Interaction Designer

Hotwire.com is a leading discount travel Web site with consistently lower prices on airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. Launched in 2000 with funding from six major airlines, Hotwire negotiates deep discounts from its travel suppliers to help sell their excess inventory. Hotwire is a wholly owned subsidiary of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and is based in San Francisco, CA.

Hotwire.com is looking for a full-time interaction designer. The right candidate should be able to develop big ideas, and execute flawlessly against them in a highly collaborative environment. Additionally, we are looking for someone to design interfaces that are engaging, follow usability best practices and reinforce Hotwires visual brand.
The User Experience team is within the Product Management group at Hotwire, therefore youll work closely with a mix of product leads and customer care to develop interfaces that meet business objectives and the needs of the consumer.

Core Responsibilities:
* Applying user-centered design practices to create high quality consumer experiences
* Defining the conceptual experience strategy, information architecture, user flows and interaction design for projects
* Working closely with product managers and a product development team to define product direction and UX requirements
* Create and revise information architecture and interaction design documents, including: Standards documentation, site maps, concept diagrams, user personas or profiles, user scenarios, wireframes, flows, site inventory, template guidelines
* Applying usability research findings to the design process
* Work closely with other UX team members to execute on group and site vision

Job qualifications
* Minimum of 3 years experience designing consumer oriented web-based interfaces
* A portfolio or examples of sites youve worked on is required
* Knowledge of user-centered design principles and web design best practices/web standards
* Ability to understand and interpret existing site design and style guides, and create effective solutions within those guidelines
* Ability to develop big ideas, and execute flawlessly against them in a highly collaborative environment
* An ability to be communicative, flexible and precise under tight deadlines
* Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
* Knowledge of Visio or Omnigraffle
* BS/BA in Design, HCI or related degree preferred