User Experience Architect- Consultant

(Reference code: 0006NS) Status: Full Time, Employee Location: Northbrook, IL 60062 Job Category: IT/Software Development Career Level:Experienced (Non-Manager) Education Level: Bachelor's Degree Job Description: The Allstate Corporation is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer. A Fortune 100 company, with $156 billion in assets, Allstate sells 13 major lines of insurance, including auto, property, life and commercial. Allstate also offers retirement and investment products and banking services. Allstate is widely known through the “You’re In Good Hands With Allstate®â€� slogan. Allstate was founded in 1931 and became a publicly traded company in 1993. For over 75 years, Allstate has been helping protect homes, cars and families across the country. As the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurance company, our success is built on an environment where the talents and contributions of every person are supported, respected and encouraged.   USER EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT - CONSULTANT Experienced, Consultant-Level Opportunity This USER EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT - CONSULTANT position is an experienced, consultant-level role within Allstate Insurance.  As a User Experience Architect - Consultant, you will be responsible for leading user-centered design activities such as defining and gathering user requirements, creating user interface designs, and contributing to standards definition.This position is based within our Protection Technology group-the largest of four Allstate IT centers that designs and deploys advanced technology for the #1 publicly traded property and casualty insurance carrier in the U.S. Primary responsibilities include: Leading efforts to define detailed user interface requirements (business, functional, and end-user) for complex projects. Driving creation of work models, user profiles and usability objectives aligned with business goals. Producing and evaluating functional designs for very complex projects and to ensure user interface design requirements are captured. Leading and developing user interface architectures and prototypes incorporating user interface design standards and visual designs for very complex projects. Planning and conducting iterative user interface design evaluations for very complex projects and leading development/training of usability evaluation processes. Planning/conducting structured user interface design reviews. Defining and evangelizing user-centered design processes and use of user interface design standards. Developing and managing detailed project plans and estimates for assigned work.The successful candidate should exhibit the following skills and abilities: User Centered Design - Demonstrates mastery for performing user-centered design tasks independently and has applied best practices for moderately complex systems. User Interface Design - Shows highest expertise when applying human factors knowledge to design complex user interfaces across a variety of technology platforms. Web Concepts - Demonstrates business and conceptual understanding of web concepts and ability to assess new technology, platforms and design criteria impacts. Usability Testing - Ability to direct usability testing for state-of-the-art, cross-departmental, multi-platform systems while adhering to organization's life cycle methodologies. User Interface Standards and Best Practices - Highest expertise applying industry user interface design standards and best practices to design usable, intuitive and highly complex software applications.Allstate is widely recognized as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in IT".  Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, ComputerWorld,  InformationWeek and Chicago magazines have also recognized us for our innovative and rewarding work environment.  Allstate employs more than 4,000 information technology professionals that design and deliver innovative technology solutions for our businesses.  We offer extensive benefits including major medical, dental, vision, tuition reimbursement, 401k and pension plans. Make a difference with the "Good Hands" people. Learn more at Allstate.jobs 1. Advanced - User Centered Design 2. Advanced - User Interface Design 3. Intermediate - Web Concepts 4. Advanced - Usability Testing 5. Advanced - User Interface Standards and Best Practices Experience Required: A minimum of 8 years experience conducting user-centered design activities; experience leading teams in the execution of user centered design activities. Computer Proficiency: Ability to create usable and useful user interface mock-ups in HTML.  Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of current user interface design standards for web-based software.  Demonstrate knowledge of Web authoring tools (e.g. Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Homesite, Flash, Fireworks). Demonstrate a working knowledge of Web page development using templates and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).  Visual Design/Graphics experience a plus but not required   Education: College Degree Preferred Major preference: Human Computer Interaction; Computer Science; Human Factors; Software Ergonomics; Psychology