Experience Prototyper – Software

Summary

Next Gen Computing (NGC) develops new concepts and capabilities for Apple products. The team brings expertise in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software design, and interaction design, enabling it to build fully functional prototypes that inform decisions across Apple. From rapid proofs of concept to live-on platforms distributed to dozens of internal users for longer durations, we can take an exploration as far as needed to enable our colleagues and stakeholders to get a hands-on feel for an experience instead of just an idea. We work across a variety of product lines and work regularly with engineering, design, and human factors functions to realize our work as clearly as possible. Our team offers a unique opportunity to inform the future of Apple products.

Description

Experience prototypers combine skills in user experience design and software development to scope, sketch, and build functional software interactions that drive design conversations forward. Through deep collaboration with hardware/software engineers and designers, they connect product concepts to technical feasibility to bring abstract ideas to life. They are able to frame their explorations with human-centered design language and visual artifacts, share their work with collaborators and stakeholders, and synthesize their findings to turn building into shared learning.

Responsibilities

• Building interactive software on Apple platforms using graphics, sensors, and custom I/O
• Working closely with hardware and systems engineers to integrate with custom hardware platforms
• Proposing concrete, buildable prototype embodiments within open-ended design spaces
• Communicating design intent verbally as well as visually through sketches, storyboards, scenarios, and diagrams
• Sharing demos with collaborators and stakeholders, soliciting feedback, and fostering discussion
• Documenting prototypes thoughtfully with video and other means
• Synthesizing findings and reflections into a coherent story situated within a context
• Testing, debugging, and fixing defects to continuously improve software

Minimum Qualifications

• Ability to independently build a standalone GUI app and integrate with APIs
• Software development foundation: OO/MVC design, source control, dependency management
• Interaction design basics: concept sketching/diagramming, problem framing, visual storytelling
• Natural curiosity and intuitive desire to build something tangible to explore an idea
• Cross-disciplinary, exploratory, and collaborative, with an ego-less working style
• Master's degree or Bachelor's degree with 3+ years’ work experience in a design/technology field

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with graphical animations, motion design, or writing shaders
• Familiarity with common hardware sensors, basic signal processing and gesture recognition
• Eye for detail and/or aesthetics, awareness of modern UI design, including Apple Human Interface Guidelines
• The dynamic range to work at different levels of refinement, from scrappy to polished
• Comfortable with ambiguity, open-ended exploration, and far-out ideas
• Awareness of human factors considerations, such as hand kinesthetics or sensory perception
• Familiarity with GenAI workflows
• Experience with macOS, Swift, SwiftUI, Xcode, and Apple SDK
• Project portfolio of previous interactive work