Good design is as much about knowing what not to include, as it is knowing what you should put into your product. Understanding why not to include some feature or element is critical to creating stellar product experiences, and it’s this type of thinking that can prevent a lot of headache for your customers down the road.

On a recent project involving a major insurance company, we were designing a tool for advisors to manage their clients’ portfolios. In the initial spec and designs, we had a simple feature: a lightweight inbox for managing communication with clients through the application, so that these advisors had a centralized location to manage these relationships.

As we started designing, something didn’t feel right. On its face, the feature seemed to make sense, and inside the context of the application, it was a natural extension of the functionality. The problem was, this feature didn’t consider what was happening in the entire experience ecosystem. In the end, we decided having this inbox functionality was going to create some big problems down the road, and we removed this large chunk of otherwise helpful functionality.

So – what happened? Why did we decide to remove a feature that seemed, on its face, to be a great addition to the product experience?

There’s more…read this whole entry

Madera Labs continues to grow, and as a result, we need some help. We’re hiring a junior user experience designer to help us craft great interactive experiences for our clients.

Check out the job description below, and if this sounds like you, get your stuff to us today!

Position: Junior User Experience Designer

We have a problem.

We are getting more and more cool clients – with cool work – and we need helping handling it all. To help us out, we’re looking for a user experience designer with a passion for designing innovative technology products and a passion for understanding the people who use those products.

What You’ll Be Doing

You’ll be part of every step of the design process (depending on the project, of course), including:

• User research and observation
• Persona development
• Content auditing for information architecture development
• Information architecture design
• Sketching and ideation of flow and interface for interactive products
• Wireframing and prototyping
• Documentation and deliverable creation

This is a full-time position, on site in our offices in downtown Tampa, FL.

What You Should Be Great At

We’re looking for someone with a delicate and slightly obsessive sensitivity to designing interactive products so that they deliver great experiences to the end user. We want someone who is able to carefully balance sexy design with real usability, and back up their design with research and thought. In short – we’re not looking for an artist, we’re looking for a designer.

As for tools, you’ll need to be familiar with Axure, the Adobe Suite and general prototyping concepts.

What the Ideal Person Looks Like

This position is not a graphic design position. While you may be talented at graphic design (and that’s certainly a plus), we’re looking for a user experience designer. Chances are, if you know the difference (and the challenge of explaining the difference) we’re talking about, you’re the right kind of person.

While we don’t expect you to have read every page of information about user experience design, we’re looking for someone who is steeped in the base of knowledge out there, and can talk UX shop with us. Whether or not you’re a fan of Nielsen or Spool, you should at least know who they are.

You should enjoy (even prefer) collaborative, team-based work environments.

Not only should you have the chops, but you should have passion. You should constantly be looking at ways to make interactive products deliver a better experience with an inescapable desire to innovate. You should be able to demonstrate experience of working to define the experience of an interactive product, and clearly articulate how an understanding of people has contributed to your past work.

Guess What? You’re Employee #1.

We’re not going to lie. You’re going to be the first full-time hire for Madera Labs. With that comes some exciting opportunities and different expectations. We’re not looking for someone who just wants to show up, design, and go home. We’re looking for someone who has a passion and honest interest in building a new design company. So, while you’ll be working on client work with us, you’ll also be working on our company with us. You have the chance to help shape what Madera Labs becomes.

In return, we’ll give you a fun, relaxing and exciting environment to flex your design muscle in and amazing growth opportunities. You’ll be challenged to innovate and given wide latitude to take risks in your design work.

Madera Labs is a small shop with big aspirations. We’re looking to become the world-class leader in interactive product design and innovation where technology meets humanity in an exceptional and exciting way. Want to join our crusade? Get in touch now.

Send résumés, examples of work and anything that clearly demonstrates your passion for and approach to design to:

Madera Labs
401 S. Florida Ave
Suite #203
Tampa, FL 33602

Or, email to:

careers@maderalabs.com (also, any questions? Hit us up here)

It never fails. In almost every project I’ve worked on, there’s been a healthy amount of chaos. A certain design solution seems right, then, as if on cue, some new issue comes out of the woodwork. For awhile, I thought this was an artifact of poor process. I’ve learned, however, that it’s completely normal.

There’s more…read this whole entry

Occasionally, something happens that’s so remarkable, it bears writing about. It may not be directly related to user experience design (although, quite directly related to user experience as a whole), but an experience I had earlier this morning demands being written about.

This morning – a Monday – I jumped in the car to go to the office, and heard the slow crank of the battery. Knowing that the battery was on its way out, I opted to swing by Sears on the way to swap the battery. I left about 30 minutes early, thinking that, surely, that extra buffer would guarantee I make it to work close to my normal time. It’s worth noting that I chose Sears due to a warranty on my now-dying battery, and wanted to take advantage of that warranty replacement.

What transpired over the course of the next four hours is a case study in how not to handle customer service, especially via social media.

There’s more…read this whole entry

Adoption – or the process of getting someone to start (and continue) using your product – is one of the pillars of product success. The subject of many pre-launch conversations, companies launching a new thing out in the world are (usually, and hopefully) keenly aware of the challenge of getting people to start using what they’ve created.

This is especially prevalent on the web, where switching costs are so low. For users, it’s so easy to hit the back button and go to a competitor, that getting people in the door and attached is a key part of grabbing some market share. Seems like common sense, huh?

There’s more…read this whole entry