.
Education Required: Bachelor degree