Andrew Nichols at Microsoft Research asked me to post the following for him. It is request for developers local to the Seattle area to help with testing our products. This seems like a good opportunity for the community, so here is his message:

Microsoft is conducting a research study for professional developers in C#. For this study we’re looking for 2 ends of the experience spectrum, detailed below. Participants who live locally or who will be in the area during the last week of January will visit one of our User Research studios on Microsoft’s Redmond campus for a 2 hour session. During this session you will get your hands on a new product under development and give us your honest feedback. This feedback will be communicated back to the development team to engineer improvements to the final product.

The two profiles we’re looking for are:

  1. Profile One
    • Professional developer with less than 1 year of experience
    • No CS degree
    • Doesn’t work at Microsoft
    • Codes at least 20 hours per week, 10 hours in C#
    • Doesn’t use C++ or Windows Communication Foundation
    • Familiar with Visual Studio, .NET Framework, ASP.NET, and web services but not expert
  2. Profile Two
    1. 5+ years experience as a professional developer
    2. Doesn’t work at Microsoft
    3. Codes at least 20hrs per week, 10 hours in C#
    4. CS degree
    5. 5+ years experience with C++
    6. 5+ years experience have used multiple languages for multiple projects in the past
    7. NO familiarity with  Windows Communications Foundation
    8. Familiar with Visual Studio, .NET Framework, ASP.Net, and Web Services but not an expert

Time slots currently available for this study (either profile)

  • Monday  Jan28th             11:30am-1:30pm
  • Tuesday Jan 29th             10:30am-12:30pm
  • Tuesday Jan 29th             1:00pm-3:00pm
  • Wednesday Jan 30th      9:00am-11:00am
  • Wednesday Jan30th       11:30am-1:30pm
  • Wednesday Jan30th       2:00pm-4:00pm
  • Wednesday Jan30th       4:30pm-6:30pm
  • Thursday Jan 31st            8:00am-10:00pm
  • Thursday Jan 31st            10:30am-12:30pm

If you fit one of the profiles listed above and can make it for one of the time slots indicated, please email Andrew Nickels  - andnic@microsoft.com – with a subject of C# Developer.

All participants will receive their choice of a retail Microsoft software title from a list of our most popular products including Visual Studio.NET Professional, Office 2007, Windows Vista Home Premium, and much more.

If you’re interested in other User Research opportunities at Microsoft, please visit us online at www.microsoft.com/UserResearch.