Global Design Partners

Mission

The mission of the Global Design Partners (GDP) program is to enable Oracle Applications customers to collaborate directly with usability engineers and designers to create an unrivaled, customer-centered user experience. The GDP also partners with thought leaders in Industry and Academia to keep in tune with emerging technologies and practices, and inspire innovative, cutting-edge user interfaces.

Our Partners

Oracle Global Design Partners (GDP) includes customers, academic institutions, Oracle sales and technical consultants, and industry usability professionals. Each role contributes a unique piece to the user-centered design process, and each receives unique benefits from participation as well.

• Customers
• Academic Partners
• Usability/HCI Professionals
• Oracle Sales and Technical Consultants
  

Customers as Design Partners

Oracle usability engineers and designers work directly with Oracle customers toward the shared goal of increasing the usability of our products. Customers are invited to participate in a variety of User-Centered Design (UCD) activities throughout the product lifecycle, from interviews and focus groups to gather user requirements, to early prototype feedback sessions, and live code usability testing. We work to incorporate users' feedback into a product's design in order to increase the usability and usefulness of the software, which ultimately increases an individual employee's productivity. Contact us by filling out the online form to learn more or to get involved.

For more information regarding the privacy of your information, please view Oracle's privacy policy.

Academic Partners

The GDP partners with the academic community in several ways. Highlights include a design and usability internship program, as well as sponsored research projects with academic institutions.

Oracle User Experience Interns

Oracle's formal internship program selects outstanding students currently enrolled in (or recent graduates of) Usability, Human Factors Engineering, or UI Design advanced degree programs, and gives them the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge in a challenging real-world setting. User Experience Interns support Usability Engineers and Interaction Designers in their day-to-day work, typically supporting 1 - 2 projects or key deliverables at a time. Our internships typically last 6 to 12 months, and we hire up to 8 interns each year. Resumes may be sent to Heather Parrot throughout the year.

Oracle Sponsored Research in India

Oracle Applications User Experience team has reached out to India's leading design schools for joint research collaboration with faculty and student projects starting in June 2007. The schools are IIT IDC (Mumbai) and IIT (Kanpur). We will sponsor research projects that will explore the growing use of Enterprise software in emerging markets, and using our Usability Labs in Bangalore and Hyderabad for conducting user research on current and future product designs. The goals of these joint research collaborations are to explore areas of research for emerging markets as well as to attract the brightest of minds to work in our company.

Usability/HCI Professionals

We engage the broader Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community in many ways -- from sharing of best practices with other software vendors to opening our doors for onsite lab tours.

Usability Lab Tours

Oracle has state-of-the art Usability Research and Testing facilities, which Partners and Oracle customers are invited to tour. One-way observation mirrors, multi-camera digital recording, widescreen and multi-monitor displays, and eye tracking systems allow usability engineers to analyze how users interact with existing software, new prototypes, and leading-edge technologies, informing design of Oracle user interfaces well into the future.

Oracle Sales and Technical Consultants

We actively reach out to tap the knowledge and expertise of our extensive Oracle Consulting workforce to provide feedback on Oracle Applications' user experience. Oracle Sales Consultants have a keen view into what features and standards of quality customers are demanding, while Technical Consultants have firsthand experience identifying issues with setups, integrations, and upgrades. Consultants' cross-customer, cross-system experience produces a unique point of view, which is why our user experience team regularly involves them in activities such as prototype feedback sessions and usability testing of setup UIs.

Contact Information

If you are interested in participating in this program, please fill out our Design Partner form and a program representative will contact you. For information regarding the privacy of your information, please view Oracle's privacy policy.