Change Rolls in Like Thunder

Many of you know this by now as we’re likely connected through other social networks such as Twitter or LinkedIn, but, for those of you who don’t already know, in September I took on a new role at a company called Thunderhead.  Thunderhead builds products that help companies communicate with their customers in ways that improve customer satisfaction, increase customer loyalty, and, ultimately, help our customers develop more valuable relationships with their customers.

Those of you who know me well know that I view change as a good thing — I’m quite at home in a fast-changing environment.  In this fast-paced world, not changing is moving backwards.  Like a violent thunderstorm, change clears out the old growth and dead twigs and makes room for new growth.  It brings the promise of something new and the anticipation of a bright future.   This change is no different.

In my new role at Thunderhead I’m leading global UX efforts as Vice President, User Experience.  This is a particularly exciting role for me because, for the first time, I get to marry my experience in analytics with my background in UX — and I get to work with really smart developers and product people to build a new product from scratch.

The More we Change, the More we Stay the Same

This is a “full circle” moment for me as it brings me back to UX, which is where I got my start and which I thought was in my past.  Not because I didn’t want to do it, but because my career path had taken me away from it.  I didn’t realize how much I missed it, and how much I missed working with effing awesome designers.  It’s great to be back at it, and to be doing it inside a growing company that has mad respect for design and user experience, all the way up to the CEO.

So here I am – applying everything I learned in my ten year detour through analytics, which included time at WebCriteria, Coremetrics and Webtrends, to the design of a product that’s going to change how companies connect with digital customers.  The best part is that I get to do one of my favorite things…build a great team.  Building a new team, though challenging, is something you don’t get to do very often, but it’s a great thing.  To be able to choose the people you want to work with — people who share your passion for making something great — is a special opportunity, and I’m thankful to be in a position to it again.

Now Hiring!

So, if you or someone you know is a kick-ass Interaction Designer (IxD), UI Designer, or UI Developer with mad HTML5/CSS/JavaScript skills, we should talk.  I’ve got roles open in both the UK and in the US.

• I’m looking for two senior level IxDs to lead UX on two different products.  I’m looking for one each in the US and UK
• I’m also looking for two forward thinking UI Designers to work closely with the IxDs to craft a clean, modern, joy-inducing software experience for our customers.  Also one each in the US and UK.
• Lastly, I’m looking for a solid UI Developer to work in our Boston-area office.

We run an Agile/Scrum dev process.  You don’t need to have tons of experience inside an agile/scrum process, but you need to be excited about doing it.  We’ve found a good marriage of UX and Agile – and it allows us to work quickly when needed while also allowing the time to explore larger design issues over a longer period of time.

If you want to do some really cool work – let’s talk.

 

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