Project Assistant Position

Spring Semester 2015

Project Assistant for the vizHOME project at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery -Living Environments Lab

We are seeking a highly motivated graduate student with strong interpersonal skills and experience conducting semi-structured research interviews to join the vizHome research team. This is a 33% position beginning now and continuing through the Spring 2015 semester with a possibility of extending through summer 2015. The position includes a monthly stipend and tuition. Hours of work must be flexible and may include some evenings and weekends.

Description of the vizHOME Project: Health care is increasingly occurring in the home, and a growing number of high-tech tools are becoming available to help people manage personal health concerns and health information. This project aims to explore how features of the home interior, such as access to counter space, or the privacy of different rooms, help or hinder people as they manage their health information in the home. In this first phase of the five-year project, we are conducting an extensive study of 20 households to gain a better understanding of Personal Health Information Management (PHIM) in the home. Simultaneously, we are creating detailed 3D renderings of these households in a virtual reality CAVE for use in future phases of the project and ultimately for broader dissemination to inform the design of self-care devices.

Background and Skills: Graduate student with strong interviewing, clinical and/or design experience. Background in human factors and/or health systems engineering is a plus. Outstanding candidates in other complementary fields such as design, human-computer interaction, nursing, or psychology may be considered. Knowledge of principles of task analysis, data analysis, as well as experience in professional/technical report writing is desired. Applicants should demonstrate ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team. Must be eligible for University of Wisconsin-Madison Authorized Driver status.

Responsibilities:

Job duties include:

-  Travel to participant homes to perform in-home interviews about PHIM tasks

-  Conducting in-home interviews and task analysis in a timely fashion

-  Analyzing and interpreting interview data including task analyses focused on how health information management is performed in the context of the home

-  Preparing literature reviews and contributing to manuscripts and other dissemination efforts

-  Working with the vizHOME team to ensure data integrity and secure storage for multiple types of data following protocol compliance.

If interested, please e-mail: 1) a cover letter highlighting your interest and qualifications for the position, 2) your resume, 3) the name and contact information for 3 references and 4) a scholarly writing sample to Dr. Gail Casper at