Triangle UXPA Blog

Solving the AI Delegation Problem - A Framework for UX

Laura Cunningham — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 19:11:13 GMT

The mainstreaming of generative AI expectations has arrived. Those working in tech, including UXers, are experiencing pressure to integrate AI into their regular workflows. The decision framing is not whether to use AI, but how to best integrate it. Today, many UXers approach delegating tasks to AI in an ad hoc, unstructured way. We ask it to generate a data visualization, pull useful quotes from transcripts, or rewrite an executive summary. Frequently missing is a consistent, risk-informed approach to extracting value from AI tools by delegating the right tasks at the right time.

I want to offer a framework that can help improve the effectiveness of AI task delegation. Much of this is not even my framework at its core, but is my attempt to adapt and expand a classic framework in the human factors literature to address AI task delegation in today’s environment.

Before LLMs: When to Automate

In 2000, names familiar to those of us with a human factors background (Parasuraman, Sheridan, and Wickens) published a paper titled "A Model for Types and Levels of Human Interaction with Automation.” In this paper, they shared a framework to guide task automation.Their original framework was created with high-risk tasks in mind, like those in aviation and industrial control systems, but can easily be modified to apply to modern UX workflows.

The core of this framework revolves around the idea that automation exists as a degree, not a binary. Deciding to delegate a task to an automated tool requires nuance. First, they suggest considering the type of task being delegated based on four stages of information processing. Second, determine the degree of automation on a sliding ten-point scale. I have taken the original framework (the 4 phases and 10 levels of automation) and slightly adjusted it to better fit modern AI contexts.

The 4 Information Processing Phases

AI can be applied at four distinct stages of a task or workflow, which align with four phases of human cognitive processing. These phases alone do not tell you when or how to automate a task with AI, but they provide a nudge in the right direction (e.g., taking action requires a higher degree of automation than simply acquiring information).

Acquiring Information: Sensing and gathering data
Analyzing Information: Making sense of those data
Deciding: Making a decision for action from available choices
Take Action: Executing that decision

The 10 Levels of Automation (LOA)

Within each of the 4 above phases, the degree to which a task is performed by AI (level of automation) ranges from 1 to 10. See the below table for reference.

Level 1: Human Only
Levels 2-4: Human Execution, AI Support
Level 5: AI Execution with Human Consent
Levels 6-8: Autonomous AI Execution
Levels 9-10: AI Ownership

The core insights from this framework are that AI automation comes in varying degrees and these degrees each have their tradeoffs, depending on the task at hand. The next step in task delegation is evaluating the suitability of a given task for some degree of AI automation against a set of evaluative criteria.

AI Task Fit Criteria

A given task can fit into different information processing categories and be automated to different degrees. This alone is helpful framing but we need an additional evaluative layer to filter where AI could truly add value. Here are some evaluative criteria to help in that assessment. This is not an exhaustive list, but covers many of the core factors that predict if an AI implementation will be successful.

Comparative Advantage: I have written about this concept elsewhere, but Comparative Advantage is a classic theory in the field of economics. For our purposes, this criterion looks at the extent to which a human or AI is not only better at a task, but relatively better compared to performance on other tasks. Each should lean into tasks for which it pays a higher opportunity cost if it did not do them. Think “if I did this task myself instead of delegating it to AI, what other tasks would I not be able to spend my time doing?”.
AI Capability Fit: Is AI, in its current state and with the tools and capabilities available to you today, able to execute the type of task you are considering?
Mental Workload: If AI automated some or all of a task, how much would it reduce your mental workload?
Situation Awareness: To what extent do you need to be aware of the progress or status of the task being executed? Do you need to be aware every step of the way or only aware of the final outcome or at certain checkpoints? Not at all?
Skill Degradation: If you automate this task, will important skills atrophy over time? If yes, is that a problem or is that acceptable?
Failure Cost: What are the impacts if the task fails or quality drops below the target level?
Total Task Time: I borrowed this thought from Ethan Molluck: consider the net productivity gain/loss by comparing the time and effort for a human to complete the task over and against an AI counterpart. Include the probability of AI failure that requires you to execute the task again. Is Human task time>AI task time + Probability of rework?
Verification Cost: Consider not only the time it takes AI to complete a task but also the time for you to verify or quality check its output.

The Full Task Delegation Flow

Putting it all together in a simple flow looks something like this:

Figure 1. The Full Task Delegation Flow (made with Nano Banana 2.0)

Consider the Jagged Frontier, Partial Delegation

One more thing to consider. When looking to delegate tasks to AI, an important concept to keep in mind is that of the "Jagged Frontier" of AI performance. LLMs are famously stochastic black boxes that hide how they produce output. This leads to a phenomena wherein the same LLM can perform extraordinarily well on a complex task but turn around and perform as a toddler would, even on a much simpler task.

This jaggedness, along with other factors, have led to high AI adoption but low rates of complete workflow delegation. For example, by one estimate, even with a reported 85% AI adoption rate, only around 4% of work time is spent using AI. While the vast majority of large enterprise companies are heavily investing in AI, only around 1 in 4 AI agent projects are ever deployed in production (and we have to wonder how many of those result in a net productivity gain).

When delegating tasks to AI, carefully consider the capabilities of the tools you have, your experience with them, the risks involved, and adapt in the face of jagged outcomes. Don’t look at task delegation as an all-or-nothing exercise, but strongly consider partial delegation where it makes sense.

Conclusion

The future of UX is not a tension between AI and humans. Nor is it going to look like a clean division of labor, at least for now. Task delegation is messy. However, the delegation framework I presented here will, hopefully, cut through some of the messiness and help us target those tasks that are genuinely helpful to delegate. It also serves as a robust framework that should scale with AI capabilities.

The next time you open your research repository to start ramping up for a new study, don’t merely ask “can AI do this?”. Ask, "to what degree should AI do this?"

TRIUXPA's Mini-Design Challenge

Valery Morales-Pasten — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 17:41:34 GMT

TRIUXPA is hosting a mini design challenge — and you’re invited to join the fun!

We’re calling on all creatives in our community to submit a sticker sheet design that celebrates both TRIUXPA and the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). Think UX themes, local pride, and bold, expressive visuals!Design

Guidelines
Size: 6” x 8” sticker sheet
Include: Multiple stickers per sheet (icons, text, landmarks, etc.)
File Specs: 300 DPI, CMYK, preferred formats: PDF or PNG
Margins: Leave a 0.25” margin around the edges

What to Feature
TRIUXPA elements (name, logo, or UX-related themes)
Triangle inspiration (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, local flavor)
Your unique creative flair!

Deadline: Wednesday, August 7th
Email your design to valery.morales_pasten@triuxpa.org with the subject line: Sticker Sheet Challenge Submission

Winner Gets: Bragging rights + your design printed and shared with the community!

Got questions? Connect with Valery @valery.morales_pasten@triuxpa.org.

Ask The Experts: Is Imposter Syndrome in UX Real?

Laura Cunningham — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:56:01 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This post focuses on imposter syndrome.

Is imposter syndrome in UX real?
Does everyone feels it—how do we navigate it in a fast-changing industry?

It's easy to forget sometimes that especially for newer UXer's that fresh and even young perspectives are just as valuable as a more senior person. Even questions asking for clarity can bring up holes or unknowns that weren't previously being thought about. I think one thing that helps me deal with my imposter syndrome is that there is always something new to learn whether you are senior in the field or just starting out. So as long as you are continuously learning and asking questions, it shows you are curious and always growing so that even if you are wrong sometimes you are working to correct your mistakes. Something I also think helps a lot is making sure you are in a supportive work culture. Having colleagues just as eager to learn with you and uplift you is vital. You'll always feel like an imposter if your environment is negative.

Megan Brown – UX Specialist – Nielsen Norman Group

To play devil's advocate with this question, to what extent is the issue with the employee experiencing imposter's syndrome, and to what extent is the issue with the employer creating a safe space where people from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences feel like they are valued for the contributions and perspectives they bring to the table? This can include (but is not limited to) the perspectives of women, people of color, people with disabilities, neurodivergence, fresh out of college experience, career hoppers, etc.

Anonymous- UX Researcher

I'd say imposter syndrome does not go away entirely for anyone as we age. Even as a seasoned designer, you feel it at times. There is a great deal of pressure to perform and deliver. Sometimes, that pressure can impact the best of us. I'd say, the expectation for us to perform only grows as you gain more wisdom in the industry.

Jamal Cromity – TriUXPA Director of Mentoring and Students

I don't have much insight into imposter syndrome. But I'm thinking more about situations that people find themselves in where they can't thrive. Sheryl Cababa's book Closing the Loop has a good section on systems thinking about power relations. I knew there were imbalances in power relations in the workplace but I didn't have a useful framework or any way to study them, so it was a good resource for me. Here are the quoted references:

Natasha Iskander, "Design thinking is fundamentally conservative and preserves the status quo," Harvard Business Review. 2018.
M. Muthukrishna et al, "Beyond western, educated, industrial, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) psychology," Psychological Science. 2020.

Carl Turner – TriUXPA Director of Events

This is a great question, and I definitely believe imposter syndrome is real — it’s something most of us experience at different points in our careers. But that’s what makes UX so special — our different backgrounds shape how we design and help us connect with users in unique ways. Imposter syndrome doesn’t go away overnight. But over time, you learn how to manage it instead of letting it take over. I try to celebrate small wins — like submitting three job applications in a day or finishing a case study — because they remind me that progress is still progress. Another thing that’s helped is talking to peers and mentors. It’s encouraging to know you’re not going through this journey alone, and it’s even better when you’re surrounded by people who genuinely want to see you grow.

Ann Tran – UX/UI Designer

Thank you for bringing up this topic. Imposter syndrome is very real for most people. Regular exercise, staying curious and open-minded to new information—even opposing opinions or unexpected questions—and nurturing good listening skills can all be helpful. Psychology recommends brief physical activity before a high-stakes event: a few jumping jacks or push-ups behind the scenes can trick the brain into interpreting symptoms like sweaty palms and a racing heart as signs of exercise, rather than nervousness. Meditation can also help with imposter syndrome. If someone is about to deliver a speech, reminding themselves that they are there to share knowledge and experience—not to be tested or judged—can be grounding. Interestingly, simply acknowledging the likelihood of experiencing imposter syndrome can reduce cortisol levels and stress. Naming it can take away some of its power.

Hajni Katona

Ask The Experts: What tools and techniques beyond Figma for prototypes, usability testing and portfolios are most effective today?

Laura Cunningham — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 12:29:22 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering tools and techniques.

What tools and techniques beyond Figma for prototypes, usability testing and portfolios are most effective today?

For portfolios, I’m a big fan of Framer, its interface is very similar to Figma’s, which makes it easy to onboard and use.

For usabilty testing, Dovetail is great for being a good data repository for analyzing usability testing data and gathering insights. One of my coworkers also just recently tested out an AI tool called Marvin in some usability testing sessions, which created a private live stream of their sessions so observers can watch the testing without accidentally interfering.

I love that a lot of those tools like Mural, Miro, and even Figjam have wireframing templates you can just drag and drop and be messy with.

Another tool we use with our developers is Linear. They're able to create and keep track of tickets, and I as the designer can use it's Figma plugin to attach specific prototypes & designs to an active project. It helps me keep connected to the technical progress and stay in the loop with any coding issues.

Megan Brown -UX Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group

I use MUIQ for user testing, it is a powerful service. They offer a number of test options and their moderated testing services options are growing.

Jamal Cromity – Director of Mentoring and Students -TriUXPA

Our new TriUXPA Sponsor, Lucid, provides Lucid Chart for process mapping and lo-fi wireframing, which I used a lot. Also Lucid Spark for facilitation sessions. You can get a free account and make about 5 documents.

Carl Turner – Director for Events - TriUXPA

For AI tools:

I believe we're seeing a shift in early-stage design. Instead of traditional wireframing, AI-powered "vibe coding" with tools like Loveable/Gemini can more rapidly align stakeholders on strategy. By quickly visualizing interactions and architecture, UXr's can focus more on high-level product strategy from the very beginning.
Enjoy using notebookLM for research synthesis
Gemini/Chat GPT for research script and plan writing
Gemini/Chat GPT for heuristic review & aria label writing

Jane Enser – UX Designer, Lucid Software

I hate to say AI, but...AI. Not that it can do everything, but it can be quite powerful when used within appropriate contexts and frameworks.

For low fidelity wireframes we ended up using Mural and even *Microsoft PowerPoint* to generate wireframes.

I use spreadsheets or AirTable to keep track of inspiration.

Anonymous – UX Researcher

I’ve been using a tool called Eagle to collect screenshots of good portfolios and case studies.

Elly Yu

Navigating Challenges in Healthcare UX Design: Balancing Innovation, Technical Limitations and Compliance (Part 2)

Laura Cunningham — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 11:28:28 GMT

Author: Chris Davis – Principal Designer, Mindforge

Introduction

As the healthcare sector becomes increasingly digitized, UX professionals face unique challenges in designing user-centered solutions that meet the needs of patients, providers, and healthcare organizations. While the promise of improving healthcare experiences through technology is immense, healthcare systems often present substantial obstacles that need careful navigation. From technical limitations and legacy systems to provider resistance and regulatory constraints, UX designers in the healthcare space must adopt creative and strategic approaches to overcome these challenges without sacrificing user experience or innovation.

The structure of the design engagement proposal plays a critical role in setting the tone and trajectory for the entire initiative. A well-framed proposal does more than outline scope and timelines—it proactively addresses the complexities of client commitment, product delivery, regulatory and stakeholder engagement. By clearly defining decision-making roles, outlining phased delivery tied to client readiness, and embedding checkpoints for clinical, legal, and technical input, the proposal becomes a shared blueprint for accountability and progress. It signals to the client that you're not just designing a solution but actively managing the conditions for its success.

Navigating Technical Limitations and Legacy Systems

Legacy systems are a significant challenge in healthcare environments. Many healthcare organizations still rely on outdated, cumbersome systems that were not designed with user experience in mind. These systems can be incompatible with modern technologies, creating obstacles for implementing innovative UX designs that would enhance the user experience for both patients and healthcare providers.

UX professionals must approach legacy systems with a deep understanding of both the technical constraints and the needs of the users who interact with these systems. And while UX designers should have a good understanding of the technical aspects of their projects they need to collaborate closely with a diversity of stakeholders, including IT teams, administrators, clinicians, and patients, often with conflicting needs and priorities. Senior UX designers must align these groups by facilitating collaboration and advocating for solutions that balance user needs with business goals.

One of the best practices for navigating technical limitations is conducting a thorough assessment of existing systems and their capabilities. This allows UX designers to identify the systems' strengths and weaknesses, providing a roadmap for designing a more seamless user experience within the constraints of these technologies. Whereas the Business Model Canvas focuses on the core components of a business such as customer segments, value proposition, and revenue streams, Service Design takes a broader approach. For instance, service design is focused on improving service delivery by aligning the needs of users, the goals of the organization, and the capabilities of the service. When dealing with legacy systems, service design considers the entire experience across all touchpoints, including people, processes, and physical environments and can help to identify pain points and areas where technical limitations might be addressed or mitigated. Essentially, the canvas is a framework for the business model, while service design is a more holistic approach to crafting customer experience within that model.

Additionally, Design Thinking workshops tailored to healthcare stakeholders encourage a deep understanding of user needs and the context in which the product will be used. It also stresses the importance of working within existing technical limitations, as designers and product strategists collaborate with stakeholders to identify realistic and feasible solutions. For example, a team at Cerner (now Oracle Health) used Design Thinking to integrate their EHR (Electronic Health Records) system with Apple's HealthKit. The team empathized with healthcare providers’ frustration with siloed data and technical limitations in legacy systems, defining the challenge of creating a seamless experience. By prototyping solutions and testing with users (healthcare professionals), they were able to implement an integration that allowed providers to access real-time health data while adhering to system constraints. This approach helped the team innovate within legacy system limitations and meet users' needs.

Adapting to a Digital Health Product

In the context of a mental health app for a digital startup, where users track mood, receive CBT-based guidance, and connect with coaching or therapy support, aligning product delivery with clinical and regulatory expectations is critical. Consider structuring delivery in tiers—starting with a non-clinical MVP (Minimal Value Product) to test onboarding, journaling, and habit-forming nudges, while developing a separate module that requires sign-off from licensed clinicians for content targeting higher-acuity symptoms. This dual-path delivery helps to maintain velocity while showing clinical partners you’re serious about safe design. Learn to sync your release cycles with your healthcare partners’ timelines—such as their quarterly product reviews or internal ethics board meetings—so you’re not pushing new features into a void.

Healthcare companies often involve multiple stakeholders. Client commitments need to be reframed in terms of shared accountability. Piloting with integrated behavioral health teams at clinics, your champion—a clinical innovation lead—may not be the person to sign off on data sharing workflows or content moderation policies. This can delay the launch until you clarify who owns those decisions. Consider building stakeholder mapping and RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) planning into your kickoff: identifying not just who has decision-making power, but who feels accountable for patient risk. For example, a medical director might need to vet any user-facing advice that could be construed as diagnostic. Also consider the value in running simulated “what if” walkthroughs—e.g., “What happens if a user reports suicidal ideation?”—to align the product’s logic and escalation pathways with the client’s care protocols and risk tolerance.

Balancing Healthcare Provider Resistance with Innovation

UX designers can and often should lead change programs, especially when the change is focused on improving user experience within a product or service, as their deep understanding of user needs and ability to design intuitive interfaces makes them well-suited to navigate the change process and ensure user adoption. That said, during a time when health care is undergoing the most sweeping change ever, health systems, not surprisingly, are struggling to overcome resistance to change.

Healthcare providers, often overburdened and resistant to change, pose a challenge to UX professionals. Many healthcare professionals are hesitant to adopt new technologies or workflows, especially if the technology adds complexity to their already demanding tasks. This resistance can be even more pronounced when they are faced with systems they have used for years, even decades.

Research and the experience of McLeod Regional Health shows that engaging those most resistant to change—by empathizing with them, understanding the roots of their resistance, and helping them view change in a positive light—is an effective approach. To effectively balance provider resistance with innovation, UX designers must focus on building trust and demonstrating the value of new technologies. By encouraging stakeholders to share their perspectives on what worked and what didn’t, you empower them to take ownership of the initiative and contribute to driving it forward. The design thinking process, often employed by UX designers, encourages empathy, experimentation, and iteration, which are valuable skills for navigating change management.

Approaches to Regulatory and Compliance Challenges

Healthcare UX designers also face the challenge of designing solutions that comply with strict regulatory and compliance challenges. UX designers need to work closely with their compliance department, whose function is to monitor adherence to regulatory and compliance standards. However, regulatory and compliance challenges do not need to stifle creativity.

The key to overcoming regulatory hurdles lies in designing with compliance in mind from the very beginning of the project. This means integrating privacy protections, safety and security features into the design, rather than attempting to address them at a later stage.

For instance, AliveCor a company specializing in mobile ECG devices, navigated FDA regulatory approval for its KardiaMobile product while maintaining a creative user experience design and business model. The compliance team worked closely with the FDA to ensure that the device met all necessary health and safety regulations. AliveCor also focused on designing a simple, intuitive app interface that would make complex health data accessible to a broad user base. By balancing regulatory needs with user-centered design, AliveCor succeeded in bringing an innovative product to market.

In the mental health space, it’s easy to inadvertently cross regulatory lines—especially when mixing educational tools with symptom monitoring or mood tracking. For instance, an early feature may offer daily mood-driven affirmations that, while helpful to users, raise red flags about implied clinical guidance. It’s important to consult with legal advisors, creating distinct pathways: one for general wellness (not requiring clinical oversight), and another for provider-linked interventions, where your messaging is reviewed and approved by a licensed therapist. Consider embedding lightweight HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 compliance checks into your prototyping cycle—ensuring, for example, that metadata like message timestamps or location tracking is explicitly opted into and encrypted at rest. These early investments in “compliance by design” will pay off during due diligence with health plans and potential channel partners.

Conclusion

Navigating the complex landscape of healthcare UX design requires creativity, patience, and a strategic approach. By embracing best practices in handling technical limitations, addressing provider resistance, and managing regulatory challenges, UX professionals can deliver meaningful, user-centered experiences that improve the healthcare ecosystem for all stakeholders.

Further Reading and Resources

Case Studies:
- Mayo Clinic’s Move to a Single Enterprise-Wide EHR – by Shannon Counselman, MBA, unit manager, Mayo Clinic; Emily Hamilton, MA, principal health systems engineer, Mayo Clinic; Sonia Martindale Mathern, MHA, MBA, senior principal health systems engineer, Mayo Clinic; and Kassandra Young, MS, senior health systems engineer, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- From Smartphone to EHR: A Case Report on Integrating Patient Generated Health Data – by Eric E. Schadt and Yu-Feng Yvonne Chan
Articles:
- How One Health System Overcame Resistance to a Surgical Checklist – by Kate Hilton and Alex Anderson, Harvard Business Review
- Cedar Sinai’s Real-Time ER Feedback Platform Helps Improve Patient Satisfaction - by Bill Siwicki, Healthcare IT News
- Healthcare UX Design: 10 Tips to Achieving HIPPA Compliance in 2025 – by Arushi Sethi
Books:
- Reinventing Organizations – by Frederic Laloux
Tools:
- The Five Steps to Service Blueprinting – by NN/g
- How to Prototype a New Business – from IDEO
- Customer Journey Maps – from The Interaction Design Foundation

Read Part 1

Elevating Healthcare Experiences through Human-Centered Design (Part 1)

Laura Cunningham — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 14:37:24 GMT

Author: Chris Davis – Principal Designer, Mindforge

Introduction

Healthcare is deeply personal yet often feels anything but. Patients encounter long wait times, confusing digital interfaces, and fragmented systems that make accessing care more stressful than it should be. This is where User Experience (UX) professionals have a unique opportunity to lead change. By applying empathy-driven design and focusing on seamless, patient-centered solutions, we can help humanize healthcare and create experiences that not only meet needs but resonate emotionally.

The State of Healthcare Experiences Today

Navigating healthcare often feels like trying to put together a puzzle without knowing what the final picture looks like. Each piece—appointments, test results, billing, and communication—exists, but fitting them together to form a cohesive experience is overwhelming and often frustrating.

Providers face challenges too. Clunky EHR interfaces and inefficient workflows pull them away from meaningful patient interactions. Meanwhile, Payer organizations risk losing patients to competitors who offer more user-friendly solutions.

The good news? UX has the tools and frameworks to turn these pain points into opportunities. By redesigning healthcare experiences, we can simplify processes, enhance trust, and improve outcomes.

The Building Blocks of Human-Centered Design in Healthcare

1. Empathy as the Foundation

Effective healthcare design starts with understanding the emotions and needs of everyone involved—patients, caregivers, and providers.

Empathy mapping: Conduct unstructured interviews to capture what users say, think, feel, and do at each stage of their healthcare journey.
Ethnographic research: Spend time in clinics or with patients to observe real-world challenges and uncover insights that surveys can’t reveal.

Scenario: A pediatric hospital revamped its patient portal after realizing parents felt overwhelmed by medical jargon. The redesigned portal included plain-language explanations, visual progress trackers, and a direct chat with nurses.

2. Creating Seamless Experiences Across Touchpoints

Healthcare journeys span multiple interactions, from scheduling an appointment to receiving post-treatment care. UX professionals can ensure these touchpoints connect seamlessly.

Use journey mapping to identify friction points, such as redundant paperwork or unclear next steps.
Advocate for integrated systems, like apps that sync wearable data with electronic health records (EHRs) for better continuity of care.

Scenario: A telehealth app allowed patients to schedule virtual visits, review prescriptions, and securely message providers—all in one place. As a result, the app boosted patient satisfaction and reduced the administrative burden for clinics.

3. Prioritizing Inclusivity and Accessibility

Healthcare serves a diverse population, so inclusive design is critical.

Apply inclusive design principles to ensure systems work for everyone, from older adults to users with limited health literacy.
Consider cultural factors when localizing interfaces to meet the needs of diverse audiences.

Scenario: A diabetes management app added multilingual support and voice-controlled navigation for users with visual impairments. These features expanded its reach to underserved communities, improving adherence and outcomes.

4. Humanizing Digital Interactions

While technology can improve efficiency, it can lack the human touch patients need.

Design empathetic chatbots to assist users while making them feel heard. For instance, using calming language and context-aware responses.
Balance automation with opportunities for human interaction, such as easy escalation to live support.

Scenario: A behavioral health platform included guided meditation exercises delivered through a friendly conversational AI, paired with a “Talk to a Therapist” button for personalized help.

5. Building Trust Through Transparency

Patients want to feel informed and in control of their care. Transparency is key to achieving this.

Design interfaces that simplify complex information, such as lab results, using visuals and plain-language explanations.
Clearly communicate data privacy practices to build trust.

Scenario: An oncology center created a dashboard for patients that visualized treatment milestones, explained test results in plain English, and provided links to relevant educational resources.

The Measurable Impact of UX in Healthcare

By reimagining healthcare experiences, UX professionals can deliver tangible benefits for all stakeholders:

Patients: Less stress, clearer communication, and better health outcomes.
Providers: Streamlined workflows and stronger patient relationships.
Payer Organizations: Higher patient retention, cost savings, and a reputation for compassion and innovation.

Practical Tips for UX Professionals in Healthcare

Understand the Ecosystem: Familiarize yourself with healthcare’s unique complexities, from insurance regulations to clinical workflows.
Start Small: Demonstrate the value of UX by improving a single touchpoint, like simplifying appointment confirmations.
Advocate for Design Thinking: Partner with clinicians and IT teams to co-create solutions that balance user needs with operational goals.

Conclusion

UX professionals have a unique opportunity to make healthcare more human. By focusing on empathy, accessibility, and seamless experiences, we can create systems that truly support patients, providers, and payer organizations. As UX designers, we’re not just improving interfaces—we’re shaping a future where care feels personal, connected, and compassionate.

Further Reading and Resources

Articles:
- Healthcare UX Design Challenges and Solutions – by UX 4Sight
Books:
- Design for Care: Innovating Healthcare Experience – by Peter Jones
- Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health – by Bon Ku and Ellen Lupton
Tools:
- Accessibility and Inclusivity Study Guide – by NN/g
- Journey Mapping Toolkits – from IDEO
- Customer Journey Maps – from The Interaction Design Foundation

Read Part 2

Economics of AI in UX: Why we should be optimistic

Laura Cunningham — Thu, 22 May 2025 14:07:19 GMT

Author: Caleb Furlough, PhD

Advancements in AI continue to generate excitement for those in tech and product-focused fields. Coming along for the ride with that excitement is proportionate anxiety for many^[1], especially those in UX. New AI advancements and employer expectations raise various concerns that tend to fall under the larger banner of something like “will AI reduce the need for UX designers and researchers?”. Thomas Stokes at Drill Bit Labs reports a year-over-year increase of almost 7% in UX job postings mentioning AI^[2]. Are User Experience and related fields like Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction in the early phases of being relegated to the sidelines? While I understand and empathize with this concern, I also believe it is often misplaced. Fundamental economic principles and recent historical patterns suggest something more nuanced and optimistic. The UX workforce is more likely to see its daily job responsibilities and overall market positioning transform and evolve than become outdated and marginalized.

My goal for this post is simply to offer a few thoughts on the future of UX based on proven economic principles and historical examples I hope will inspire optimism.

Foundational Economic Principles

Taking a look at recent economic history, technological advancements have consistently transformed rather than eliminated human work. I will briefly highlight two relevant economic principles to this transformation: Ricardo’s Comparative Advantage and Kremer’s O-ring Theory.

Comparative Advantage: In 1817 renowned economist David Ricardo demonstrated that even when one side of an economic trade has an absolute advantage in everything they produce, both sides will benefit when each specializes in what they do comparatively better. In other words, even in the extreme hypothetical that an AI agent was better at every UX task than its human counterpart, it would still be more efficient to utilize the AI for only the tasks it has the largest comparative advantage in (and likewise for the human UXer). This principle helps us see how, even as AI capabilities increase, economic forces will create a division of labor between AI and humans rooted in their respective strengths (even in the unlikely, doom-and-gloom scenario in which AI has become absolutely better at everything).

O-ring Theory: Nobel Memorial Prize winning economist Michael Kremer proposed the O-ring theory of economic development in 1993^[3]. Using the Challenger space shuttle disaster of 1986 as a prime example, O-ring theory shows how a single point of inefficiency in a product team can dramatically impact the success of the end product. For example, even if 9 out of 10 team members do their job with incredible efficiency, a single team member working inefficiently can cause the otherwise high performing team to produce a mediocre product. Applied to our AI and UX context, Kremer’s theory demonstrates that even if we were to efficiently outsource 90% of UX tasks to AI, the relative impact of the human UX designer or researcher would not decrease, but actually increase!

Takeaway: Comparative Advantage and O-ring theory provide two economic rationales to believe there will always be considerable value to be gained from human UXers, even in the event humanity reaches sci-fi levels of AI capabilities.

Historical Examples of Role Transformation

Theories and principles are helpful, but let’s turn for a quick look at some historical examples showing what happens when technology automates human tasks.

Automation and mechanization in manufacturing is a familiar example. When mechanized task automation became the standard manufacturing it did not simply eliminate jobs, but instead bifurcated the market. Yes, mass production was automated and job roles were lost as a result. However, this simultaneously created new demand for artisanal and specialty manufacturing roles. It is estimated that in the past 25 years roughly 1.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost due to automation^[4]. However, it is also estimated that 133 million new jobs (some, not all, in manufacturing) will be created, many of which will shift from low-skills and low-pay to higher-skilled and higher-paid manufacturing positions ^[5].
The banking industry gives us one of my favorite examples of transformation over elimination. When ATMs became widespread in the 90’s many spoke of the impending doom of the bank teller. The number of ATMs sharply rose from zero to over 400,000 in the course of just a few years, bolstering fears of job loss. Instead, as documented by economist James Bessen^[6], the number of bank tellers in the United States increased at a rate higher than that of the average workforce. ATMs reduced the cost of operating a bank branch, allowing banks to open more branches. Teller responsibilities transformed from handling cash to relationship management and more complex financial services. These were high-value responsibilities that ATMs could not perform at the level of a human or, in Ricardo’s language, in which humans held the comparative advantage.

Bessen concludes

“Many people suppose that if technology automates tasks . . . then widespread computer automation must be associated with major job losses. But this view fundamentally misunderstands what has been happening. The evidence shows that computer automation of an occupation is associated with increased demand for that occupation . . . The net result is that computer use is associated with a small increase in employment on average, not major job losses.” (pp.29-30)

3. When thinking of large-scale automation in North America, the agricultural revolution is one of the most dramatic historical examples. Agricultural employment fell from roughly 41% of the U.S. workforce in 1900 to less than 2% today, due in large part to technological advances in automation^[5]. The end of humans working in agriculture, right? Not quite, as both The Bureau of Labor Statistics and economist David Autor note that while traditional agricultural jobs did experience decline, new jobs and responsibilities were created focusing less on physical labor and more on higher-order thinking^[8],[7]. This is not to mention the significant rise of new jobs and skill sets in other sectors as a result of this market shift.

4. Lastly, a historical example more directly applicable to what we see happening is UX is the transformation of accounting. As standard bookkeeping has become increasingly automated, accountants have evolved into new and sometimes different, or more highly skilled, roles such as strategists, analytics, and advisors^[7]. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports employment among accountants has grown and is expected to continue to grow at an above average rate despite automation of many daily tasks^[10]. Traditionally trained accountants are increasingly focused on higher-order responsibilities like interpretation, strategy, and personalized financial advice. It is not difficult to see how a similar strategic shift could happen in UX.

These historical patterns suggest UX may begin to bifurcate into AI-driven standard solutions and value-add, human-crafted experiences. This would follow the economic principle of comparative advantage that has a proven track record through many technological revolutions.

The Current State of AI in UX

Today's AI tools are capable of performing, at varying degrees of efficiency, different core UX tasks like generating wireframes and prototypes, sketching design concepts, creating synthetic users, moderating 1-on-1 interview sessions, mapping user journeys from qualitative data inputs, drafting moderator guides, analyzing quantitative data, creating research reports, ideating new design directions, and the list goes on.

However, as we stand today, AI struggles with certain aspects of UX like facing unique design challenges, cultural and contextual nuance, novel user behaviors, and ethical considerations. Jakob Nielsen comments on some of the current limitations in AI in UX Research,

"The reason we conduct user research instead of relying solely on the 10 heuristics and other usability guidelines is that humans always have unexpected behaviors. How do we know what people want, need, or prefer? This cannot be predicted, any more than we can predict the future.” ^[11]

Perhaps these limitations reflect Ricardo’s principle of comparative advantage at work. AI handles routine tasks along with some creative tasks while humans retain the advantage in other areas of higher-order thinking. I try to avoid making specific predictions about the future, but this seems like a reasonable possibility given what we have seen happen in other technological revolutions.

Looking Forward

I will end by offering a few parting considerations for looking at AI transformation in UX moving forward. UX professionals navigating current advances in AI should consider adopting the lens of tried and true economic principles for guidance. Focus on developing skills where humans maintain comparative advantage. Do not become fixated on the absolute advantages of AI. Focus on core UX skills that make you part of the O-ring of production to multiply your impact on the end product. Focus your energy not solely on displacement, but also on newly created opportunities.

As bank tellers and accountants embraced evolution in their roles through a changing technological environment, we UX professionals should too - with optimism.

References

[1] https://www.reach3insights.com/blog/ai-anxiety

[2] https://substack.com/home/post/p-162155396

[3] Kremer, M. (1993). The O-ring theory of economic development. The quarterly journal of economics, 108(3), 551-575.

[4] https://teamstage.io/jobs-lost-to-automation-statistics/

[5] Jiang, H., Ge, Y., Yang, C., & Yu, H. (2024). How automated machines influence employment in manufacturing enterprises?. PloS one, 19(3)

[6] Bessen, J. E. (2016). How computer automation affects occupations: Technology, jobs, and skills. Boston Univ. school of law, law and economics research paper, (15-49).

[7] Autor, D. H. (2015). Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. Journal of economic perspectives, 29(3), 3-30.

[8] https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/beyond-bls/changes-in-the-us-occupational-mix-from-1860-to-2015.htm

[9] https://www.getcone.io/blog/the-evolution-of-an-accountants-role-modern-accountant

[10] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm

[11] https://jakobnielsenphd.substack.com/p/ai-can-cannot-do-ux

2024-2025 TriUXPA offices

Carl Turner — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 16:04:27 GMT

2024-2025 Nomination for Triangle UXPA Executive Council Offices

You can nominate yourself or someone else, with their knowledge and participation, until 11:59 PM, Friday July 26th, 2024. Descriptions of the offices are on our website at https://triuxpa.org/Triangle-UXPA-Board-of-Directors-Roles and more general volunteer position descriptions at https://triuxpa.org/page-1843504.

You must be a member of Triangle UXPA to run for office and to vote in the election. The 2024-2025 term runs from August 14th, 2024 through July 1st, 2025.

Note: This year that some of the roles are not options. Current council members are staying for a second-year to help build continuity in our association's offerings.

View the nomination form here.

Recap: Leveraging AI for Design and Research Efficiency

Carl Turner — Mon, 27 May 2024 15:02:30 GMT

Archana Shah and Cindy McCracken facilitated discussion of AI for design and research at Lexis Nexus on May 10, 2024. What follows are Cindy's meeting notes.

Summary

Based on the provided notes, here are the summarized themes from the discussions:

Successful Uses of AI for UX

AI has been successfully used to organize documents, enhance productivity, and conduct competitive analysis. Examples include Firefly AI for meeting summaries and Google Bard for enhancing user experience. AI's role in job hunting and itinerary planning also showcases its practical applications in everyday tasks.

Failures in Attempting to Use AI for UX

Failures noted include issues with AI-generated bias, hallucinations in content generation, and the inability of AI to cite correctly. Challenges also arise from AI's unpredictability and lack of transparency, leading to trust issues among users.

Key Things to Keep in Mind While Designing the UX of an AI-Based Product

The importance of trust calibration, maintaining user privacy, and ensuring data protection are emphasized. Designers are advised to consider the legality of content and integrate AI in a way that enhances rather than complicates the user experience.

Ethics of Using AI

Ethical concerns include the pace of development outstripping the establishment of general regulations, copyright and trademark issues, and the ethical implications of AI-generated content, especially when adapted to artists. The potential for AI to reinforce existing biases is also a significant concern.

Future of UX in AI

The future discussions revolve around AI complementing rather than replacing human roles, with a focus on maintaining the human element in UX design. The necessity for ongoing education and adaptation to new tools is highlighted, with a call for UX professionals to embrace changes and utilize AI as a supportive tool rather than a replacement.

These themes reflect a broad spectrum of insights, from practical applications and successes to ethical considerations and future prospects for AI in the UX field.

Tools

Various AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, and tools for itinerary planning such as Wander.ai are mentioned. Specific tools for tasks like organizing documents, meeting summaries, and boosting productivity are also highlighted.

ChatGPT - Used for various tasks including content generation and interaction enhancements.
Bard (Google Bard) - Utilized for querying and generating responses based on a large dataset.
Firefly AI - Noted for meeting summaries, helping to condense and recap discussions.
Figjam - A tool used for collaborative design and brainstorming sessions.
Perplexity.ai - Mentioned for its use in generating content and providing citations.
Goblin Tools - Tools for productivity, possibly involving task management, great for focus.
Wander.ai - Specific for itinerary planning, demonstrating AI’s utility in travel and scheduling.
UX Buddy - A design tool integrated within wireframing practices to enhance user interface development.

These tools are applied across different stages of UX design and management, from initial brainstorming and design to content management and summarization, highlighting the diverse applications of AI in enhancing user experience processes.

Event Recap | Generative AI and FluidMemory Demo

Carl Turner — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:44:44 GMT

Triangle UXPA is introducing a new feature: guest blogs by TriUXPA members who have insights to share! Our first guest blogger is Kyra Catabay, product designer at Micah Group. She attended the recent FluidMemory AI demo.

If you're a member of TriUXPA and would like to contribute a blog post, reach out and name your topic.

Generative AI is a hot topic, and forward thinking designers and researchers are figuring out its possible impact on our workflows, the industry, and how it might shape our digital and real worlds.

We had a packed room at the new TEKsystems office in Raleigh to demo FluidMemory—a cutting edge AI tool that streamlines once manual research processes. The demo was led by founder Piet Kruithof. We started off with an overview on AI, examples of prompt engineering, and learning more about FluidMemory.

What is generative AI?

Broadly, generative AI is a form of artificial intelligence that can create text and other types of context in response to a prompt. It sources from vast amounts of content available on the internet, comprehending language, patterns, styles, and structures from human communication.

ChatGPT is OpenAI’s GPT model for generating text in a conversational context. You can write messages and receive a response from the model, much like a conversation.

Generative AI can create new content and often serves as a jumping off point to help you get started. It can also serve as a way to automate tasks that were once very manual, a problem that FluidMemory solves for researchers.

A good prompt is gold

Piet started off the demo with an introduction into ChatGPT4.0 and prompt engineering. Creating a great prompt is essential for using generative AI. In the demo, we worked together to craft a prompt for buying a car in 35 accurate steps.

Here are some tips for crafting good AI prompts that we used during the demo:

Experiment and iterate: Try different prompts and iterate based on the model’s responses. Small changes can sometimes lead to big differences in responses.
Add context: Include background information or constraints to help the model understand your intention. Better context can lead to more accurate and useful responses.
Review and refine: Review the model’s response and refine your prompts based on the output. Save great prompts for later!
Ask the model to think step by step: Try asking the model to provide a detailed or step-by-step explanation. This can help with providing coherent and structured responses.
Specify format: If you want responses in a particular format (e.g. list, spreadsheet, or even word cloud), specify it in the prompt to guide the model’s output.

There have been instances of AI creating inaccurate or even fabricated responses (sometimes called “hallucinations”). As we use AI, we should be aware of its limitations and its potential to create unusual and incorrect responses. It’s important to double check the output when working with AI.

If you find a good prompt, don’t forget to save it for later!

FluidMemory: a solution inspired by short-term memory loss

As the founder of FluidMemory, Piet’s team is developing a software solution aimed at automating research, hypothesis testing, and presenting results for students and professionals alike. FluidMemory is powered by Google Cloud and utilizes ChatGPT along with GPT 4.0 to aid in data analysis.

It’s currently targeted for researchers (such as grad students), but its use case can definitely expand into other means and professions. It can provide a way for a researcher to capture, store, and keep information, as a compendium of data for current and projects. You might read a publication in grad school, and then use FluidMemory to recall that exact article and piece of needed information 15 years later. FluidMemory can also analyze vast amounts of the data that you’ve collected--saving you valuable time.

Piet spoke candidly about a short-term memory disability that led him to creating FluidMemory and his hope that FluidMemory can help other folks with these types of memory challenges in the future.

You can check out FluidMemory here:https://fluidmemory.ai/

What UXers Do and Earn: Findings from the TriUXPA Salary Survey for 2021

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 19:52:19 GMT

Co-Authored by Dr. Guiseppe Getto and Dr. Suzan FlanaganAs a college professor who does research into UX and content strategy, I’m very interested in the conditions local UX folks work in. That’s why, starting in 2017, I’ve partnered with TriUXPA to conduct a UX salary survey. Our survey has done more than just track salaries, however. It’s also tracked what UX professionals in the Triangle Area do for a living, including what skill sets they use. It’s also tracked basic demographic information including age, gender, ethnicity, and education level. Finally, it’s tracked what industry local UXers work in (i.e., finance, education, computers, etc.) and where in the Triangle Area they work (i.e., Raleigh, Durham, Cary, etc.).

In addition, we’ve started doing some analysis to compare trends, such as whether work experience correlates to a higher salary. You’ll see that analysis represented below in the “trends” sections.

If you attended the TriUXPA UX Y’all Conference in 2021, you might have already heard me present on some of these findings with my co-researcher, Dr. Suzan Flanagan.

If not, or if you’re just curious to learn more, I present below the findings of the TriUXPA Salary Survey for 2021!

Age

The majority of the UX professionals in this study were between 26 and 45 years old, with 41.4% of them between 26 and 35 and 28.2% of them between 36 and 45. Only one person reported being in the over-65 age range. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the participants’ ages.

Gender

Nearly two thirds of the survey respondents (there were 174 responses) self-identified as female (64.9%). Slightly more than one third of the respondents self-identified as male (33.9%) and 1.2% self-identified as nonbinary.

Ethnicity

Survey respondents were overwhelmingly White (79.3%). In comparison, in the 2017 survey, 90.4% identified as White. Other ethnicities represented in the survey include the following: Asian (13.8%); Black or African American (3.4%); Hispanic or Latino (2.3%); multiracial (1.2%); and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (0.6%). One person did not report their ethnicity.

Education

Nearly half the UX professionals (48.9%) reported that the highest degree they held is a bachelor’s degree. More than a third of them (37.9%) hold a master’s degree and 7.5% hold a PhD. None reported having only a high school diploma or GED. Four reported they had completed some college, while two said they have associates degrees, two have graduate certificates, one has a professional degree, and one has a technical or vocational degree.

Full-Time UX Work Experience

The largest group of survey respondents has been working 2–7 years in UX and most have been working full time during those years. (See Figure 2 for a detailed breakdown of respondents’ work experience.)

Industry

More than three quarters of these survey respondents work in five industries: software (37.4%), healthcare or medical (12.6%), banking or finance (12.6%), IT consulting (8.6%), and education (5.2%). The remaining respondents work in the following industries: insurance (4.6%); computers or hardware (4.6%); retail or e-commerce (2.9%); advertising, marketing, or public relations (2.3%); non-IT consulting (1.7%); government (1.7%); publishing or media (1.1%); and eight other industries (less than 1% per industry).

Work Location

The survey asked UX professionals where, within the technology hub, they work. The majority reported working in Raleigh (43.1%). Durham (25.3%) was a distant second. Cary and Morrisville were tied for third place with 9.2% each. The remaining survey respondents work in other cities (8.6%) or Chapel Hill (4.6%).

Base Salary

When the survey was conducted in 2017, the combined average base salary was $144,754, and the median salary was $90,000. In 2021, the combined average salary for full-time and part-time UX professionals was $111,347 and the median salary was $109,000. The 2021 base salary figures for full-time and part-time workers are shown below.

Full-time (36+ hours) workers, (148 responses)

Average: $117,940
Median: $110,500
Lowest: $50,000
Highest: $195,000

Part-time (< 36 hours) workers, (23 responses)

Average: $88,226
Median: $90,000
Lowest salary: $33,900
Highest salary: $174,000

For both full-time and part-time workers in this study, the base salary ranges are similar. The difference between the highest and lowest full-time salary was $145,000 compared to $140,000 for part-time UX professionals.

Job Title

The survey participants reported 95 different job titles; of those, 70 were held by one participant only. The most common job titles were UX Designer (22), Senior UX Designer (17), Senior Product Designer (9), UX Researcher (6), and Product Designer (n = 5).

Within the software industry, 29.7% of the participants had variations of UX Designer job titles (19) and 10.9% held the job title Senior Product Designer (7). The job title Senior UX Designer appears most often in the banking and finance industry (5; 23.8%) and in the healthcare and medical industry (4; 18.2%).

Job Tasks

The UX professionals in this study performed a diverse range of tasks. Each respondent reported performing at least three of the 19 different tasks listed on the survey. More commonly, the UX professionals reported being responsible for 5 or more tasks.

Most of the UX Designers and Senior UX Designers reported that their jobs involved every task shown in Figure 3. In contrast, most of the Senior Product Designers did not perform animation or UX writing tasks; those tasks were more frequently performed by UX Researchers. Figure 3 shows the frequency of other tasks performed.

Hours Worked

The majority of the survey respondents work full time (86.5%). In this study, we’ve defined full time as working 36 or more hours per week. The respondents typically work 40–45 hours per week. Only 23 of the respondents work part time (13.5%).

Teamwork

Most of the survey respondents (85.6%) work as part of a UX team. The composition of teams skewed slightly in favor of men. Of the 133 respondents who work on UX teams, 31 reported equal numbers of males and females on the teams; 50 reported a higher number of females on the teams, and 52 reported a higher number of males on the teams. The number of nonbinary team members were not analyzed because the data were not reliable.

Trend: Base Salary by UX Work Experience

As one would expect, base salaries generally increase with years of experience. In this data set, that prediction does not hold true for UX professionals with 21 or more years of UX work experience (see Table 1). It is unclear whether these lower-than-expected base salaries are anomalies or whether bonuses offset those salary differences.

Trend: Base Salary by Gender and Education Level

Table 2 shows the potential effects of education and gender on base salary levels. In some cases, the data are insufficient to make inferences. For example, only two respondents reported associate degrees as their highest education level: one male and one female. While only two UX professionals in this study identified as nonbinary, notable difference in salaries for those with bachelor’s degrees indicate further investigation is needed.

Trend: Base Salary by Gender and Company Age

Table 3 compares base salaries for each gender working at companies of different ages. Again, we must be cautious when interpreting the data due to sample sizes and other factors that may not be obvious. For instance, only 5 people worked at companies less than two years old.

Trend: Base Salary by City

Table 4 presents the average base salaries for each city in the area studied. While the $20,466 range between highest and lowest salaries may seem minimal, the cost of living and cost of housing varies considerably between these cities. For example, housing costs the least in Durham and the most in Chapel Hill. Overall, Cary is the most expensive place to live [31]. UX professionals who commute from less expensive locations will need to factor those added transportation costs into their evaluation of the net value of potential salaries.

Trend: Base Salary by Industry

UX work appears to be more lucrative in some industries than others. At face value, the data in Table 5 suggest that start-ups offer the best opportunities in terms of base salary; however, only one survey respondent reported working for a start-up. At the other end of the salary spectrum is AV, and again, that figure represents a single worker.

Trend: Base Salary by Age and Company Age

Tables 6A and 6B show average base salaries by worker age and by company age. This data includes part-time and full-time workers salaries. The lowest figure represents one part-time worker. The intersection between company age and worker age appears to have little impact on salaries across all groups.

Trend: Base Salary, Gender, Company Age, and UX Teamwork

Finally, our analysis revealed a few notable findings for UX professionals working on teams in specific situations:

Those working on teams at companies less than 2 years old and between 2 and 5 years old earned significantly higher salaries.
Those who performed UX work at companies that were 11 or more years old worked on teams that included two to three times more women.
Those who worked for companies with 2,501 to 10,000 employees worked on teams that included twice as many men as those working in companies with 1,001 to 2,500 employees.
Those who worked on UX teams typically earned more than those who did not work on teams.

Trend: Breadth of Knowledge

UX professionals are expected to perform a wide variety of tasks. Most of our respondents reported leveraging a wide variety of UX-related skillsets, ranging from user interface design (73.6%) to user research (81.6%). Sizable minorities of participants also engaged in less common skillsets such as UX writing (40.8%). This could indicate that UX professionals are incredibly diverse professionals who use a wide variety of skills in their work lives and don’t particularly specialize.

Conclusions: A Skills-Diverse, Well-Paid Field

It’s clear that UX, at least in the Triangle Area, is a profession that requires a lot of diverse skill sets, but that is also well-compensated. And as people gain more experience and education, their wages also seem to go up. These are the types of trends we want to see in any healthy, professional field.

One open question that we are pondering on the academic side of things in light of these findings is: how can academics help train new UX professionals when they rely on so many skill sets? One answer: partnering with members of industry. If you are a UX professional and would like to be involved in educational initiatives, please feel free to email me at gettog@ecu.edu.

Regardless, we hope this blog is useful in your UX career!

Ask the Experts: UX Career Growth Models

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 21:18:41 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering how UX research fits in at local organizations.

As UX has matured as a profession, more companies have implemented career growth models for their UX professionals in order to encourage them to grow their career at those companies. These are often referred to as career tracks, but can be anything that provides specific guidance to professionals looking for something concrete that they know the organization will use to gauge their performance for the consideration of promotions and raises.

Does your company have any formal career tracks or guidance it provides? If so, what does that look like? How do you help your UX professionals know their on the right track in your organization?

Yes, we do have career paths and standardized levels within each. Each level contains information such as key responsibilities, expectations, and skills/experiences, complexity, and expected impact at that level. UX Design has its own career path, its associated levels, and their descriptions. Individual contributors and managers have separate tracks as well. The company has programs to help (especially new) employees to navigate the career paths and make sure that they understand different job families in the company and that they assume the most fitting role as they grow professionally.

Design Managers have the main responsibility of providing timely feedback of job performance, and identifying employees’ strengths, interests, growth areas, etc. Design Managers set up ongoing weekly or bi-weekly meetings with their Designers to ensure that discussions happen, and issues are addressed in a timely fashion. More formal quarterly meetings for setting goals, check-ins and reflections are separately scheduled so that employees and their managers have dedicated time to discuss performance, career levels, and growth opportunities. The conversations around promotions and what are expected of the employees can happen either in the ongoing meetings or the quarterly meetings. The general principle is that the employee should already be performing at the next level well enough before promotion is made to that level, so that employees can transition into the new level with confidence and a higher degree of success. Design Managers take time to explore and discuss the employees’ interests, strengths, and passion, and try to match that with the available projects so that Designers can shine and maximize impact.

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

Career growth at Red Hat is at the very center of our culture and values. As life-long learners, associates are encouraged to grow in their careers and influence by taking on new challenges, enrolling in Red Hat University and LinkedIn Learning courses, expanding their skill sets, and accessing Red Hat's global tuition reimbursement program. As a part of Products and Technology (PNT) at Red Hat, UXD associates follow the Engineering Promotion Framework (EPIC) career growth model created and managed internally by a broad group of associates from across PNT.

The EPIC model includes document templates, timelines, and processes for promotion across all job levels, for both individual contributor and manager tracks. Competencies describe expected contributions at each level for such things as Business Impact, Scope of Work, Planning and Execution, and so on. Conversation helpers are document templates that lay out the expectations of a current role and the next level - allowing associates and their managers to identify gaps and steps needed to achieve a promotion. The process is created with fairness and equity in mind and provides a solid foundation for career progression.

Amy Glass Manager, User Experience Design
RedHat

Ask The Experts: UX Research in Your Organization

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 21:11:39 GMT

How does UX research fit in at your organization?

User research comes in different forms with the essential idea of understanding users through their expectations, their physical and organizational environment, and their feedback on design solutions. At SAS, in addition to creating design solutions, User Experience Designers also have the job of conducting user research, enabling them collect first-hand information from users. SAS has a User Research Lab where usability tests and user interviews can be conducted, recorded, and analyzed. A database of users and customers is maintained, and surveys are often sent out to users for specific products or areas. We also have a Research Ops program that aims to empower all Designers to conduct, track, and share research findings across products, areas, and personas over time.

Product teams typically care more about the design solutions we create, but good designs need to be grounded in user research. User Experience Designers plan the time and space for user research. We often partner with product managers, customer success managers and other customer facing teams to gain access to and build partnerships with key customers and users. It is often challenging to fit user research into the tight schedules necessitated by the agile development processes that we use. However, we find it helpful to plan and start larger research efforts ahead of time and make incremental progress during development stabilization sprints to continue with user research. It is also important to streamline user research efforts so that we can turn around results faster.

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

At Red Hat, the UX Research team lives in a centralized User Experience Design (UXD) team under Engineering that supports the entire product portfolio. This puts our team in a unique position to break down silos, make connections across products and consider the end-to-end experience. The researchers work closely with designers, developers, and PM to conduct generative and evaluative research that influences the user experience with data and user insights. It’s exciting times. The research team has recently grown from a team of 5 to a team of 15 in the past year. They are a diverse team with different perspectives and skillsets, exploring new partnerships and maturing research practices in our organization.

Amy Glass Manager, User Experience Design
Leslie Hinson, Manager of User Experience Design
RedHat

User research is increasingly part of many teams at Lenovo. For the Next UX team specifically, user research is an integral element of our work. It is woven into our mission and cyclically into our processes. Research goals and methods vary based on whether the project is in a discovery phase or validation phase (or in between), but we are always building our knowledge of users and their context. We have UX research specialists who lead the way while we also work to democratize interest and participation in the research among collaborating designers and stakeholders. Ultimately, user research is about steadily improving our insight to guide project direction and any recommendations into the business.

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

We consider ourselves a digital agency, though most projects involve websites or web applications. What we pride ourselves in doing, however, is solving business problems. To successfully solve problems, user research is indispensable. Without an understanding of the needs and motivations of users, user experience design, and the functionality that drives it, would be based on guesses.

Among the methods we employ are online user surveys, client interviews, user interviews, and analytics review.

While we don’t want to undertake projects without access to user research data, we don’t insist on performing it ourselves. Some of our clients perform their own, while others employ third-party agencies for strategy and marketing that perform the user research.

While user research is essential, we acquire the information through a variety of methods and sources.

David Minton, Managing Partner
DESIGNHAMMER

Website Accessibility

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 15:43:45 GMT

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the practice of making a website usable by as many people as possible. This often means providing more than one way to access information or complete a task on the website. People with disabilities may not be able to read, hear, or click a mouse. This may be a permanent disability, or a temporary disability caused by injury or environment.

Similar to making accommodations for changes in technology like mobile phones or tablets, making websites accessible for people with disabilities should be considered equally essential.

Another way to think of accessibility is providing everyone with an equal opportunity to use your website no matter what their ability.

Why should a website be accessible?

Just as it is wrong to exclude someone from a physical building because they are in a wheelchair, it is also wrong to exclude someone from a website because they have a physical impairment.

Beyond the human concept of the right thing to do, it is the law in many places. Many lawsuits have been filed and won against businesses with websites that are not accessible. In the U.S., the American with Disabilities Act requires businesses to comply with web accessibility standards.

According to the Center for Disease Control, 61 million adults in the U.S. (1 in 4 adults) report having some form of disability. Accessibility ensures that all potential users, including those with disabilities, can access website information. This, in turn, can increase the customer base and market share.

Improving accessibility for people with disabilities has the added benefit of improving the experience for people using the website in less-than-ideal conditions. Some examples may be using a mobile device, being in low light, having a slow network connection, being in a loud or distracting environment, glare on a screen, etc. Implementing accessibility best practices also improves the usability of the site for all users.

Types of disabilities

Making a website accessible includes considering several different types of disabilities (both permanent and temporary) that may impair someone’s ability to use the site. Many people think of accessibility as adding options to a website for blind or deaf people. In fact, there are a wide variety of disabilities that affect individuals, and each requires its own assistance.

Below are categories of types of disabilities.

Physical or Motor Skill disabilities – Limitations of muscular control such as tremors, paralysis, involuntary movement, or missing limbs. This may limit the ability to use a mouse or keyboard. Permanent examples are amputation, arthritis, and paralysis from a stroke. Temporary examples are repetitive stress injury, a broken finger, or an arm in a cast or sling.

Visual disabilities – Limitations on sight such as blindness, low vision, or color blindness. This may limit the ability to read or see a video. Permanent examples are blindness, color blindness, or macular degeneration. Temporary examples may be forgotten glasses, eye injury, or low-light conditions in the environment.
Hearing disabilities – Limitations of hearing such as complete or partial deafness, or an inability to hear certain frequencies. This may limit being able to hear alerts or audio content. Permanent examples are total deafness, or partial loss from a medical issue or injury. Temporary examples are an injury, bandaged ears, or noisy conditions in the environment.

Cognitive/Neurological disabilities – Limitations in processing data. These users may have difficulty remembering information, may be easily distracted, and may have learning disabilities that affect how well they read text. Permanent examples are ADHD, Dyslexia, or an anxiety disorder. Temporary examples are emotions, task related stress/anxiety, or distractions in the environment.

Seizures – Some users may be prone to photo-epileptic seizures, so that flashing, strobing, and blinking graphics are a danger.

Best Practices

Accessibility should be part of design and development of a website from the beginning. It is more difficult and costly to address accessibility after the fact. Below are some guidelines for how to approach making a website accessible.

The W3C WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) POUR principles create the functional accessibility necessary for people with visual, auditory, mobility, and cognitive disabilities to access website content, and applies to all platforms.

The principles to be followed are:

Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. It can’t be invisible to all their senses. (Example: For a blind person, a screen reader should be able to perceive a button.)
Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable. The interface cannot require an interaction that a user cannot perform. (Example: For a person who can’t use a mouse, there should be a way to perform actions using the keyboard.)

Understandable – The information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. The content or how to perform the operation cannot be beyond their understanding. (Example: Using clear and simple text to explain required actions.)
Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. As technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible. (Example: new accessible keyboards for paralyzed users.)

Some good guidelines to consider for making accessible digital content are below.

For Physical impairments:

Provide information in multiple formats. For example:

Provide visual access to audio content (captions, transcripts).
Provide transcripts for audio content.

For mouse actions, also provide a keyboard-only solution.
Provide strong color contrast and sufficient font size for content.
Do not rely on color alone as a navigational tool or to differentiate items.
Functionality should be accessible through mouse and keyboard and tagged to worked with voice-control systems.
Images should include Alt Text in the markup/code, and complex images should have more extensive descriptions (possibly captions or a summary in an accompanying paragraph).
Sites should have a Skip Navigation feature for screen readers.
Consider 508 testing to assure your site is complying (Section 508, Rehabilitation Act of 1973).

For Cognitive impairments:

Deliver content in more than one way, such as by text-to-speech or by video.
Provide easily understood content, such as text written using plain-language standard.
Focus attention on important content (possibly with headings or placement).
Minimizing distractions, such as unnecessary content or advertisements.
Maintain consistent webpage layout and navigation across the website.
Use familiar web elements for easy recognition, such as underlined links in blue.
Divide processes into logical, essential steps with progress indicators.
Make website login/authentication as easy as possible without compromising security.
Make forms easy to complete, with clear error messages and simple error recovery.

Sources / Related Reading

What is accessibility? - Learn web development | MDN (mozilla.org)

Types of disabilities: Understanding accessibility: Accessibility: Indiana University (iu.edu)

Accessibility Basics | Usability.gov

Accessibility Principles | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C

Types of Disabilities | Usability & Web Accessibility (yale.edu)

Web Accessibility Laws in the U.S. (rev.com)

Home | 18F Accessibility Guide

Beyond Accessibility: Treating Users with Disabilities as People (nngroup.com)

Accessibility Standards - Santa Barbara City College (sbcc.edu)

3 Great Reasons to Make Your Website Accessible - SitePoint

Accessible Websites Are Better for Everyone (And Better For Business Too) (forbes.com)

Ask The Experts: What are mistakes design candidates make when interviewing?

Audrey Bryson — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 17:48:11 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering interview techniques.

What are some common mistakes design candidates make when interviewing for a position? What should they avoid doing to give the best impression?

I cannot remember how many interviews I’ve been to, where the interviewers did not have the candidate’s resume at hand, or the candidate fumbled through folders and files to find/load their portfolio. For in-person interviews, have paper resumes ready to hand out and if possible, load/project your portfolio/sample work up even before the interview starts. For online meetings, pre-load your portfolio/work, and know how to share your screen in the meeting software. Within the limited interview time, minimize logistical errors so that the interview can focus on your experiences, skills, and conversations to get to know each other.

Another common mistake I see, especially for younger design candidates, is to treat an interview as an exam, show what you got, answer questions, and get out. Although it is very important to show and discuss your work, I cannot over emphasize the importance of studying the job description so that you can relate your experiences to the job requirements, point out alignment of your work preferences to the group/company’s culture, get to know the company’s business and suggest ways you may contribute. In addition to finding the right experiences, skills and personalities, the employer would like to see that the candidate is interested in the job, asking good questions, and overall an excellent fit for the organization."

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

I find it disappointing when a candidate doesn't have questions for us. Interviewing is a two way street meaning I expect that the candidate explores if the company is a good fit for them too. Being curious tells me you're interested in the company and that you're being thoughtful about your potential future decisions. "

Leslie Hinson, Manager of User Experience Design
RedHat

One common mistake is that candidates feel the need to justify why they intend to leave their current employer. While this will likely come up in the interview process, it's not relevant in every round. It can also leave a negative impression if the candidate complains about their current work environment. Even if your complaints are justified, no one wants to work with someone that seemingly has a negative attitude!

Other common mistakes happen during the design challenge component of the interview. A design challenge will typically present a fictional design problem, and the UX design candidate has a limited amount of time to work toward a solution.

There are two common mistakes that I've noticed:

The candidate jumps right to the UI design
The candidate doesn't do any UI design

The design challenge's intent is for candidates to demonstrate their thought process, so candidates will want to show how they would make sense of an ill-defined design problem. Every UX designer has a different approach, but it'll often include some user definition, brainstorming, and flows. It may not be easy, but candidates should at least show some low-fidelity sketches. The sketches are essential to help demonstrate how the candidate translates requirements into UI design."

Andrew Wirtanen, Principal Product Designer
Citrix

Avoid seeming like you are only showing your wares and responding to questions. Interviewing should be a two-way street. So, be curious and interested. Ask about the challenges and opportunities the interviewers see in the role, what they like and don’t like about the offerings you’d help design, what type of culture they strive to create, etc. When considering candidates, we worry about personality fit and genuine interest as much as knowledge and skills. Of course, show what you’ve done and respond to what is requested. But, converse and informalize the interview process so both sides get to know each other as potential teammates."

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

While portfolios are important, many talented UX designers don’t even make it to the portfolio review phase at DesignHammer. When hiring a UX candidate, being a brilliant artist is not the foremost qualification. We need staff members who can review and follow instructions, as well as communicate in writing with clients and coworkers.

At DesignHammer, we provide detailed job descriptions, application instructions, and selection criteria as part of our job listings. All candidates are instructed to submit a cover letter—a candidate screen which identifies candidates who have read the complete job post and followed the directions it contained. However, the cover letter also provides a means for candidates to illustrate strengths that don’t necessarily fit into a conventional resume or portfolio.

While cover letters that address all of the points we request and display the candidate's ability to communicate effectively in writing will advance them to resume and portfolio review, candidates that customize their cover letter will make the best impression.

To aid candidates in submitting complete applications, we use an online application tied to our applicant tracking system. I can’t count how many applicants have entered their resume (a second time) as their cover letter to get past the form’s error checking, nearly ensuring they will not advance to the interview round. Even worse are the candidates that upload a document stating “Not applicable” or the like as their cover letter. How can I trust a staff member to work independently, follow instructions, and communicate with clients, if they are not willing or able to do so when they are trying to impress the hiring manager?”

David Minton, Managing Partner
DESIGNHAMMER

Ask The Experts: What is one thing UX candidates can do to improve their portfolios?

Audrey Bryson — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 17:16:19 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering portfolios.

What is one thing UX candidates can do to improve their portfolios?

I’ve seen a lot of portfolios with polished (interactive) designs. But it is not obvious how the designer came to that solution nor what problem is the design trying to solve. This makes the work look superficial, lacking depth and context.

If the main audience of your portfolio is potential employers, my one recommendation for improvement is to show process: Highlight what problems you are solving, for whom (users), who else was on the project team, and the interim deliverables (hand drawings, wireframes, user journeys and feedback, etc.) along the way, not just the final design. This gives viewers more insight into your ways of approaching a problem, collaborating with others, and designing/researching along the spectrum of high-level visions on one end, and detailed specifications on the other. Think of your portfolio as a story to tell your journey of coming to the final designs or solutions that are being show cased – use your design skills to make it informative, fun, and easy to understand!"

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

UX design candidates typically do a decent job describing the overall process they went through on a project. But, I've found myself asking the same question repeatedly in interviews: Who did you collaborate with, and what were your contributions?

As Jared Spool always says, "design is a team sport." When I'm interviewing a candidate, I'm trying to figure out what it'd be like to work with them.

A lot goes into product design, starting with understanding both the user needs and the business needs. Yes, your portfolio should show the overall design process from initial requirements to final deliverables. But, make sure to mention who you collaborated with and why. Even if you were doing everything from initial requirements gathering to coding, there was probably a point where you collaborated with a stakeholder or two."

Andrew Wirtanen, Principal Product Designer
Citrix

UX now involves such a broad range of expertise and companies vary in how they specialize (or don’t) their UX roles. So, it’s important both employer and candidate are expressing the type of UX in play. Resumes are often a record of where someone has been and lean on where someone wishes to go. A mission or passion statement may be in there, but often at a high-level. So, I recommend clarity on the types of UX you’ve done and the types of UX you hope to pursue. This is particularly important if you want to pivot focus or generalize more. I’ve found the forward look may not fully come out until a phone interview occurs. But, some filtering of candidates has potentially occurred by that point."

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

While a portfolio certainly should be a showcase of your results, final results alone are not enough. I'm always pleased when I see a portfolio that also tells me something about your process - how you arrived at those results. If the portfolio doesn't show me any process, it
1)leaves me wondering how much of that was done by yourself and how much as collaboration, and
2) I then have to ask all the questions to arrive at that answer. A portfolio that shows me process as well as results goes to the top of the pile, and one that shows me how user or collaborative feedback was incorporated to improve the result gets bonus points!"

Randy Earl, Experience Manager
Atlantic BT

One simple thing to improve a portfolio is to make sure that each portfolio piece tells a story. A story has structure - beginning, middle, end - and so should a case study. What problem did this project set out to solve? Over the course of the project, what were the complications or hurdles you had to overcome? Finally, how did it end up? What was the impact of the project?

Imagine telling the story of the project to a friend or family member and try to capture some of that energy in your professional writing. Case studies shouldn't be long or verbose, but they should not feel "flat." There should be characters, motivations, actions, surprises, and ultimately, a satisfying conclusion."

Erik Johnson, Co-founder and Designer
Purpose UX

My recommendation for candidates looking to improve their portfolios is to present their work in the form of case studies. Provide the problem to be solved, any restrictions impacting the project, the solution, and results, if possible. The ability to solve problems, particularly within externally imposed limitations, while showing measurable results, is what differentiates a UX designer from an artist.

Case studies provide greater insight into the capabilities of the candidate—the ability to use visual communication to deliver measurable results within the constraints imposed by clients. The copy of the case study also allows candidates to show their ability to communicate with words, in addition to visuals.”

David Minton, Managing Partner
DESIGNHAMMER

Ask The Experts: Should Senior Designers Move Into Management?

Audrey Bryson — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 14:44:23 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering career trajectory.

What advice would you give a mid to senior level designer who is wondering whether they should go into management or continue as an individual contributor?

Even though senior designers and design managers can sometimes share similarities, the most unique aspect of a manager’s job lies in the responsibility of supporting and growing other designers, and a design team.

Depending on the size of their team, a design manager may sometimes take on some individual contributors’ responsibilities of doing design/research work. However, what truly sets a design manager apart is that they are responsible for not only their own projects but also the design team that reports to them. This responsibility makes it essential for them to understand the strength and characteristics of each designer on the team in order to best match them with the goal of the design group, while also putting them in the best possible position to succeed, removing obstacles and cultivating relationships when needed. Hiring and mentoring new talents to ensure that they fit in the team, get up to speed, and excel on their new jobs. Can you see making other people successful an essential part of your job? In my opinion, this needs to be a resounding yes if you would like to become a manager.

A manger needs to be ready to step away from detailed design work, and shift their attention to more strategic problems, guide their team by providing timely and relevant feedback to their work. Managers typically do have opportunities to see a wider range of products and teams, to influence design direction of a larger part of the organization. If you enjoy connecting teams, initiating collaborations towards common goals, and sharing best practices along the way, you may want to consider being a manager.

Lastly, people management skills are a must for a good manager. Be prepared to address personnel issues and getting better at resolving conflicts involving your team members and/or teams that they work with. These frictions can turn into opportunities if managed well, or future obstacles if poorly managed. A manager who is good at resolving these issues have a better chance of keeping the group morale high, setting them up for success, and creating space for the team to grow."

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

Every company has various responsibilities for managers and individual contributors, so this will depend on your situation. Also, career growth isn’t always linear. For example, maybe you’re a product designer that is interested in switching over to product management.

Let’s say you’re a mid to senior-level UX designer who works in a company with two distinct career tracks: management and individual contributor. Regardless of the track you choose, you’ll have responsibilities that may blur the lines between the two. One important step is to identify your interest areas. Are you interested in people management? Do you want to get more into UX strategy? What kinds of projects do you enjoy? Ultimately, your path will be different depending on how your organization assigns responsibilities.

My advice is to pick the path that you feel most closely aligns with your interest areas. Your interests will change over time, so I would not view it as a final decision.

Related: The individual contributor path is typically not as well-defined at organizations, and you may have to do some work to help define it. I’ve enjoyed reading Staff Design because it’s helpful to read about others’ experiences."

Andrew Wirtanen, Principal Product Designer
Citrix

This is a big choice for any professional and should be an on-going dialogue. Have that dialogue with your manager and mentors. Have it with yourself. The biggest question to keep asking: why might you want to manage others? Do you like the idea of helping others navigate their careers? Do you like guiding work (and those who do the work) at a higher level? Do you seek status? A range of selfish and more selfless answers is likely. But you should be clear on exactly why you would want to manage. And, without question, test drive it first. Mentor someone, sponsor an intern and be a team lead so you can better answer those questions. From my view, successful design managers want to help others in their careers and are comfortable guiding others through their design work (vs. overtly guiding the design). If you’re uncomfortable coaching a colleague or prefer to be designing the details, an IC path may be best. I know wonderful design managers. I know others that probably shouldn’t be managing. And, I know many who have great careers as an IC. Be clear on what creates rewarding work for you."

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

I would suggest anyone considering a shift out of a design role and into management (or any other role for that matter) to do an honest reflection on what types of activities give them the most sense of value in their career. If it's promotions, increased income, and leading teams, a shift to management can be the right choice. For designers who gain more value out of the experience of designing and creating and enjoy taking an active hand in design work, management roles can be stifling and frustrating. I'd suggest for anyone considering a move like this to reach out to mentors or other professional connections in management and ask questions about what their daily work is like and how they experienced the change in role. Ultimately, it's about how you want to spend your time while at work and that's an intensely personal question that will vary for each individual."

Erik Johnson, Co-founder and Designer
Purpose UX

Career growth is hopefully a goal for any professional, but at what cost? The decision to move from a hands on creative role to a more management focused role can be a difficult one.

Having the option to enter management often assumes working for a larger organization that requires a person with a design background in a management position. Such a promotion comes with the ability to play a more influential role in project direction, and typically greater compensation. Sole practitioners also have a similar level of influence, though their projects tend to be more limited in scope, and often the positions (particularly in staff roles) offer lesser compensation.

Many professionals, both in and out of the design field, eschew management, preferring to avoid the added responsibilities as well as the opportunity to stay “hands on” in their vocation, which hopefully they at least enjoy, if not love, practicing daily.

But, just because you could, doesn’t mean you should move into management. I always consider the Peter Principle, the management concept that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their “level of incompetence,” before offering advice on this topic. Just as some legendary sports coaches were not necessarily standouts on the field, some All Stars fail to translate their in-game achievements to coaching others. Similarly, a talented designer may be exceptional at their craft, but not have the organizational or social skills to effectively manage others, while a less skilled designer may grasp design principles just well enough to be able to communicate through their work, while brilliantly managing other designers.”

David Minton, Managing Partner
DESIGNHAMMER

Ask The Experts: Should a Designer Focus on a Specialty or Be a Generalist?

Audrey Bryson — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 16:00:18 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering career specialization.

What advice would you give a designer who is curious about whether or not they should choose a path of specialization or pursue more of a UX generalist path?

My short answer is that a designer should ideally take both paths. You can do well in either one, but you will magnify your impact if you have experiences in both.

I see general and specialty design paths as two perpendicular, but related dimensions: the general path defines breadth, and the specialty path depth of a designer’s expertise. Over time, a seasoned designer should walk down both dimensions far enough to cover a bigger area of design, thus increasing skill versatility and overall value as a UX professional. When the market landscape renders specific domains or specialties obsolete, you always have experiences gathered along the general design path and be ready to go down another more relevant specialty path. If possible, try to align the projects you take on with your interests, whatever path you are on. Your interests can carry you further when you run into roadblocks.

On the general path, the design/research skills such as design patterns, research principles and methods represent the core abilities and toolbox for a designer. For example, creating a visual and interaction language in a design system can be very effective in establishing consistency and a baseline UI quality; establishing a user research enablement program to keep user feedback and expectations front and center in product teams can solve many problems, foster user centered culture in product teams, and gain good rapport with customers.

On the specialty path, acquiring specific domain knowledge to create compelling user experiences can be both challenging and rewarding. I cannot emphasize enough the importance for a designer to be comfortable with and fast in ramping up to a specialty (and sometimes very technical) domain. With a basic understanding of the domain, you may find it very enlightening to work with users to understand their specific problems and play a big part in creating solutions that improve their lives. In solving these problems, you also get to verify what you’ve gathered along the general path, and add new lessons learned to it. With a solid command of enough specialty domains in an enterprise, you obtain powerful insights that put you in a good position to devise effective user experience strategies across the entire organization or company."

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

There's a need for both generalist and specialized UXers. You'll wear more hats at smaller companies or agencies — you may be responsible for everything, including user research, UX writing, UX strategy, interaction design, information architecture, and visual design. On larger teams, you'll find more specialized roles because they improve efficiency and quality of work.

All designers should understand every UX role, and being a generalist is an excellent way to gain exposure as long as you have mentors that can guide you. Being a generalist can also help you discover if there's a subspecialty that you enjoy more. But if you enjoy all aspects of UX, you may want to stay as a generalist most of your career.

If you're confident that you enjoy a specific UX role, then go for it! If you don't understand some other UX roles, it's vital to learn about those to know how to best work together. You can set up peer mentorship relationships (start with a 1:1 meeting), find articles/books/podcasts, or attend events (like those by the Triangle UXPA)."

Andrew Wirtanen, Senior Product Designer
Citrix

I work in a space in which HW, SW and service UX are all in play across a range of product domains. We look for design and research generalists, but recognize each team member has unique experiences and leanings. Specialization occurs with domain assignments, which allow people to either develop depth or grow new expertise. My best advice is to always ensure you are interested & challenged. Don’t get complacent. Beyond that, I caution towards specializing too narrowly for too long in a given focus. You don’t want to pigeonhole your experiences or your perspective. It is a positive to be known for specific strengths, but you’ll want to convey you can apply those in new directions."

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

I think this kind of "depth or breadth" question has particular relevance to the design field. I find so often that inspiration and creativity come from cross-fertilization between different areas of experience, expertise, and application that I'm always drawn to opportunities that give me more varied experience. Time and again I've seen that my approaches and solutions are informed by the intersection of diverse realms, thus I fear specialization would narrow my view too much, limiting my creative approach to problem-solving. There are certainly benefits to specialization, such as the ability to refine and improve, but that can also quickly become a comfortable rut. In the end, a question such as this is always a personal choice; my personal preference is for variety."

Randy Early, Experience Manager
Atlantic BT

There is a popular adage to “do what you love, the money will follow.” While it is debated by some as to how good this advice is in choosing a career, it still applies to our scenario of offering advice to a UX generalist. While some love every aspect of our jobs, many often gravitate to a specialty, in our case maybe research, information architect, or UX writing. Why not specialize in the aspect of User Experience that brings the most joy or satisfaction, unless the opportunity to work a multidisciplinary role, taking on different UX roles is an enjoyable challenge?

Taking a pragmatic approach, on the other hand, choosing to specialize over remaining a generalist, could impact job and career opportunities. As in most fields, specializing will usually bring increased compensation, commensurate with the training and experience the specialist can provide. The choice will likely also have an impact on the type of organization and industry jobs will be found. While there are many opportunities for generalists, most organizations don’t have full-time needs for UX specialists, and those that do tend to be larger, or in specialized organizations, such as digital agencies or UX consultants.

In the end, as so often occurs in life, there is no “right answer.” The best choice factors in what the designer enjoys most about the work they do, as well as taking the work environment into consideration.”

David Minton, Managing Partner
DESIGNHAMMER

Ask The Experts: What defines a Senior UX Designer?

Audrey Bryson — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 14:49:29 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering distinctions between design roles.

In your opinion, what qualities distinguish senior designers from junior or lower-ranking designers? What would you recommend to designers looking to move into a senior role?

The core ability of a senior designer is to solve complex problems with usable and elegant designs. Key qualities of a senior user experience designer include:

In-depth understanding of the target users and key use cases
We expect a senior designer to have excellent research skills. They should be able to partner with the right stakeholders, customers and users to get to this understanding and to verify design proposals. For technology companies, the users and use cases can be very technical. A senior designer has typically experiences with multiple complex products, which allows them to get up to speed to a new product quickly and contribute soon after they join the team.
Command of design patterns and best practices
A senior designer needs to be able to match users’ needs to relevant design patterns to figure out the best ones for each use case. In an enterprise setting where users work with several products from the same company, it is important for a senior designer to be aware of the different use cases of these design patterns across products so that the design they create for one product is not only usable, compelling but also cohesive with other products in the same system.
Ability to design at different levels and recognize when to use which level
In order to create a solid design solution, many design decisions need to be made at different levels. For example, if it is in the early stage of the product cycle, a concept design may be needed to get the team on the same page about a design direction or vision. During a specific feature design phase, detailed interaction behaviors, UI controls, wordings, accessibility features, etc. may need to be specified. A senior designer is expected to know how to work at different levels of designs and guide the team towards a solution, figuring out the right amount of detail at the right time.
Capability to influence others
Without the ability to inspire and call team members into action, a great design may only remain on paper. In order to get great designs into products, and into the hands of the users, a senior designer needs to be seen by the product team as a trusted advisor. They must be able to collaborate and motivate team members to implement the envisioned design.
A big tool box, with a strategic mind
A senior designer possesses key skills spanning across many areas, such as user research, illustrating user journeys, designing user flows and screen layouts, creating interactive prototypes, and communicating designs in a manner to inform, motivate and inspire the team. They typically have a large toolbox of skills that they can draw on to get a job done. In addition, a senior designer has the ability to transfer knowledge from one team to another. They can build on previous successes to influence at a higher level across the organization so that good design processes, methods and thinking are adopted by teams beyond the immediate ones they work with. Finally, we expect a senior designer to be able to mentor junior designers to help grow a team with key skills in research, design and collaboration.

For someone looking to move into a senior role, we recommend developing the core skills of design and user research. Reflect and accumulate working knowledge with each project. Find opportunities to hone your soft skills—communication, collaboration and even negotiation. See if you can tie your specific work to larger missions at the division, organization or company level. Connect and work with people with different job titles and personalities. Seek opportunities to be a buddy or mentor for someone who is just starting their career in design. You do not have to be successful in all the challenges you take on, but you will go far if you treat each as an opportunity to learn and add to your toolbox, network and circle of influence."

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

The best designers are the best collaborators. Senior designers have developed skills that are hard to teach - they know how to articulate decisions, listen, collaborate, and iterate based on feedback. Above all, they know that they are not the most important person in the room. The best design is not the most aesthetically pleasing one; instead, it's a design that meets both business and user needs. There is no way to come up with the perfect design without working closely with a cross-discipline team.

Any designer looking to move into a senior role should understand that promotions can take time. Be patient. The most important thing for you to focus on is your career growth. What are you interested in learning? What experience or skills could help you be a better designer? Once you identify your focus areas, you can seek mentors to help guide your career path. Mentors could be in your local community (like the Triangle UXPA) or at your workplace. For more on mentorship, check out my 2017 article in User Experience Magazine."

Andrew Wirtanen, Senior Product Designer
Citrix

Band level or formal rank certainly involves comfort and established success of wielding design skill. In a more senior rank, one needs to independently and more effectively know how to design. But, a senior team member also understands how to interface with other functions, manage stakeholders, and confidently operate within the larger context of the work. I’d recommend early career designers study how to balance affecting the details (design output) while also affecting the bigger picture (project outcome)."

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

To me, what makes someone a senior designer is the ability to handle uncertainty. Even if a designer is very skilled, if they need specific instructions or well-defined problems in order to make progress, it's hard to see them in a senior role because of the additional management or direction they require. For designers looking to move into a senior role, try to take a more active role during the initial phases of a project. Learning how to break a problem into manageable chunks and how to do meaningful work outside of standard design deliverables is key to being able to take on more responsibility."

Erik Johnson, Co-Founder
Purpose UX

To me, the difference is between working with an artist versus a communicator. While aesthetics are an important aspect of graphic design, the ability to communicate through visuals is critical for a successful designer. Understanding User Experience principles and practices is essential to successful communication and unfortunately lacking in many student and junior designers I encounter. At the most basic level we provide services to solve business problems. Pretty pictures alone don’t help the bottom line, effective communication does.”

David Minton, Managing Partner
DESIGNHAMMER

I would say that in my opinion, the qualities that distinguish senior designers from junior or lower-ranking designers is that a senior designer is expected to have years of experience and to have a larger toolkit of foundational understanding that should come standard with solutioning UX problems. Also a senior designer should be able to see a problem and numerous solutions faster and clearer than a designer with not so much experience. Senior designers should be adept in numerous digital and analog tools and be more well-rounded across multiple UX disciplines such as Interaction Design, UI / Graphic arts design, Front-End knowledge, Information Architecture and have a good understanding of color theory. A senior designer will likely be more empathetic to the user and have a greater understanding of personas and know to keep things in mind such as device usage, world usage, use-cases in workflows and accessibility concerns."

Anonymous Design Leader

Ask The Experts: How Important Are UX Design Certifications?

Audrey Bryson — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 11:45:13 GMT

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering Design Certifications.

In your opinion, what is the value of a UX Design certification? Do you feel this is valuable for design professionals or candidates to have?

If you feel that design certifications are important, are there any specific programs that you recommend?

We see relevant experiences, portfolio, skills, and education as more important than design certification in a job candidate. Because design is a broad space, you can consider a specialized certification to broaden and complement your strengths. For example, if your only experience/education is on visual design, educating yourself through a certification process on user research, human factors, or design thinking can better prepare you for a career in user experience design. We recommend that you select design certifications that allow you to work on a project that can be added to your portfolio. In other words, design certifications do not by themselves secure jobs. Demonstrated experiences, an enhanced portfolio, broadened knowledge and skills, some of which may be gained from design certifications, are more valuable to an employer.

Here are some examples of design certifications:

Design thinking certification from IDEO or Stanford
UX Certification with NN group
Accessibility design certification IAAP
Ergonomics: https://www.bcpe.org/
Professional certification from Canada https://gdc.design/certification

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design
S AS

In your opinion, what is the value of a UX Design certification? Do you feel this is valuable for design professionals or candidates to have?

UX certifications vary greatly. Some focus on a specific topic area (e.g., IAAP's accessibility certifications), and some are short boot camps that intend to teach you the basics of UX in a week. In general, certification programs can help you achieve your career goals. For example, a UX boot camp could be a first step in establishing your base knowledge in the field and figuring out your interests.

Keep in mind there is no accepted industry-wide UX certification, and it's simply impossible to claim expertise because you have a Nielsen Norman Group or Human Factors International certification. If you're thinking about a certification program, I think you should ask yourself, "will this help my career?" and not, "will this look good on my resume?". To be a great UX professional, you must make learning part of your career. Certification is not a destination, but it can be a milestone for your journey.

If you feel that design certifications are important, are there any specific programs that you recommend?

As a graduate of Bentley University's Masters in Human Factors in Information Design program, I would recommend their UX Boot Camp or Certificate Program because of high-quality instructors. You can apply credits earned from the certification to the Master's program."

Andrew Wirtanen, Senior Product Designer
Citrix

A certification may help prove dedication and growing mastery to oneself. That confidence lift carries intrinsic personal value. I feel the outward value to others is dependent on context. In an organization with relatively mature UX practice, awareness of the certification may create a moment of creditability among stakeholders or interviewers. But the substance of what follows will govern what others think of your capabilities. If the context for you is a rather constant change in stakeholders (e.g. in consulting or serial contract work), the credential may help land some consideration. However, I’ve not seen UX hiring or stakeholder confidence pivot on UX Design certification. I’d recommend pursuing any cert based on how it makes you feel about your own skills and passions."

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research
Lenovo

Certifications are useful when you don't have a body of work, portfolio, or recommendations to demonstrate your capability. I definitely look for certifications or degree programs in hiring for junior positions. That said, certifications only tell me that you have learned a skill, not how well you have mastered the ability to apply that skill. Therefore, a certification may get you an interview, but landing the job will depend upon how well my team and I think you will be able to execute those skills in a live project, based on your portfolio and interviews. The certification is a starting point, but we also look for the interpersonal skills required to collaborate with a team and interact with stakeholders."

Randy Early, Experience Manager
Atlantic BT

For me and many others, the ability to explain your process to have a portfolio showcasing quality work is essential. For people already in the field, I think time is better spent working on actual project work than pursuing additional certifications (unless it's for a specific skill you need to acquire that you can't do "on the job"). Certificates can have value for candidates who lack a portfolio and don't have good opportunities to take on actual project work, but even then, I would encourage people to be creative about finding real projects before spending time and money in a certificate course. I don't know about specific programs as me and most designers I know did not go through that type of program."

Erik Johnson, Co-Founder Purpose UX
Purpose UX

UX Research - Ask Me Anything Series

La Tosca Goodwin — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 14:24:34 GMT

On January 27, 2017, our special guest mentor on the mentorship Slack channel was Amanda Stockwell, owner of Stockwell Strategy and longtime researcher and strategist. Amanda answered question pertaining to UX research. The following is a summary of that Slack conversation.

Research- Formative vs. Summative User Testing

by Amanda Stockwell:

Topics discussed:

What’s the difference between Formative and Summative User Testing?
Recruiting the right users
Formulating questions well, especially when you need to provide specific pieces of domain knowledge
Preventing bias and moderating tips

The following captures the key questions and takeaways from the session.

Q: Can you start by explaining the difference between Formative and Summative User Testing?

A: Formative research is done at the onset of a project and use to explore existing problems, general needs, and generally gather insights to help guide the way

Summative testing is done after a solution is complete (or at least part is complete) and you're looking to verify how successful you were at hitting the goals you set

Sometimes the methods are the same, but the goal of the research is different.

Q: I have heard arguments for not needing to recruit from a target audience so long as you properly set up the initial scenario. How would you respond to that argument?

A: I whole heartedly believe that you get better research results when you use real representative users. Theoretically, if you're working on something online, and someone is familiar with the internet, they should be able to figure most things out and you'll be able to identify the absolute worst, most glaring issues.

However, the most glaring set of issues to the general public may not be a big deal to your user set, and you might completely miss things that are big issues to your users. It’s especially important to recruit your specific target users when working on the figuring out an overall workflow, content, labeling, organization, and navigation.

Q: Can you talk about how to best write usability test tasks?

A: Usability testing is all about exploring how easy or not something is to use and specifically designed to have participants interact with something (could be a website, mobile app, paper prototype, etc.) and perform tasks. The researcher observes users’ interactions and may give the participants specific tasks to complete.

The first tip to make sure you set up a scenario that makes sense to the real users and is written from their perspective. Give the participant some context so they can connect your website/application/whatever to their real goals and get in the mindset of truly performing the task.

You then need to create tasks that would be realistic for your test participants’ real-life goals. For instance, if you’re testing a sporting-goods website with budget-conscious parents, a reasonable task might be something like, “Find your child a pair of soccer cleats for under $35.”

This task is specific, but it’s not biased and won’t lead the participants in any way. Be careful to avoid including terms that a participant could look for on the page or moving users down a path you’d prefer them to take.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for writing usability test questions for when you need to provide the user some contextual information (such as credit card number or account id) without leading them?

A: If there is general domain knowledge that you need to assess in your participants, you can start with a short set of interview questions designed to glean what they already know, then have a few versions of tasks written and tailor the way you ask the questions to the level of knowledge they already have.

If there is specific information they need along the way, you can just give them the general tasks and tell them to let you know when they need specific data.

For instance, I recently did a study on the tax forms people need to fill out to be able to serve liquor. I told them to just go about as they thought they would, and any time they thought they needed a piece of information (like a tax code or account information) to let me know, and I would provide it at the time. I had index cards printed out with that information so I could hand it to them one at a time, but if they didn’t know to ask for it, I didn’t provide it.

Q: What is the best way to prevent bias of the moderator/UX Designer/Researcher?

A: The first thing is to be aware that everyone is naturally inclined to lead people one way or another and you need to practice writing the questions in a neutral way. It's little, subtle differences that make a big difference. For instance - "Tell me about x" is WAY more open than something like, "How did you like..."

Regardless of how well-written your script, it can be tempting to stray from the plan or blurt things out. To help with this, practice being quiet as much as possible, avoiding temptation to blurt things out, and find ways to keep your hands busy, such as holding the script, taking notes (even pretend ones!) or even gripping your hands behind your back.

It’s also helpful to get feedback from colleagues and perform a pilot session, especially with usability tests. Another person can help you identify wording issues or places that might be confusing. Although not always possible, it can also help to record your research sessions and watch yourself later.

Really, moderating is a difficult skill but the best way to get better is to practice, practice, practice!

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2017 Event Recap and Resources

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 11:28:59 GMT

In May, we celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) at SAS with A11yRTP. (A11yRTP is the local accessibility meetup and if you’re not currently a member, we encourage you to join!) We kicked off the event with opening remarks, two great speakers, and a hand-ons lab for attendees to try simulations of impairments and assistive technology (AT). This recap includes a comprehensive list of accessibility resources.

Why is accessibility important?

When most hear about “accessibility” they’re not sure what it means exactly or it sounds complicated master or implement. Ed Summers from SAS and co-organizer of the A11yRTP meetup gave some opening remarks of why accessibility is important. He said think of it as an “absence of barriers” - with that individuals can get an education, diplomas, and jobs and maintain dignity and independence.

It’s not so much about checking off boxes to pass a standard, but it’s more about providing the same opportunities for everyone. Ed referenced the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Preamble, which also gives a good overview on the foundations of accessibility.

Accessibility in Today’s World

We had the pleasure of hosting two speakers for the event. Ryan Benson, the Lead Technical Subject Matter Expert for Section 508 and the Center for Disease Control and Liani Yirka, Accessibility and Inclusion Coordinator at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Ryan provided an overview of different aspects of accessibility and some introductory tips that we can all consider when designing websites or software. As part of his job, he consults colleagues on the accessibility of sites and software. He mentioned that it’s always best to proactively consult with accessibility experts early on in the process to avoid having costly and last-minute changes at the end.

Liani Yirka is the Accessibility & Inclusion Coordinator at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It’s her job to ensure an equal visitor experience for all audiences. As most of us are UX designers in the digital realm, it was fascinating to hear what it’s like to consider accessibility from a museum’s perspective.

Accessibility Lab

After our speakers, we had hands-on lab time that included several activity stations, where people could simulate different impairments (e.g., blindness, mobility issues) and try out assistive technology (screen readers, wheelchairs). The idea behind the lab was to gain empathy and understanding through first-hand experience.

Some of our stations included:

Vision impairments - low vision, color blindness, no vision; how to use a cane to navigate your physical surrounding
Screen readers - how people with vision impairments can navigate the web and apps
Accessibility checkers - how these are used to check your site to for accessibility
Motor skill impairments - simulation of low dexterity and tools you can use to navigate the web and apps
Mobility - using a wheelchair to get around

It was a lot of fun trying the simulations, the tools used to assist people, and the tools which help test for accessibility.

Resources

As UX professionals, you can help design inclusively. By making your site or product accessible, you’re making it easier for everyone to use - including those who don’t rely on assistive technology.

To help everyone learn more about accessibility and the tools out there that can be used, we’ve compiled a huge list of resources. We recommend starting small and trying a tool from each section at a time or it can be overwhelming.

Why accessibility matters

United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Preamble

General accessibility information

WebAIM - outstanding resource for all things accessibility. Also has a great mailing list.
International Professional Association for Accessibility (IAAP)
Ministry of Testing’s 30 days of accessibility testing
Inclusive design at IBM
Inclusive design at Microsoft
Apple (overall)
iPhone
iPad
Android

General accessibility checkers

Developer resources

Standards and laws

WCAG 2.0
(The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.0, level AA, are the most widely-used international accessibility standard).
World laws related to accessibility
Section 508 - Understanding the laws and requirements

WCAG also has two companion standards:

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) - for user agents such as browsers or video players
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) - for authoring tools such as email clients or HTML editors

Vision Disabilities

People’s visual disabilities often fall into two categories. People who have low vision mainly (or at least often) use their eyes to interact with technology. People with no (functional) vision mainly use their ears and hands to interact with technology. People with no (functional) vision use screen readers.

Info on eye diseases/conditions from National Eye Institute

Some common eye diseases/conditions include:

Color Blindness (color deficient vision)
Presbyopia
AMD (macular degeneration)
RP (retinitis pigmentosa)

Screen Readers

Screen readers are used by people with little to no functional vision. Screen readers let you use a computer, phone or tablet with your hands and ears, rather than with your eyes. They announce on-screen content and provide special ways of interacting with a device.

JAWS (Windows) - there’s a free trial
NVDA (Windows) - it’s free!
VoiceOver (Mac) - To get started with VoiceOver on Mac OS X, go to System Preferences > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Open VoiceOver Training, and go through the training exercises.
VoiceOver (iOS)
TalkBack (Android)

Screen Magnifiers

People with low vision sometimes use screen magnifiers to make content on screen easier to see.

Tools for simulating or checking

NoCoffee Chrome Extension - this simulates a variety of vision acuities
Colour Contrast Analyser (Mac, Windows) - this tool is great because it has a color picker too, so you’re not limited to just entering hex code or RGB values.
Writing effective alt text - “alt text” is short for “alternative text” which is a description of an image or graphic that provides the same context of that image to someone who cannot see it.
WebAIM’s guide to writing captions and transcripts - this includes a section on audio descriptions for those with visual impairements
AppleVis (for blind and low-vision users of Apple products)

Motor Disabilities

Some individuals might not have the ability to use a mouse and have to navigate with a keyboard. Some examples include those with temporary conditions (e.g., broken hand), those with arthritis, and those who are paralyzed. Keyboard shortcuts are also great for power users of your product or site.

WebAIM on motor disabilities
WebAIM on keyboard accessibility

Tools

Navigating web browsers

Keyboard shortcuts for Chrome (Mac, Windows)
Keyboard shortcuts for Safari (Mac)

Using mobile devices

Cognitive Disabilities

WebAIM’s introduction to cognitive disabilities
Making Your Website Senior-friendly (PDF)
Aphasia
Plain Language

Auditory Disabilities

Some individuals might be fully hearing impaired or only have partial hearing. This can be permanent or temporary (e.g., ear infection, can’t hear the TV at a sports bar). In this case, videos and sound files can be transcribed.

WebAIM’s explanation of auditory disabilities
Overview of captioning and transcription
WebAIM’s guide to writing captions and transcripts

Writing for Accessibility

Web Axe’s resources for writing for web accessibility (from our very own member Dennis Lembree)

Organizing Your Accessibility Work

At SAS we organize our accessibility work into five categories: Mobility, Low Vision, No (functional) Vision, Hearing / Multimedia, and Cognitive / other. These categories help us stay focused on the needs of users with a wide range of abilities during the agile development process.

Mobility – covers the needs of people with motor impairments that prevent them from using a mouse or touch interface.
No (functional) Vision – relates to vision impairments that prevent a person from using their eyes to interact with a computer or mobile device. People without functional vision use screen readers such as JAWS or VoiceOver.
Low vision – involves vision impairments that reduce a person’s ability to see clearly, distinguish colors, and so on. This category covers people who primarily use their eyes with a computer or mobile device, and who may need features like high contrast, zoom, etc.
Cognitive and other – relates to impairments that reduce a person’s: memory; problem-solving; attention, reading, or verbal comprehension; math comprehension; or visual comprehension (WebAIM). This category also includes considerations for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Multimedia – covers auditory and visual impairments in relation to audio and video content. Note that multimedia content is typically created by a different group of people and processes outside of our R&D organization.

We break down the 39 success criteria we use during accessibility testing -- the 38 WCAG 2.0 level AA criteria plus one, 1.4.6 Contrast Enhanced, from level AAA -- using these five categories as well. The paper Accessibility and SAS® Visual Analytics Viewers: Which Report Viewer is Best for Your Users' Needs? is an example of a project where we used these five categories as a framework to organize our work.

Thanks!

Thanks to the volunteers from SAS, the Governor Moorehead School, and Duke Web Services for helping at the activity stations and making this event a success. Thanks to SAS for the event space and special thanks to Donna Faircloth for coordinating and Jesse Snooke for coordinating and helping with the list of resources.

We’re looking forward to next year’s GAAD!

The 2017-18 Triangle UXPA Board Election Results Are In!

Tue, 06 Jun 2017 11:45:27 GMT

The Triangle UXPA 2017-18 board election results are in! Meet the executive council officers:

President

Julie Grundy

Treasurer

Rajiv Ramarajan

Membership & Sponsorship

Lauren Hirsch

Student Memberships

Shaade Oliveros-Tavares

Professional Events

Andrew Wirtanen &
Joe Bond

Community Events

Michelle Chin &
Mary Fran Thompson

Book Clubs

Willamina O'Keeffe &
Nate Kacirek

Webinars

Beth Fowler

Marketing & Communications
Social Media

Bendte Fagge
Heather Young

Past President

Susan Tacker

Learn about the executive council offices.

Become a member of Triangle UXPA.

Ask Me Anything - UX Deliverables

La Tosca Goodwin — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 14:44:33 GMT

In order to better serve our growing number of mentees, we recently started an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on our Mentorship Slack channel. Mentees are able to submit topics they are interested in learning more about, and then a mentor commits to an hour on Fridays. These mentors monitor the channel and answer any questions thrown at them about the particular topic of interest. The wealth of knowledge that has been shared is great and the participants have expressed it is a valuable series. Well we thought, "why keep all this great information to the confines of the Slack-verse?" So, periodically, we will create a post highlighting the nuggets of wisdom. I mean, cause really it's stuff every UX professional can benefit from.

On February 3, 2017, we held an AMA about deliverables. Our mentor on-board was Audrey Bryson, UX Designer for Extron Electronics. Below you will find her write up based on our Slack conversation. Enjoy!

AMA content

by Audrey Bryson:

Sketches:

Sketches are the most appropriate for getting ideas out of your brain and onto paper. They are perfect for brainstorming by yourself or within a group. The quality of sketches (straightness of lines, colors, alignment, etc) does not matter. The only thing that matters is if you are able to effectively communicate your ideas.

Sketches are usually not shown to stakeholders unless you are showing proof that you thought of a lot of ideas before you settled on a higher quality wireframe to show them. Sketches are also a great way to show thought process in a portfolio.

Medium: Paper, pencil, pen, white board, dry erase markers, etch a sketch, etc.

Source: https://www.kooslooijesteijn.net/

Wireframes:

Wireframes are usually a more polished version of a sketch. They indicate the general structure of website/application, and the positioning of all of the elements. If you're having trouble describing what a wireframe is, and what its purpose is to a stakeholder, you can tell them it's similar to a template, and provides a preview of a possible final product.

Wireframes can be sketched by hand or created using a digital tool such as Balsamiq, Axure, Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, etc. It is best to keep color, images, or other high fidelity elements out of wireframes. They are a good way to think abstractly about the needs of a web product or application. I recommend if you show a wireframe to a client, make sure your lines are straight, but also make sure it doesn't look too complete, the point of a wireframe is to show ideas in a low fidelity manner.

Medium: sketched by hand or created using a digital tool such as Balsamiq, Axure, Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, etc.

Source: https://support.balsamiq.com/tutorials/responsivedesign/

Workflow:

Workflow for the most part is synonymous with a user task flow. Creating a separate workflow from the visual design is essential to keeping the focus on the tasks rather than the product. Workflows are driven by user goals, and the interaction designer needs to think about each step in the process to achieve that goal. It’s helpful good to include alternative paths, or what a failed path looks like, as well as a successful path.

Workflows can be written in a paragraph form, in a numbered list, or in a flow chart. Your audience will determine what is most appropriate. With a numbered or written format you can easily get locked in to a linear flow, which is not always appropriate. Decision making and branching is a little easier to convey with a flow chart.

Medium: Paragraphs, numbered lists can be created in any text editor. Flow charts commonly created in Adobe illustrator, Balsamiq, Axure, Sketch

Source: http://deanbirkett.name/work/watch.html

Wireflow:

Wireflows combine wireframes and taskflows to create a more contextual way of showing user interaction throughout an application. This deliverable is generally easier for stakeholders to understand. Wireflows can be low or high fidelity. Unless you have an existing visual design, low fidelity is recommended to save time.

Medium: Wireflows can be created on paper or digital medium. Most designers tend to use programs like Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, Axure to create wireflows.

Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/wireflows/

Prototypes Lo-Fidelity:

Prototypes are good for testing, handing off to developers, or describing micro-interactions and showing how they will work in your design.

If time, resources and budgetary concerns are short, paper prototyping is the way to go. Essentially this is just sketching or printing out physical versions of your design and presenting it to your audience. To show interaction, have the user "click" or "tap" on an area of the prototype and then flip the page to show an interaction such as a drop-down menu or a new screen.

Medium: paper, pencils, stencils, printed out wireflows.

Source: http://usabilitygeek.com/paper-prototyping-as-a-usability-testing-technique/

Prototypes – High Fidelity:

High Fidelity prototypes are what you want to test with users, and present to stakeholders before you ship a final product. Ideally testing a fully operational prototype would happen before the end of the design cycle to allow the development team to reflect on the results and make changes before actually sending products into the real world. But as user professionals know this is not always the case.

High Fidelity is also good because it can tell you about user's general attitudes about a product. Color, interactions, animations, affect the satisfaction and usability of a product too, so if you can test those elements do it. You don't even need to include a question in your usability script about their thoughts about the visual design, your participants will just offer it up!

Finally going for high fidelity and getting as close to the real thing is important because you are likely to uncover other issues that were originally outside the scope of your design. You can get away with murder in sketches and designs, but when it comes to implementation that is a whole other animal. Maybe you're linking to a youtube video, but the ads that appear are overly distracting to your users. Maybe you're designing a mobile site, and it isn't until you test it on a phone outside that you realize the contrast isn't high enough. Small things like that can make or break a product.

Medium: UX designers can create high fidelity and interactive designs in axure, invision, indesign, or even in html/css/javascript/php (any coding language). It's up to you to determine what is best for your team.

Source: https://helpx.adobe.com/experience-design/how-to/wireframe-low-high-prototype.html

The 2017 TriUXPA and LTUX Salary Survey Results Are In!

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 15:52:52 GMT

The Executive Council of the Triangle User Experience Professionals Association (Triangle UXPA) and the leaders of the Ladies That UX-Durham (LTUX DUR) professional organization recently asked us to conduct a survey of local UX professionals. The goal of the survey was to determine salary levels and demographics of UX professionals in the Triangle area.

We received 146 responses from the launch of the survey on 9/2/16 until it closed on 10/19/16. This is a response rate of approximately 7.8%, based on the number of members in both Triangle UXPA and LTUX DUR. The survey was open, though not directed to, the public. Therefore, there may be responses by UX professionals who are not in either organization.

Check the survey – Triangle UX Salary Survey.pdf

Happy 10th Anniversary, Triangle UXPA!

Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:19:45 GMT

Happy 10th anniversary, Triangle UXPA.

We've come a long way since our inception in 2006 as TriUPA. Take a look at our history to see how we've grown!

TriUXPA_History.pdf

Triangle UXPA and Mentorship

La Tosca Goodwin — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 12:35:05 GMT

Mentoring is very similar to coaching. Like any sports coach worth his whistle and stopwatch, the goal of a mentor is to pass on knowledge and wisdom that they have gleaned from personal and professional experiences. Equipped with this foundation, the next generation can build on it to further their craft.

Sometimes, though the hardest thing is getting started with mentoring. It can all start, however, with a simple conversation.

Triangle UXPA’s First Meet and Greet for Mentorship Program

We recently had a meet and greet event for the Triangle UXPA’s mentorship program. Using the Beverage User Interface (BUI) platform, we kept it casual and informal. The idea was to help facilitate that initial encounter between mentor and mentee. We had a great turnout with 34 people attending.

One of our mentors had this to say, “The meet and greet was a much more organic and comfortable way to connect mentors and mentees. As a mentor, I was able to get a better sense of what the mentees want and need, and I think a lot of the mentees felt that this informal setting was an easier way to break the ice and find a mentor with whom they have good chemistry,” Courtney Hall, Sr. UX Designer at Extron Electronics.

What Can You Expect from the Program?

You can expect exactly what you are willing to put into it.

We started the night off with a short presentation on what people should expect to give and get from the program. Some highlights:

#1 Concern of Mentors: “Do I have anything to offer?”

The short answer is “Yes.”

Some of the hesitation and apprehension I hear a lot from prospective mentors is that they don’t know enough to mentor. That is a major misconception. If you currently work or have worked in the UX field in a professional capacity—at any level—you have something to offer.

"At first, I thought that I didn’t have anything to offer and that my level of knowledge was nothing special. After talking with people, I realized that I may not have all the answers, but I do have something to offer and can help people with what I do know," said Don Church, UX Designer at Extron Electronics.

Everyone can agree that being mentored is a good thing, but there is considerable convincing needed sometimes to get folks involved as a mentor. So, why mentor?

Enriching lives and careers
Passing on knowledge to help the next generation
You learn as you teach. Sometimes holes can be revealed in your own professional development as you teach your craft to others.
The teacher can also become the student. As a seasoned professional, you will have the expertise and experience that can only happen from actually just doing it—whatever it is. But those being mentored can sometimes offer young eyes, fresh ideas and new technologies to your toolbox.

Some helpful hints to be a successful mentor:

Set real expectations for your time commitment and the type of help you are willing to offer upfront.
Give honest but helpful feedback. Make sure to treat your mentees as colleagues not underlings.
Help guide them in the journey toward their goals by paying attention to deficiencies in their basic skill set needed to succeed as a UX professional.
Be knowledgeable, but vulnerable. If there is something you don’t know—admit it and then be resourceful.

#1 Question from Mentees: “How do I get started?”

Answer: Reach out to a mentor.

Mentees, the best advice to you is to start making connections. The Meet and Greet was just one way to network. In addition to our list of available mentors, the Triangle UXPA also holds events all time and these are great ways to meet potential mentors. Remember though, it’s up to you to make the initial contact.

When you do reach out here are some suggestions to make it go smoother:

Do your research and know what you want out of the relationship. “What is UX?” is not a good question to lead with.
Set realistic goals—what is the end game? Do you want to land your dream job? Are you looking to learn more before making a transition?
Make sure you find the right fit—a mentor who can commit the amount of time you need, and who has the skills you are interested in.
Be willing to put in the time and effort to make this successful for you.
Be willing to receive honest and helpful feedback.

A Couple Success Stories with the Program So Far – This could be you!

Joe and Andrew

“Mentorship relationships often depend on the level of motivation – especially of the mentee,” said Andrew Wirtanen, Lead Product Designer at Citrix. “Joe immersed himself in the UX literature I gave him to read. That was the primary reason he was able to kick start his UX career.”

In Joe’s case, his mentors simply guided his path and he took the initiative to barrel ahead. Joe is now able to pass on his knowledge and experience as a mentor himself.

Crystal and Lucas

Crystal Ibke is currently being mentored by Lucas Brauer, Interaction Designer. “It's been great working with Crystal, and I cannot say enough about how smart and competent she already is as a UX designer,” Lucas said.

“We are working on the redesign of a website for a Duke and UNC student org called The Bridge. We have done persona development, stakeholder and user interviews, usability testing on an older version of the site (which is no longer live), and more,” he said.

The design team for this project includes Crystal, and two developers that recently graduated from the Iron Yard code academy in Durham.

So How Can We Make the Mentorship Experience Even Better?

It wouldn’t be a group of UX folks if we weren’t always looking for ways to improve our experience. Here is a list of some suggestions from attendees:

A forum to practice presenting and discussing deliverables
A way to spread the wealth of knowledge and expertise in our mentor pool—not just limit the experience to a one-on-one relationship
Slack channel for mentees and mentors
More group project opportunities
Mentor forum or message board

What are your thoughts? Leave us a comment.

Event Recap | Finding Success in your UX Career with Cory Lebson

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 15:38:14 GMT

"User Experience" as a label is a broad umbrella, and it often doesn't accurately describe the work we do or serve a purpose in recruiting for jobs. Cory Lebson, author of The UX Careers Handbook, spoke with our members last week about how to carve out your own piece of the UX Cheesecake.

Cory wrote a blog post all about the cheesecake metaphor and just why he chose to use it as a cover image for his book. Each type of cheesecake has its own flavor, but there's still commonalities linking them together. And while each type of User Experience work requires unique skills, there's still a common basis that we all share.

UX involves three broad categories of work:

Designing stuff (like Interaction Design, Information Architecture, and Visual Design)
Evaluating stuff (like User Research, Accessibility, and Human Factors)
Strategizing about stuff (like UX Strategy, Content Strategy, and Customer Experience)

Those tasks and skills are applied in lots of different ways. You might be primarily a user researcher or information architect, focused in on your own preferred slice of the cheesecake. And each role within UX work has unique degrees of designing, evaluating, and strategizing.

"Career advancement comes not from throwing it all out there, but saying I'm an expert at this." - Cory Lebson

Nobody can be experts in all of these areas. Cory put this in very concrete terms: If you start out by billing yourself as a UX Unicorn, master of all slices of the cheesecake, then nobody knows just which slice you're truly an expert at and you might get passed you over for a specialist job. It's very possible to become that unicorn someday, but it's important to start a career by focusing in one area. Build that expertise and then someday later think about branching out.

Telling Your Story

It's important to have your resume and portfolio tell your story and show your strengths. Which of the slices are your specialty? Make sure your story matches the job description you're applying for.

But your story goes beyond just the job application itself. Cory said that employers will obviously Google applicants, and it's important to control your brand in what pops up. He suggested Googling yourself to check if the results tell a story of the work you do. If you say you're a User Researcher or other specialist, your web presence better back it up.

Cory emphasized controlling:

LinkedIn (Publish on LinkedIn Pulse)
Tweets (Have a daily presence on the #UX hashtag)
Personal Webpages

But your brand alone won't get you that dream job.

Steps to help manage your search process:

Tell your network you're looking
Post your job search on social media
Go to UX events and network
Check out online job boards
Create a custom job board feed to stay current on listings

During discussion at the end, an attendee asked about the usefulness and quality of an education via a UX bootcamp. Cory replied that "Doing a bootcamp is a good thing," but emphasized that it's also important to supplement a bootcamp with outside work. You should also do your research on the bootcamp in question, and see what slices of the cheesecake they're strongest in. Do they align with your interests and career goals?

How do you think Cory's insights will impact your next job search? Does his advice and experience fit with your own?

Thanks to Cory for spending some time with us, and to everyone who attended. We hope to see you next time!

(Event photo by Andrew Wirtanen)

Event Recap | Articulating Design Decisions with Tom Greever

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 14:25:22 GMT

With UX being recognized more frequently as important by everyone in the organization, we find ourselves spending more time justifying our designs, and how we approach explaining our work can make or break our success in doing so.

Some of us know this first hand because we've created really great work only for clients to not like them (and sometimes *really* not like them). We blame ourselves for not conveying all the details, or not spending enough time advocating for the user, or not facilitating the right conversation with the right client. Knowing how to lead these conversations is a skill of any good designer.

Tom Greever, author of Articulating Design Decisions (O'Reilly), visited us last week for tacos and a talk on how best to prepare, listen, and respond when it comes to explaining our design solutions for stakeholder buy-in.

Preparation

As with any meeting, preparing for it can help with its overall success. Tom recommended rehearsing and anticipating reactions so we are better equipped to discuss our work thoughtfully and not in a reactive rush. Our own mental preparation is important, too. We need to be prepared that we're not always going to be right and others could be. Your stakeholders may have information about the business you don't have, so check our ego at the door.

Listening

When it comes to listening, it's really about leveraging basic communication skills. We should be allowing others to talk, pausing before we speak, and diagnosing the real issue at hand. Often, a client might suggest something that isn't the right solution. As designers, it's our responsibility to get to the heart of the issue – what problem are they trying to solve and how can we provide a solution serves the needs of the user as well as the business. Listen to the words behind the words. One way to do this is to convert “likes” into “works” to understand the reasoning behind their suggestion. For example, it’s more impactful to hear “this dropdown works because…” instead of “I like this dropdown.".

Responding

Tom has an IDEAL way to respond, which includes:

Identifying the problem
Describing your solution
Empathizing with the user
Appealing to the business
Locking in the agreement

Once you've identified the problem and have found common ground, it's imperative to lock in the agreement, because without it, we can't move forward. Tom offered a few examples we can use for responses based on his previous experiences. His book also has plenty of great examples that illustrate how to use the IDEAL method in realistic scenarios.

If you joined us for this event, we'd love to know how you've used some of Tom's methods when it comes to discussing your design work. If you weren't able to join us, we hope you can make another one of our events soon!

Author: Michelle Chin

All Things Open in Raleigh - October 26-27, 2016

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 00:09:56 GMT

All Things Open is an annual conference that "explores open source, open tech, and the open web in the enterprise." It's been held each year in downtown Raleigh at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The speaker lineup features a few UX speakers, including Rachel Nabors, Bermon Painter, and Sarah Kahn.

Triangle UXPA members can save 15% off registration by using the code TUXPA15.

http://allthingsopen.org/

ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval at UNC (March 13-17, 2016)

Andrew Wirtanen — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 03:02:24 GMT

The first ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR) (pronounced “cheer”) which will take place at UNC Chapel Hill on March 13-17, 2016.

The keynote speakers are Mark Ackerman from the University of Michigan, and Pia Borlund from the University of Copenhagen.

Description from the CHIIR site:

CHIIR provides a forum for the dissemination and discussion of research on the user-centered aspects of information interaction and information retrieval. CHIIR focuses on elements such as human involvement in search activities, and information seeking and use in context. The conference represents a merger of two successful past events: the Information Interaction in Context conference (IIiX) and the Human Computer Information Retrieval symposium (HCIR), which have run since 2006 and 2007 respectively.

http://www.sigir.org/chiir2016/

Innovate Carolina Conference in Charlotte (April 24)

Andrew Wirtanen — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 22:14:11 GMT

This year's Innovate Carolina one-day conference is on April 24 at UNC Charlotte. Here's the description:

Too often, corporations develop products or services based on what they think customers want, rather than taking the time to fully understand existing needs and unmet needs. There are a range of proven techniques to discover important and unmet needs, but far too often practitioners don’t think they need to investigate needs or rely too heavily on easily obtainable secondary marketing research. These approaches lead to shallow insights and “me too” solutions that don’t interest or excite customers.

If you are designing, building or managing products, or considering creating a new product, service or business model, you want to know that what you launch will be valuable to potential customers, differentiated in the marketplace and meet important needs. Innovate Carolina is for you.

Learn more and register at http://www.innovatecarolina.org/2015-conference/

GIANT Conf 2015 Announces Schedule

Andrew Wirtanen — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 14:47:51 GMT

GIANT Conf 2015 (Charleston, SC) has announced their schedule. The workshops are on Sunday, June 14 and the 3-day conference starts up on Monday.

The Early Bird Registration rate of $700 expires on March 31. Only 100 tickets are available at this rate. Visit http://conf.giantux.com/ for more.

UX Design Essentials Workshop - Discount for Triangle UXPA Members

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 20:01:38 GMT

Everett McKay is offering Triangle UXPA members a 50% discount off his UX Design Essentials 3-day workshop (Monday 3/16 -Wednesday 3/18). The workshop is normally $1800. Go here to register: http://uxde-durham-nc.eventbrite.com. He is also giving away a couple of free tickets to any of our members that are between jobs. Email events@triuxpa.org if this applies to you and you would like to win a free ticket.

Also, we have reached capacity on Everett's talk on Monday 3/16. You can join the waitlist here: http://www.meetup.com/intent-design/events/220901466/

GIANT Conf 2015 Announces Speakers

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 18:50:09 GMT

GIANT Conference 2015 have announced their six keynotes and 63 other speakers. The conference will once again be held in Charleston, South Carolina.

The six keynotes are:

Aaron Draplin (Draplin Design Company)
Dan Willis (Cranky Productions)
Denise Jacobs (The Creative Dose)
Leslie Jensen-Inman (Center-Centre)
Scott Berkun (The Year Without Pants)
Sonya Looney (Professional mountain biker)

Head to http://2015.giantconf.com/speakers/ for the complete speaker list. Early bird registration is open till February 28, 2015. Stay tuned for potential Triangle UXPA discounts.

Tiny GIANT one-day conference in Charlotte (1/23/15)

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:34:23 GMT

The folks behind the GIANT Conference have announced a new one-day conference series. The first one will be in Charlotte on Friday, January 23, 2015. Registration is open now and only $99 to the first 50 people.

The keynote speakers are Lou Rosenfeld and Jared Spool.

Visit http://tinycharlotte.giantconf.com/ for more info.

WritersUA Conference in Charleston (October 27-29)

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:26:10 GMT

Congratulations to Triangle UXPA member Bill Albing, who will be presenting at the WritersUA Conference in Charleston on October 28, 2014. Bill's talk is titled Using Customer Analysis in UA Design (UA: User Assistance).

Registration is still open for the conference at http://east.writersua.com/

Hopscotch Design Fest (Sept 3-4) Schedule Posted

Andrew Wirtanen — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 21:06:36 GMT

The inaugural Hopscotch Design Fest schedule is now available. The 2-day festival features keynote sessions from architect Shohei Shigematsu, tech leader Harper Reed, organizational innovator Sarah Miller Caldicott, IBM designer Doug Powell, and artist/designer Elle Luna. The Triangle UXPA is proud to be a Design Partner of the event.

Learn more and download the schedule.

BlendConf2014 in Charlotte (Sept 11-13) - 10% discount

Andrew Wirtanen — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 15:43:09 GMT

Blend Conference is in Charlotte, NC on Sept 11-13th. Blend Conference is a generalist conference featuring 60+ speakers from around the world. In total there will be 48 sessions, 8 workshops, and 4 keynotes. The conference is divided up into 4 tracks that cover user experience, design, front-end and back-end development.

The conference sports a diverse lineup of speakers. Notable keynotes this year will be:

Mike Monteiro of Mule Design,
Kimberly Bryant of Black Girls Code,
Scott Hanselman of Microsoft,
and Jennifer Pahlka of Code for America.

The conference will also feature world class speakers Mark Boulton, Abby Covert, Greg Hoy, Allison House, Chris Coyier, Steve Klabnik, Sougwen Chung, Val Head and many more. View the diverse list of speakers on Lanyrd.

We’ve partnered with Blend Conference to provide you a 10% discount. Just use the discount code ‘ UXPA’ when you register.

Hopscotch Design Festival Announces 2014 Initial Lineup

Andrew Wirtanen — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:40:35 GMT

Hopscotch Design Festival is a new 2-day "gathering to discover the people designing the future". The Triangle UXPA is proud to be a partner organization, contributing ideas and speaker recommendations. The initial lineup for the festival was announced on June 5th and tickets are now available for purchase on hopscotchdesignfest.com.

Call for Speakers - 2014 All Things Open Conference

Andrew Wirtanen — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:23:28 GMT

The 2014 All Things Open Conference has announced their call for speakers. The deadline for submission is Friday, May 30.

For Developers, Programmers and Designers:

The conference will explore software development and UI design, surrounding topics such as languages, user experience, version control, responsive design, testing and deployment. The focus of this conference is how these topics and issues affect the enterprise.

The conference is October 22-23, 2014 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Lean UX Workshop in Charlotte on Thursday, April 24

Andrew Wirtanen — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:45:41 GMT

Jeff Gothelf (author of Lean UX) is leading a Lean UX workshop in Charlotte on Thursday, April 24, 2014.

Learn more and register on Eventbrite.

Take the 2014 UXPA Salary Survey

Andrew Wirtanen — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 15:25:34 GMT

Every two years, our parent organization - UXPA International - does a salary survey. The survey is open to all UX professionals. You do not need to be a member of the UXPA or Triangle UXPA.

Take the Survey! (Anonymous; takes 10-15 minutes)

Here's a little more info the UXPA:

The User Experience Professionals Association periodically surveys the UXPA membership and others in the user experience field to learn more about who we are, where we work and what we do. Please give us 10 to 15 minutes of your time to help improve the user experience industry by adding your data to this anonymous and confidential survey.

This survey is open to anyone who works in the UX field, so please ask your friends and colleagues to participate. The more data we get, the more accurate our overall analysis will be.

Responsive Design Workshop in Raleigh on Saturday, March 22

Andrew Wirtanen — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 21:16:37 GMT

AIGA Raleigh has organized an Adobe Workshop on Responsive Design. The workshop is Saturday, March 22 from 9am-1pm at the McKimmon Center (NC State University). Visit the Eventbrite listing for more details and registration. Pricing ranges from $40-50.

World IA Day in Charlotte on Saturday, February 15

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 17:54:00 GMT

World IA Day in Charlotte will be held at the new Wells Fargo Auditorium on Saturday, February 15. Registration is free. For more information, check out the event on worldiaday.org.

If you are interested in giving a 30 minute session or 5-10 minute lightning talk, fill out this form.

GDI Presents 'Intro to User Experience (UX)

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:02:02 GMT

This course is organized by the local chapter of Girl Develop It (you do not need to be a girl to join or attend the course). You can learn more about the group at Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-RDU).

This 3 part Intro to User Experience course runs on Wednesday evenings: February 26th, March 5th and March 12th. The class times go from 7:00pm to 9:00pm each evening.

At its core, User Experience (UX) is defined as how someone feels about using a product, system, or service. Regardless of what we’re designing--a website, an Android app, or a toaster--we all strive to make our designs useful, easy to use, and enjoyable to use. But how exactly do we make something useful, easy to use, and enjoyable? How do we know if the target audience is having a good or bad experience? This class will arm you with the essential tips to find those answers.

This class is for anyone who makes (or wants to learn how to make) websites, mobile apps, or other software. If you’re a developer, a designer, a project manager, a content creator, or something else, you can integrate UX research and design into your practice.

By the end of this class, you’ll also learn tips and techniques to address the following:

Fundamental concepts of user experience design
How to find out who your users are
Creating user personas
Identifying usability problems and prioritizing solutions
How to design and run usability tests
Getting useful feedback from your users
Information Architecture and interaction design
Where UX fits with project management methodologies
And more!
This is a hands on course which will give you actionable tools to get started with user experience in your work day!

Your Teacher: Sarah Kahn, Senior UX Designer at Deutsche Bank

UX Design Essentials Course Feb 4-6, Save 33%!

Andrew Wirtanen — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 14:37:00 GMT

Everett McKay is offering his UX Design Essentials course in Durham on February 4 – 6, 2014. Mention that you are a Triangle UXPA member for a 33% discount! Check http://uxdesignessentials.com for more info.

The Triangle UXPA is hosting a free talk with Everett on Tuesday, February 4. To attend, please register on the event page.

UXPA 2014 is July 21-24, 2014 in London

Andrew Wirtanen — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 14:55:55 GMT

Our parent organization, the UXPA, has announced the dates for their 2014 annual conference. The conference will be held July 21-24, 2014 at the Park Plaza Hotel in London, UK. The hotel is steps away from the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and London's Southbank.

For more information on how to attend, submit, review, or sponsor the conference visit https://uxpa.org/event/uxpa-2014-conference

UX/Designers Needed at Triangle Startup Weekend (November 15)

Andrew Wirtanen — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 13:59:44 GMT

Triangle Startup Weekend is in need of UX, visual and interaction designers. Currently, they have an equal mix of developer and non-technical folks.

Registration is just $74 and $50 for students, which includes lunch & dinners all weekend at UNC Chapel Hill. Sign up at triangle.startupweekend.com.

Improving Electronic Health Records

Andrew Wirtanen — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:42:56 GMT

This month is World Usability Day 2013 (sign up for our free event at SAS), and the focus this year is on healthcare.

EHRs, or Electronic Health Records, have overall been an improvement to the healthcare, but still cause medical errors. Recently, on NPR WAMU (DC) some leading experts sat down to discuss the challenges EHRs present:

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2013-10-30/improving-electronic-health-records (click the "Listen" link at the top of the page for a great hour-long discussion). One of the guests is Ben Shneiderman, who is a usability author and expert at the University of Maryland.

All Things Open Conference in Raleigh - Save 10%

Andrew Wirtanen — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:32:28 GMT

All Things Open is an open source conference featuring some of the most well known open source technologists and decision makers in the world.

The conference is October 23-24, 2013 at the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh.

Use the code "triuxpa" to save 10% on registration.

http://www.allthingsopen.org

Exclusive discount code for 3-day UX conference in Charlotte

Andrew Wirtanen — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 13:13:04 GMT

The Blend Conference is a 3-day generalist conference in Charlotte, NC Sept 5-7 covering user experience, design, & development. The lineup has over 50 speakers, including several from the Triangle.

The discount code TRIANGLEUXPA will save you $100 on registration.

http://www.blendconf.com/

New Triangle-based Site to Help Recruit Participants for Research

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 16:47:16 GMT

Durham-based mobile app agency Two Toasters is working on a new site that local companies can use to recruit participants for user interviews or usability testing.

Here is the announcement from Two Toasters:

"Hi, I'm Geoff Mackey from Two Toasters. We're building a product called Tribe that connects experience design professionals to their users. Tribe will make it easy for you to schedule user interviews and will allow users to make their contact and demographic information available to other companies in their area or "Tribe." We're still in development, but if you visit www.tribeapp.net and leave your email address, we'll keep you updated as we approach launch. Of course, we'd love your feedback as well! If you have any comments or suggestions regarding branding or features, please drop us a line at tribe@twotoasters.com.

Thanks!"

Watch "Is School Preparing Me for a UX Career?" on YouTube

Andrew Wirtanen — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:05:38 GMT

The Triangle UXPA recorded the "Is School Preparing Me for a UX Career?" panel on April 4, 2013. If you are a student, or just getting started in UX, we recommend watching the video on our new YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtIiJqXLNrE.

This is the first time the Triangle UXPA has offered a recording of an event. We hope to offer more videos or audio recordings of events in the future.

Silver Bullets for getting buy-in for UX Research—A Workshop by Tomer Sharon

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:58:27 GMT

Tomer Sharon works in the Search team at Google New York. He conducted a half-day workshop for TriUXPA on October 17^th. The theme of Tomer’s workshop was how UX practitioners can get support from their colleagues for doing user research and doing it right. Tomer discussed ten ideas, which he calls silver bullets.

1. Empathy. While UX practitioners find it easy to empathize with users they do not empathize with other stakeholders. Organizational stakeholders often do not understand user research. It behooves us as user researchers to take the time to understand and empathize with our stakeholders.
2. Maturity. Often, (organizational) stakeholders are not mature in terms of UX. Tomer discussed instances where we might be able to increase their maturity and instances when we may not.
3. Participation. Having stakeholders participate in user research can be extremely helpful. Invite them to watch a user research session and comment on what they observed.
4. Lean. Cross-functional teams in a lean environment are the true recipe for progress. Having everyone involved in the whole process, and doing whatever it takes, goes a long way.
5. Be patient. Organizations are slow to change and so are people.
6. Get them to listen. People have to listen before you can persuade them. A good way to getting people to listen is by taking all the “buts” out of the conversation.
7. Collaborate. A key to getting stakeholder buy-in is to collaborate with them. Involve them in user studies from the beginning to select tasks, select users, and so on. Make UX each stakeholder’s baby!
8. No reports. Identify insights from user research as it is going on; don’t wait till the end. Tomer showed an example of summarized data from user research that provides a quick overview and makes formal reports redundant and saves time. He suggested presenting findings in an expo-like fashion to attract attention from stakeholders.
9. Quantitative findings. People like data so why not present them with data, ideally visualized properly.
10. Find the balance. Balance what the stakeholders want from user research with what you want.

Next, Tomer had the audience break out into teams to enact several scenarios that typically arise in corporate environments. Each team used some of the silver bullets to make its case for user research.

Drive Content Strategy Decisions with Data, by Michael Gowan

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:33:44 GMT

Content creation feels like it should be a purely creative process -- you pull ideas from the air and work inside your head before releasing the product into the world with a flourish. Voilà!

Then you hope that your ideas and the needs of your users match.

You can do better than hope you meet your users’ needs. You can use data to help shape your content strategy. That’s right -- cold, hard data. Data give you insight into what your users are looking for, what they are finding, and even what they may want more of.

You can use this information to create compelling content and hone your content maintenance plan. Let’s look at three data sources you can use in content strategy: analytics, search logs, and user feedback. There are more, but these three are key.

Analytics
Use your site metrics to help with updating and pruning your content. If a page is visited regularly, you may need to update it more regularly than other pages. If incorrect information on a page is bad, then incorrect information on a popular page is worse.

Also consider axing pages that don’t receive many views. As we add fresh content to sites, older pages may no longer be relevant to users or to the business. Removing the content from the site means that’s one less piece you have to maintain.

Search logs
Search provides two sources of data: what people searched for on external search engines that led them to your site, and what they searched for once at your site.

An entire industry focuses on external searchundefinedit’s called search engine optimization and it focuses on getting people to your site. It should be a part of your content strategy in conjunction with marketing.

What about those that are already on your site? You can make sure they have a better experience by looking at what they are searching for on your site. I like to look at the top 50 searches and actually perform those searches each month to make sure the best pages for those terms are at the top of the results.

If they aren’t, I tweak the page content to make it more relevant. And if no page exists, then I know what content I’m creating next.

User feedback
Users can provide more direct feedback. Comments, surveys, and user testing all give users a voice that you can listen to and adjust your content accordingly.

Comments come in various forms these days, from likes on Facebook to questions posted on a blog. You can delve into this feedback to better understand content your users want and the question they tend to have.

Where comments are often a side effect of content, surveys offer a directed feedback mechanismundefinedthe intent of a content survey is to learn how users think you’re doing and what they’d like to see more of. These tools can be great for planning new content.

And you can’t beat the brutal honesty of user testing for raw feedback. From labels to words on the page, you’ll hear it directly when things don’t make sense to a user. The key is making changes that improve the user experience.

Make Data a Part of a Larger Strategy
Data alone doesn’t make for a content strategy, but it should play a large role. I like data because it’s hard to argue with numbers.

Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology at Duke, recently tweeted: "If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine." I think that sums up why data should be a part of your content strategy.

When you need to make a case, point to the data. It may not be as exciting as creating from thin air, but it’s hard to argue against.

Michael Gowan is a content strategist, writer, and editor based in Carrboro, North Carolina. His skills for content prophecy are available for hire. Follow him on Twitter @zebgowan.

Affordances are Fundamental Concepts that Underlie Superior HCI/UX Design as Explained by Rex Hartson and Pardha Pyla. by Rick Phelps

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 03:41:48 GMT

On July 26, The Triangle UXPA hosted a guest lecture by Rex Hartson and Pardha Pyla at the offices of Lulu in Raleigh. Titled “Affordances and their importance to UX Practioners” was co-sponsored with Bloomberg. Rex Hartson, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Virgina Tech, and Pardha Pyla, Senior Interaction Designer at Bloomberg L.P. provided a 90 minute overview of the key concepts and consideration of affordances in the design of human computer interactions. Over 40 Triangle UXPA members attended the event.

The talk was based on a chapter in their recent publication, The UX Book: Process and Guidelines for Ensuring a Quality User Experience. This new book is a comprehensive, practical field guide to understanding, assimilating, and applying the complete interaction design discipline.

In interaction design, the word “affordance” is often used to describe something that helps, aids or makes it possible for the user to do something, but Professor Hartson explained that there are serveral different types of affordances available to the designer.

Cognitive Affordance
Cognitive affordance is a design feature that helps, aids, supports, facilitates, or enables thinking, learning, understanding, and knowing about something. Cognitive affordances play starring roles in interaction design, especially for less experienced users who need help with understanding and learning. As a simple example, the symbol of an icon that clearly conveys its meaning could be a cognitive affordance enabling users to understand the icon in terms of the functionality behind it and the consequences of clicking on it. Another cognitive affordance might be in the form of a clear and concise button label.
Physical Affordance
Physical affordance is a design feature that helps, aids, supports, facilitates, or enables doing something physically. Adequate size and easy-to-access location could be physical affordance features of an interface button design enabling users to click easily on the button.

Because physical affordance has to do with physical objects, we treat active interface objects on the screen, for example, as real physical objects, as they can be on the receiving end of real physical actions (such as clicking or dragging) by users. Physical affordance is associated with the “operability” characteristics of such user interface artifacts. As many in the literature have pointed out, it is clear that a button on a screen cannot really be pressed, which is why we try to use the terminology “clicking on buttons.”
Sensory Affordance
Sensory affordance is a design feature that helps, aids, supports, facilitates, or enables user in sensing (e.g., seeing, hearing, feeling) something. Sensory affordance is associated with the “sense-ability” characteristics of user interface artifacts, especially when it is used to help the user sense (e.g., see) cognitive affordances and physical affordances. Design issues for sensory affordances include noticeability, discernability, legibility (in the case of text), and audibility (in the case of sound) of features or devices associated with visual, auditory, haptic/tactile, or other sensations. As an example, the legibility of button label text is supported by an adequate size font and appropriate color contrast between text and background.
Functional Affordance
Functional affordances connect physical user actions to invoke system, or back end, functionality. Functional affordances link usability or UX to usefulness and add purpose for physical affordance. They are about higher level user enablement in the work domain and add meaning and goal orientation to design discussions. In an external view it is easy to see a system function as an affordance because it helps the user do something in the work domain.

Rex Hartson is Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, where he was the founding faculty member in human computer interaction (HCI). He’s a 30-year pioneer in HCI as a field and in User Experience as a discipline and practice.

Pardha Pyla is a Senior Interaction Designer at Bloomberg L.P., New York, NY, where he is leads the design team for mobile platforms. He is one of the pioneering researchers in the area of connecting software engineering and usability engineering lifecycles.

Overall, the presentation was outstanding with some great discussions afterwards. We greatly appreciated Rex and Pardha for taking the time to travel to Raleigh for this event and not charging the a speakers fee. We also thank Bloomberg for the the wonderful dinner catering from the local Raleigh restaurant Irregardless Cafe.

And thanks again to Lulu for hosting the event. Here are a few photos from the event.

A Deep Dive into Two Essential Tools: Carol Barnum’s “UX Tune-Up”, by Adam Rogers

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:18:38 GMT

On July 18th, the Triangle UXPA hosted an all-day workshop by Carol Barnum at the offices of Railinc in Cary. Entitled UX Tune-Up, the workshop offered a deep dive on two of the most important user experience tools, heuristic evaluation and usability testing. Barnum guessed that most attendees would be self-taught UX practitioners--something she confirmed at the outset with an informal survey--who would benefit from focusing on these essential tools.

Barnum founded and directs the Usability Center at Southern Polytechnic State University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she teaches usability and user experience practice, and consults for clients such as Delta Airlines and Cox Communications.

I’ve embedded the slides from the workshop below, but here’s a brief overview of what was covered:

Heuristic Evaluation (and Expert Review)

Barnum described the classic method of heuristic evaluation, which 3-5 usability experts “walking in the user’s shoes” through a website or product, using a heuristic. A heuristic, or guide, is basically a list of points to refer to in your evaluation, the most popular usability heuristic being Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics for User Interface Design. Barnum had attendees work in groups to do a heuristic evaluation of an example site, giving us a greater sense of the process.

Here are a few takeaways from the morning that stood out to me:

Barnum emphasized the need to have a user profile (or persona) and a scenario from which perspective to perform the evaluation.
Heuristic evaluation, when done less formally, e.g. with less evaluators or without heuristics, is usually referred to as “expert review.”
Consider other heuristics, or making your own, depending on the project. Barnum also recommended Whitney Quesenbery’s 5 E’s.
When presenting findings from an evaluation or expert review, rank them by severity and tie each to the heuristic or principles it violates.

Usability Testing

For the afternoon, Barnum shifted the workshop’s focus to usability testing. She described her work in the Usability Center at SPSU, going through her methods, sharing some examples of findings, and discussing the wide variety of approaches to testing. Barnum expressed support for small studies with 4-6 users, pointing to some great resources for these:

Steve Krug’s Rocket Surgery Made Easy book
The First Fridays program at Howto.gov
Microsoft’s RITE method

Barnum fielded many questions on the various stages of the usability process, from screening and recruiting, to the test protocol, to reporting findings. I’d encourage you to go through her slides for more detail on the process.

She also shared one other tool, which I hadn’t known about before, that she uses in conjunction with usability testing: Microsoft’s Product Reaction Cards. These are 118 cards, each with one adjective, that the tester spreads out in random order on a table; the user then chooses the few cards that s/he feels best describe the product being tested. Barnum said the cards are “like magic” in that users very often gravitate toward the same words. For more on these, see:

Product Reaction Cards from Microsoft (.doc file)
UX Matters article on “Rapid Desirability Testing”

Overall, this was a great workshop--very focused on getting attendees a solid understanding of two essential tools. Barnum left us with a mantra for usability testing: test early, small, and often.

Slides

For those looking to go a little deeper on these methods, Carol has a book on the topic: Usability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set...Test!

Thanks to Carol for sharing her expertise, and thanks to Railinc for hosting the event!

Lowes.com June Community Event

Andrew Wirtanen — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 02:23:15 GMT

John Dozier and Christian Manzella, Lowes.com

As one of the Event Directors for the Triangle UXPA this year, I’ve learned that there is a little bit of magic that goes into each event.

The Lowes.com event was born when one of our Advisory Board members recommended reaching out to our neighbors in Charlotte, specifically Lowe’s Home Improvement. Looking at my LinkedIn, I recognized that I was connected to a UX Researcher at Lowe’s (John Dozier). I reached out to John and, to my surprise, an event was born.

On Wednesday, June 20, 2012, approximately 30 Triangle UXPA’ers filled the Training Room at Railinc. John Dozier and Christian Manzella (Sr. User Experience Architect Manager) led a fascinating talk about the Lowes.com UX process. The Experience Group for Lowes.com was revitalized about two years, which led to the creation of specialized groups, including UX research. Today, the UX process is much more mature; Lowes.com introduced a Chief Customer Officer on the Executive Management team in April 2012.

The Experience Group at Lowes.com consists of many job titles, including:

Visual Designers
Interaction Designer
Content Strategists
Copywriters
Content Editors
Front-End Developers
User Experience Architects
User Experience Researchers

The Experience Group primarily uses an Agile-like methodology. Lowes.com has three layers of Agile: Strategy, Planning, and Development. The Strategy layer is for brainstorming/discovery and should have very few time constraints. The Planning layer is where ideas are refined and documented. The Development layer is when the output of the Planning layer gets coded.

John and Christian covered a variety of topics. Here are some of my favorite nuggets:

If using Agile, consider an Agile coach. Ask if they have experience with UX (if they don’t, then you may not have the right coach).
Make your workspace collaborative. Remove tall cubicle walls and add whiteboards, paper, post-its, and markers.
Stick wireframes on the wall to encourage feedback from introverts.
Adobe Test & Target and UserZoom are used regularly for Lowes.com. Adobe Test & Target supports multivariate and A/B testing. UserZoom is for unmoderated remote usability testing.
Realize that not everything will get coded and not everything gets shipped. It’s ok!
Send as many of your employees to UX conferences as possible. Do not send only managers that are not doing any research or design. But it is still important for management to be tied into the UX community so that they can provide support when it is needed.
“Always advocate for the user” (this is one of the Experience Group’s guiding principles).

As of writing this, Lowes.com still has job opportunities listed on the Triangle UX Job Board. All job opportunities are in Mooresville, NC, approximately 20 miles north of Charlotte – check out www.lowes.com/hireme/index.html

Andrew Wirtanen is 2012 Director of Events for the Triangle UXPA. He is a User Experience Specialist at Atlantic BT in Raleigh, where he focuses on usability engineering, interaction design, and information architecture. Follow him on Google+ and at @awirtanen.

Content Strategy in User Experience Design: The Prophets in the Process, by Michael Gowan

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:42:52 GMT

Don’t you wish you had a fortune teller on your UX design team? Someone who predicts how your product will grow and thrive, or whether it will wither and die. You can have this – we’re called content strategists.

When I think of user experience design, I traditionally think of interaction design, visual design, usability, and development. It’s time to make room for content strategy within the umbrella of user experience design. And not just because we’re a charming lot on the whole. We bring the gift of the prophecy.

The Long View

A content strategist brings the perspective of the long view to a design project – not just how the product looks, works, and reads at the launch, but how it needs to grow over the years. That’s the prophetic aspect of the role.

I define content strategy as planning for the creation and maintenance of content. Within UX design, this translates to thinking about everything from what kind of templates will be needed to how content on the home page will be populated. You don’t want to design something that’s going to wither on the vine as soon as its launched because nobody thought about how the next headline will get created.

In some organizations, content creators rarely get a seat at the table during the design process. I’ve always advocated for a content presence at all stages of design. We are the ones who will populate and maintain the content within the final product.

We can help translate user and business goals into content requirements, content templates, and maintenance plans that think about the future.

If content strategy isn’t a part of your process, you’re missing vital input about how the content on the site – the stuff that keeps users coming to a site – will work within a design.

A Bridge

Content strategists often serve as a bridge between UX and marketing, too. We need to understand the needs and goals of both groups. While UX is representing user needs, marketing focuses on how to communicate business goals.

A content strategist can help translate how marketing needs get implemented in a user-friendly and sustainable way. This is the difference between a site that is built to integrate marketing campaigns and one that is full of one-off pages that take a lot of time and never get used again.

Your Take

Content strategy is an evolving field. What’s your take on the role of content strategy in user experience design? Leave a comment to tell me how content strategists work with your team.

Michael Gowan is a content strategist, writer, and editor based in Carrboro, North Carolina. His skills for content prophecy are available for hire. Follow him on Twitter @zebgowan.

First Book Club Meet-Up

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:50:41 GMT

The Durham Meetup @ Viget Labs

Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski was the chosen inaugural book for the Triangle UXPA Book Club. Several Triangle UXPA members met to discuss what they'd like to read and agreed that even though the work we all did focused primarily on desktop and web applications, mobile is the future. Having read a few of the A Book Apart series previously, we decided to see what they had to say about mobile.

To organize all this, I thought I'd try to keep things simple and run the group at meetup.com, which would give us the ability to run simple, informal events and online discussions in case people had questions in between sessions.

What I didn’t expect was such a strong response from so many people who weren’t already in Triangle UXPA but were on Meetup. 53 people joined before the first meet-up, with 11 attending the Durham session and another 6 attending in Raleigh. No-one really used the discussion forums prior to the sessions, but Meetup allowed us to reach a new group and run polls on books.

The Durham discussion was held at Viget Labs on Thursday, June 21st and hosted by the ever-gracious Todd Moy. The Raleigh group met a week later at the Main Library at NCSU and was hosted by Triangle UXPA's own Adam Rogers. Both discussions brought an interesting discussion of mobile and our experiences with it. In general though, the book itself was a higher-level overview of the whole topic of mobile rather than a discussion of why mobile should indeed be first. It combined a few intro chapters about the importance of mobile, then launched into some of the particulars of general mobile usability. While it did touch on the benefits of beginning from a pared-down mobile starting point, it lacked concrete examples of how sites benefited from this approach. We pretty much agreed that it left us ready to read the Responsive Web Design book from the Book Apart series.

The good news was that what we lacked from the reading was more than made up for by the discussions. Both discussions were lively and insightful. At the Durham meet-up, one of the members brought in an impressive paper prototype of a mobile UI with various icons and buttons cut out and he explained how having the physical representation of just how small a mobile surface is really helpful when he meets with clients. In Raleigh, Adam discussed how NCSU is using mobile to run a scavenger hunt that helps introduce students to the main library during orientation. The result is a much more engaging experience than simply walking around as a librarian takes you on a tour.

Both sessions discussed options for the next book, and 17 members contributed to the poll. The winner, with 11 votes, was Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter. Seems like the club has decided to give the A Book Apart series another shot. Having already started it myself, I am fairly certain both the book and discussion will be well worth it. Keep your eyes peeled for more details to come.

- Jake Geib-Rosch

Letter from the President of the Triangle UXPA

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:52:32 GMT

I wanted to give the Membership, Sponsors and Friends of the Triangle User Experience Professionals Association a mid-year update on the activities and accomplishments of the first half of 2012 and provide a glimpse into second half of 2012.

A lot has happened in the first half:

Our Name has Changed. The Triangle Usability Professionals Association (UPA) is now called the Triangle User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA). This change does not affect membership or sponsorship privileges or fees. It simply makes our professional organization more relevant in the shift in market focus from usability to total user experience. This is happening now primarily due to the acceleration of consumer driven IT both outside and now inside the enterprise.
Increased Membership. Our active membership continues to grow, approaching 300.
Improved Financial Strength. Our bank balance and, therefore, the financial stability and viability of our organization is at an all time high.
Evening Webinars now Available. User Interface Engineering (UIE) granted us permission to rebroadcast their live Virtual Seminar Series, normally broadcast live Tuesdays 1:30-3 p.m., enabling us to prescreen and select the best webinars, with our membership input, on the days and times that work best for our membership. We will continue to host some broadcasts live. The overall result has been more than doubling the attendance at these webinars.
Launched the Triangle UXPA Book Club. The book club had its first book review events in Durham and then Raleigh in June discussing the book Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski. The club was launched through the online social media “Meetup” and has attracted over 50 registrations, mostly UX/UI practitioners not currently engaged with the Triangle UXPA, which has extended our reach into the broader UX community.
Consolidated 3 Operational Applications. We replaced 1) the membership management & payments processing application, 2) the website & events management application, and 3) the email marketing & communications application with a single integrated system. We then migrated all membership, sponsor, contact, event and historical information from the old applications to the new system. The new integrated cloud-based SaaS system is now fully operational and has lowered our overall monthly data processing costs.
Simplified Event Logistics. Capstrat graciously agreed to host most of our evening events and SAS to host most of our daytime or larger evening events, simplifying event logistics and providing a more predictable positive event experience for our members.
New Sponsor. Atlantic BT became our newest sponsor of the Triangle UXPA in June.
Student and Academic Memberships. A Student Membership fee was introduced in June at half that of the standard membership ($15). UIE webinars remain free for students. The Academic Professional Membership was set at the Standard Membership fee ($30).

A lot more is coming in the second half:

Carol Barnum Workshop: UX Tune-Up July 18. Carol is an award-winning author and speaker and has published six books. Her newest book is Usability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set … Test! She has been an invited speaker at conferences around the world. Carol is a founding editorial board member of JUS (Journal of Usability Studies), an STC Fellow, a Rainey Award recipient for Excellence in Research, and a Gould Award recipient for Excellence in Teaching Technical Communication. The Triangle UXPA offers this workshop to our membership at a 70% discount off the standard rates, but register by Thursday July 12, before the rate goes up.
Guest Lecture: Affordances and their Importance to UX Practitioners July 26 (Co-Sponsored with Bloomberg). With several decades in the business, Rex Hartson and Pardha Pyla know a lot about user experience. In fact, this talk is based on a chapter in their recent publication, The UX Book: Process and Guidelines for Ensuring a Quality User Experience. This new book is a comprehensive, practical field guide to understanding, assimilating, and applying the complete interaction design discipline. Rex and Pardha will discuss the different kinds of affordances and how they help in designing for a quality user experience. Anyone interested in designing a quality interaction user experience should attend.
Designing for the iPad. Panel Discussion with local experts on their experiences and plans for designing for the iPad September 13. This should be a great community event.
Tomer Sharon (Google) Workshop: Silver Bullets for Getting Buy-in for UX Research October 17. This half-day workshop provides strategies and tools for getting stakeholder buy-in for UX research. During the workshop we will learn tried and tested techniques, hear success and failure stories, practice and role play, and share insights with other workshop attendees. Registration is not yet open for this event. More details to come.
World Usability Day 2012: Usability of Financial Systems November 8. We are working on an exciting presentation with one of our local leading financial institutions. More details to come.
Jeff Gothelf Workshop: Lean UX: Getting out of the Deliverables Business November 15. This is a full-day workshop. User experience (UX) web design has traditionally been a deliverables-based practice, defined by wireframes, site maps, flow diagrams, content inventories, taxonomies, and mockups. But that tradition is not the best way to serve the user. In this workshop, you’ll learn that UX is about the experience, not the deliverables, and that as a UX designer you need to focus on the user and not the documentation. By applying a set of lean design practices and principles, you’ll learn how to keep the user’s needs first and foremost. Registration is not yet open for this event. More details to come.
UIE Virtual Seminars. One webinar will be presented each month through the end of the year.
Triangle UXPA Sponsor Drive. In August, we will begin a sponsorship drive to enlist additional local companies and organization to sponsor the Triangle User Experience Professionals Association. If you or your company/organization would like to become a sponsor of the Triangle chapter of the UXPA and take advantage of the sponsorship benefits, please contact Mona Singh or Don Sugar at membership-sponsors@triupa.org.

I want to take this opportunity to also thank the members of the 2012 Triangle UXPA Executive Council for making this all possible. We are an all volunteer organization with regular full-time day jobs.

President: Richard Phelps
Secretary/Treasurer: Don Sugar

Event Director: Andrew Wirtanen

Event Director: Adam Rogers

MarCom Director: Cindy McCracken

MarCom Director: Dorian Van Gorder

Membership Director: Mona Singh

Social Director: Jake Geib-Rosch

We are currently recruiting for an additional Event Director, given all the events in the planning stage for the balance of 2012 and beyond. If you are interested, please contact me directly and get to meet with the leaders of the Triangle UX community.

If you have any feedback, comments, inputs or suggestions for the Triangle UXPA please contact me.

Richard Phelps, Ph.D.

President, Triangle User Experience Professionals Association

Prototyping Tools April Community Event

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:25:01 GMT

April 26th marked the kickoff of the TriUPA Community Event series, with a great interactive presentation by multiple speakers focused on prototyping tools. More than 40 members and guests were in attendance. We held the event at Atlantic BT near Crabtree Mall. The event was a great success. The evening began in typical TriUPA fashion with a half hour of networking and a light dinner.

Tools and presenters included:

Omnigraffle: Todd Moy
InDesign: Jon Howarth
ProtoShare: Rick Phelps
Axure: Andrew Wirtanen
Balsamiq Mockups: Colin Butler
CSS/HTML/JavaScript: Adrian Pomilio

We followed this with brief 5 minute presentations by each of the speakers about their particular favorite prototyping tool. After the series of short presentations, we broke out into 6 separate session at Atlantic BT where attendees could move freely between the simultaneous sessions to see the prototyping tools in action, watch ad hoc demos, and ask questions from each of the presenters. The format allowed attendees to freely roam between demos, and stay for as little or long as they wanted.

The evening closed with a raffle giveaway. Our thanks to Axure, ProtoShare and Balsamiq for their donations. We gave away one license to Axure RP Pro 6.0 (worth $589), one license to ProtoShare 6.2 Business Edition (worth $590), and several licenses to Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop (worth $79).

Several members noted they wanted to make this an annual event. It was great to actually see all the tools and their different areas of focus on the prototyping process!

Data Visualization tips from Iliinsky webinar

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:00:00 GMT

In his "Telling the Right Stories with Data Visualizations" webinar, Noah Iliinsky shared a lot of great tips for making effective visualizations. Here are a few:

Find Iliinsky's chart about using visual encodings on his blog, http://complexdiagrams.com/
Try these sources for data for practicing visualizations: buzzdata.com, infochimps.com, and data.gov.
Tableau is a great tool for visual analytics that has good defaults. You can quickly iterate on graphics in Tableau. There's a free version, tableau public, but it can't be stored locally. Tableau only works in Windows, however.

Omnigraffle is great for diagrams, charts and hierarchies.
When you're not sure what story your data shows, seek trends, gaps and outliers, and explore.
Selecting the correct axes for displaying data is critical, and most people don't spend enough time on it.

TriUPA book club reading 'Mobile First'

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:00:00 GMT

TriUPA kicked off the TriUPA UX Book Club last Tuesday! At our inaugural meeting we had fried pickled okra (yum) and decided that we'd focus on books that had subject matter with practical application, but that weren't too technical. Since it's our first go, we settled on Luke Wrobkewski's "Mobile First" book (http://www.abookapart.com/products/mobile-first).

The Book Apart series tends to be well-written, interesting and short, so we're not biting off more than we can chew for our first book. We're planning on meeting up in a couple of months to discuss the book, and maybe even again after that to discuss some of what we've been able to do with what we've learned!

Our kickoff meeting was a big success and we're looking forward to more folks joining in as they're interested. Go to http://www.meetup.com/triupa-book-club/ with your inquiries and ideas, and to sign up for more information. You can also keep an eye on triupa.org and @triupa on twitter, or contact me undefined Jake undefined at jake@xplusd .com or @JacobGeibRosch on twitter.

About 'Mobile First':
Our industry’s long wait for the complete, strategic guide to mobile web design is finally over. Former Yahoo! design architect and co-creator of Bagcheck Luke Wroblewski knows more about mobile experience than the rest of us, and packs all he knows into this entertaining, to-the-point guidebook. Its data-driven strategies and battle tested techniques will make you a master of mobile undefined and improve your non-mobile design, too!

Explore design in 'The Mobile Frontier'

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Mobile design is still in a state of invention, and designers should embrace the unknown, said Rachel Hinman at Tuesday's UIE webinar at SAS. She talked about three emergent mobile topics: shapeshifting, a brave NUI world, and comfortable computing.

Shapeshifting

A lot of current mobile design is basically a scaled-down version of websites, Rachel said, which is not good. People use mobile devices everywhere, not just when seated at a desk. We should think of content for mobile devices as fluid like water, and not locked into pages. To account for different contexts of use on mobile devices, research and testing should be done in the "wild" as much as possible.

A Brave NUI World

We are currently between GUI (graphical user interface) and NUI (natural user interface), said Rachel, a researcher, designer and a recognized thought leader in mobile user experience. In the GUI model, computers as used as a tool for efficiency. This model requires users to recognize and recall the uses for buttons and menus. By contrast, NUI designs are fluid, unmediated and organic. The content is the star. People want to touch the content itself, not a button. Experiences unfold, which has given way to new and interesting design patterns:

* nested doll: overview to detail (think iPhone)
* hub and spoke: always goes back to the center (flipboard app)
* bento box: many parts that interact with each other in different ways (tripadviser, kayak)
* filtered view: bucket of information (think eye doctor: do you like this one, or this one?)

If a web page is an information boulder, think of turning those boulders into information pebbles and reconstructing the experience for mobile devices.

Comfortable Computing

Mobile devices are the gateway drugs for ubiquitous computing, Rachel said. People associate the iPad with sociability and intimacy, and often watch movies or read books on them in bed or on the couch, for example. Using tablets like the iPad is often not about getting things done. "Say goodbye to 'Done,'" Rachel said. People are interested in exploring information on devices, and we need to invent new and more human ways for users to interact with information.

Rachel Hinman is writing a book - also called "The Mobile Frontier" - to be published this year by Rosenfeld Media. She is also a Senior Research Scientist at the Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto, California.

Here are the slides from the webinar: http://www.slideshare.net/Rachel_Hinman/the-mobile-frontier-11393284.

February 2012 Survey Results

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Thanks to all of you who took the TriUPA survey last month! The executive council has been using the results to plan its events schedule to best meet the needs of the most people. Here are a few highlights:

73 TriUPA contacts responded
The most optimal time for TriUPA events are 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. The second best time was afternoons of the same days.
The top three cities for meeting were Raleigh (33%), Cary (32%) and RTP (15%)

The top six UIE webinars were as follows:

Telling the Right Story with Data Visualizations and Noah Illinsky (64%)
The Mobile Frontier with Rachel Hinman (and in cooperation with Rosenfeld Media) (62%)
Designing Dashboards: The Do's, Don'ts and D'ohs with Hagan Rivers (59%)
The Art and Craft of User Research with Steve Portigal (57%)
The Design Choices You Make for Information with Brian Suda (57%)
Discussing Design: The Art of Critique and Adam Conner (45%)

Please see the attached PDF for complete results.

File Attachments

Download file:

triupaSurveySummary_02092012_0.pdf

Message from the President

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:00:00 GMT

As we near the end of the year I would like to thank both the volunteers in the Executive Council and the TriUPA sponsors and members for making 2011 a fun and productive year. We sincerely hope that you benefited from the various community events and professional events. Since we are usability professionals we do like to get feedback. Please take a few minutes to give us feedback by answering a short survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VF8FL5S

We have also put together an Executive Council for 2012-many thanks to all the volunteers. This year we were only able to get one person per available role so there is no ballot. The list of the Executive Council volunteer statements is attached.

See you all next year!

Mona Singh, Ph.D.
President. TriUPA

File Attachments

Download file:

2012 TriUPA Candidates Statements.docx

World Usability Day Presentation

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:00:00 GMT

To all the folks who came to WUD last night, thank you! Hope you enjoyed it!

If you couldn't make it, please check out Ryan Allis's slides from his presentation on scribd. It was an inspiring talk about design for social good.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72346688/TriUPA-World-Usability-Day-Ryan-Allis

Did you miss Myths and Misconceptions of Usability Testing?

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:00:00 GMT

Never fear! Here's Abe Crystal's pdf from the Myths and Misconceptions of Usability Testing event that took place on September 7. Enjoy.

File Attachments

Download file:

Myths and Misconceptions of Usability Testing (TriUPA).pdf

Tapworthy Mobile Design and User Experience Workshop With Josh Clark, Oct. 5

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:00:00 GMT

TAPWORTHY MOBILE DESIGN

From first concept to polished pixel, learn to create a mobile app that delights. This full-day course teaches you to "think mobile" by planning and creating app interfaces in tune with the psychology, culture, ergonomics, and context of an audience on the go. You'll learn to conceive and refine an app's interface and user experience in tune with the needs of a mobile audienceundefinedand their fingers and thumbs. You'll explore the practical principles of mobile and touchscreen design using examples from all major mobile platforms.

Who it's for

This class isn't (only) for geeks. The workshop's interdisciplinary approach is appropriate for everyone involved in the app design processundefineddesigners, programmers, managers, marketers, clients. The workshop takes a hands-on approach to intermediate and advanced design concepts but requires no specific technical knowhow. Experienced designers and newcomers alike will uncover the shifts in mindset and technique required to craft a great mobile app.

What you'll learn

The course will equip you to ask the right questions (and find the right answers) to make aesthetic, technical, and usability decisions that will make your apps a pleasure to use. You'll learn:

the key elements of the mobile mindset and what your audience expects of your app
the ergonomic demands of designing for touch
strategies for crafting your app's visual identity
techniques for introducing your app to your audience
how to work with gestures
how these rules apply (or don't) to the iPad and other tablet devices

Register here: http://triupa.org/events/tapworthy-mobile-design-and-user-experience-workshop-josh-clark-oct-5

File Attachments

Download file:

Tapworthy Mobile Design and User Experience Workshop_0.pdf

Spotlight: Electronic Health Records, by Janey Barnes, PhD

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:00:00 GMT

Imagine a complex system with many different users, used in many environments, to support a continuum of activities from health and wellness to sickness to life and death emergencies. The system is the patient medical record. In today’s healthcare domain the patient medical record, more commonly known as the electronic medical record (EMR), or the broader version, the electronic health record (EHR), is in the spotlight.

No matter what view you take of healthcare, you are going to find the EHR.

Take the view of healthcare reform. The goals of healthcare reform are to make healthcare more affordable, hold insurers more accountable, expand coverage to all Americans and make the health system sustainable. The means to achieving this goal includes building systems that are used to document the medical treatment a patient receives, systems that talk to each other, and systems that improve quality of care that individual patients and populations of patients receive. One of those systems is the EHR.1

Take the view of healthcare privacy and security. The Office for Civil Rights is responsible for protecting the privacy of our individually identifiable health information, HIPPA. This same office is responsible for setting national standards for the security of electronic protected health information. Those national standards are created and applied to the design, development, and use of EHRs so that a patient’s medical history, symptoms, diagnoses and treatments are only shared with appropriate clinicians and only shared with people that patients give permission.2

Take the view of interoperability (information exchange). The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is the government agency inside of Health and Human Services (a government agency) that is responsible for healthcare information technology. One of ONC’s Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) programs is focused on building the infrastructure so that the secure exchange of health information can take place with the goal of improved clinical care and reducing cost. That health information is the data in the patient’s EHR.3

Who are the users of the EHR? Doctors, nurses, specialists, medical technicians, and patients, to name a few, are. For simplicity, let’s focus on doctors. Not all doctors are using EHRs. With the promise of patient data in an electronic format that is easily shared…patient data that can be searched, reviewed, graphed, manipulated, and studied in order to provide better quality of care… patient data that is easily portable so that when a patient changes doctors, moves or becomes ill while on vacation … a means by which the current doctor knows all the important medical information about the patient. Why wouldn’t a doctor use such a system?

A number of reasons have been suggested to explain why doctors are not adopting and using of EHRs. One of those reasons is lack of usability.

Usability is defined as the efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction with which a specific user can complete a specific task.

EHRs lack USABILITY. Most EHRs are inefficient systems. Many EHRs are ineffective in some capacity. And users (doctors, nurses, specialists, medical technicians, patients, to name a few) are not satisfied with EHRs.

Doctors describe and user researchers observe that many EHRs add hours of work to the doctor’s work day. In some EHRs it might take:

10 mouse clicks to indicate “right hand,”
5 additional clicks to indicate skin (as opposed to bone),
3 clicks to get to place in the user interface to indicate rash,
3 clicks to indicate “severe”,
3 clicks to indicate “longer than one week”,
3 clicks to indicate “red and swollen”,
3 clicks and typing “2” to indicate a 2 inch area.
Adding the clicks: 10 + 5+ 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = too many clicks.

Too many clicks in an era where the doctor should be able to click the right hand in a graphic of the body or where the doctor should be able to snap a picture to document a severe rash on the right hand.

The lack of effectiveness of EHRS is seen in a number of areas. Effective EHRs will talk with other systems. However, many EHRs in a doctor’s office don’t talk to the EHR used at the local hospital. But let’s highlight another component of effectiveness. EHRs carry the promise of improved quality of care.

According to Jeff Shuren5, from January 2008 to December 2010, the FDA received approximately 370 reports of adverse events or near misses related to healthcare information technology including EHRs. This number grossly underestimates the actual number of events that actually occur for a number of reasons; there is not a common reporting system for such errors, the FDA does not control or regulate EHRs, many EHR companies make EHR purchasers agree not to report or talk about the relationship of the EHR to an adverse event6.

These reports of the adverse events were associated to EHRs in the following ways:

failure to adequately address interoperability with other technologies,
user error,
inadequate workplace practices,
design flaws,
failure to properly test the technology prior to distribution, upon installation or during maintenance (such as validation testing),
or failure to adequately address problems that can arise when people interface with machines.5

In terms of satisfaction:

Added hours to the end of the work day,
multiple log ins into multiple systems that don’t talk to each other,
too many clicks,
potential errors if “I” am not thinking about the software--
…where is there satisfaction?

EHRs are in the spotlight… within the spotlight is a movement to improve the usability of EHRs. There are many avenues and opportunities to improve the usability of EHRs. Many of the companies that make EHRs are learning about usability and applying user centered design activities to improve the usability of an EHR. Physician practices and hospitals are including usability requirements in Requests for Proposals and procurement guidelines for EHRs. In addition, physician practices and hospitals are learning the value of conducting usability tests to inform purchase decisions. Professional organizations (e.g., Health Information Management Systems Society7 (HIMSS) and physician academies (e.g., Academy of Family Physicians) are educating their members about usability. Even the government is getting involved with the movement to improve the usability of EHRs. The ONC has described that usability will be included as criteria in the ONC’s Meaningful Use program and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released their proposed EHR Usability Evaluation Protocol8 which in some way yet to be defined will be the usability test method by which EHR usability will be measured according to the government.

The usability of EHRs is in the spotlight. As usability professionals and patients, be proactive in assuring that the tools used to keep us healthy, to heal us in time of sickness and to help us survive life and death emergencies are efficient, effective, and satisfying…that EHRs are systems characterized by high usability!

About the author
Janey Barnes, PhD is a principal and human factors specialist at User-View, Inc. Janey is responsible for obtaining and managing projects and conducting state of the art user-centered design and evaluation for client programs. She has developed and taught human factors courses at universities and for professional organizations. Janey is affiliated with several professional organizations and participates in these organizations by making presentations and teaching workshops. Janey is active in the HIMSS Usability Taskforce. She is currently serving as the 2011 chair of the taskforce. In addition, Janey serves on the TriangleUPA Advisory Board.

1 http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform, accessed July 7, 2011.

2 http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/, accessed July 7, 2011.

3 http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov__hitech_programs/1487, accessed July 7, 2011.

4 https://www.cms.gov/ehrincentiveprograms/, accessed July 7, 2011.

5 http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Quality/PatientSafetyHIT/Meeting%201/Jeff%20Shuren%20-%20Oral%20Statement%20to%20the%20IOM.pdf, accessed July 7, 2011.

6 Ross Koppel, David Kreda (2009), Health Care Information Technology Vendors' “Hold Harmless” Clause: Implications for Patients and Clinicians, JAMA.; 301(12):1276-1278.

7 http://www.himss.org/ASP/topics_FocusDynamic.asp?faid=358, accessed July 7, 2011.

8 http://www.nist.gov/healthcare/usability/usability-technical-workshop.cfm, accessed July 7, 2011

Effective Data Visualization - Richard Phelps, PhD

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:00:00 GMT

How do you most effectively visualize data so that it can be easily understood and readily interpreted? That was the topic of a 2 hour panel presentation and discussion sponsored by the TriUPA on Effective Data Visualization held at the NCSU Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI). Members of the panel were leaders in this field and included Christopher G. Healey, Ph.D. from NCSU, Sidharth Thakur, Ph.D. from RENCI and Lisa Whitman from SAS. The panel was moderated by Richard Phelps, Ph.D. from Unisys.

“It has long been recognized that understanding visual perception is crucial to designing effective visualizations”, said Dr. Healey. “To address this need, we conduct controlled psychophysical experiments in collaboration with colleagues in Psychology to investigate how our visual system ‘sees’ fundamental properties of color, texture, and motion. These findings are used to build visualizations that harness the strengths and avoid the limitations of our visual system.”

Dr. Thakur added, “Effective visualization of data has long been regarded as a grand challenge in the area of data visualization. Even as practitioners and researchers in the area actively explore principles and designs of successful visual representations, new challenges to understanding the effectiveness of visualizations have emerged due to democratization of visualization and due to our ability to serve complicated information on ubiquitous small and large display screens.”

”Bombarded by information from different avenues of technology, every day people are faced with the task of monitoring and making sense of increasingly large amounts of information,” said Lisa Whitman. “Dashboards are a popular method for organizing and displaying data so that the information can be monitored at-a-glance on one screen. Dashboard contents may include various forms of data visualizations, graphics, tables, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Dashboards can be an effective means of displaying actionable data to support decisions, but only if they are designed well with the goals and tasks of the user in mind.”

Please feel free to download the full presentations by our panelists.

Biographies

Christopher G. Healey, Ph.D.
Christopher G. Healey received a B.A. in Math from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada, and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley, he joined the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His research interests include visualization, graphics, visual perception, and areas of applied mathematics, databases, artificial intelligence, and aesthetics related to visual and data analytics.

Sidharth Thakur, Ph.D.
Sidharth Thakur, Ph.D. is a Senior Researcher at RENCI where he focuses on applied information and scientific data visualization. Dr. Thakur is passionate about creating visualizations that allow scientists and researchers to explore new and exciting hypotheses about pressing research problems in their domains. During his three years at RENCI Dr. Thakur has developed visualization applications and techniques for a variety of disciplines and has published research articles on his work. Dr. Thakur’s current areas of focus are visualization of socio-economic and census data; analysis of spatial and temporal dynamics of molecular systems such as polymers and proteins; and analysis of geo-spatial data in weather and terrain modeling. Prior to joining RENCI Dr. Thakur obtained a doctorate in Computer Science from Indiana University Bloomington where he developed visual-analytical methods to explore geometry in high-dimensional spaces.

Lisa Whitman
Lisa Whitman has worked in usability for over ten years, analyzing user experiences and designing user interfaces for websites, software, and mobile applications. She has worked for SAS since 2005, and before that she has done usability research and design work for Lenovo, Distance Learning Systems Group, and Dunlap & Associates. Her current focus is designing software that enables SAS customers to build interactive dashboards which organize multiple data visualizations on one screen. She has presented her research at conferences including Human-Computer Interaction International and the Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Lisa holds a degree in neuroscience, earned a Master’s degree in human factors psychology from California State University, Northridge, and is studying in the Human Factors and Ergonomics doctoral program at North Carolina State University.

File Attachments

Download file:

Part1 Christopher G. Healey, Ph.D.(NCSU)-Effective Data Visualization Panel (5-25-2011).pdf
Part1 Christopher G. Healey, Ph.D.(NCSU)-Effective Data Visualization Panel (5-25-2011).pdf
Part 1 Lisa Whitman.pptx
Part 2 Lisa Whitman.pptx
Sidharth Thakur, Ph.D. (RENCI)-Effective Data Visualization Panel (5-25-2011).pptx

2011, a Good Summit, by Javier Velasco

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:00:00 GMT

The Information Architecture Summit organized by ASIS&T each spring wrapped in Denver a week ago. On that closing Sunday, and later during the week, there have been many positive comments placing this as one of the best IA Summits we’ve had; with a great lineup and a great community feeling.This year, the Summit had an interesting variety of recurring topics: Data/Statistical Analysis, Content Management, Agile methods, Design. In fact one of the highlights of this event was the variety of interesting topics under discussion, unlike some other years where just a few topics (ie. Tagging) had appropriated the conversation.

There have also been good comments on the quality of the presentations; The IA Summit has always attracted good speakers, and even the most popular speakers see this venue as a special place, where the ante is high. This year, the organization put up a team to help prepare first-time speakers: they gave speakers a series of suggestions via email and set up a mentoring program where they could rehearse by videoconference before making the trip. At the venue, they also had a speaker studio where speakers could give a final dry-run to their talk, with an experienced moderator (thanks Adam Polansky!) giving final moment suggestions. This provided for an interesting mix between accomplished and new coming speakers, and while I was not part of the committee this year, I’d guess that there were an important number of submissions which they had to filter out, and they did a great job at it.

Another difference that worked for many people is that the size of the event cut back; after several years of growing, to where we had reached 650 people, this time we had around 250-300 people, and although this is not the best thing for the organizers, it helps create a sense of warmth between the crowd, and helps newcomers feel better integrated.

By now you all would like to know something more specific about the sessions. Most of the slides can be found on slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/event/ia-summit-2011) and they were also collected on a blog (http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2011/04/ia-summit-slides.php). Podcasts will become available soon thanks to UIE, although I’m not sure where they will be posted at the moment. The Summit website will surely send an announcement and it’s probably going to make noise on the #ias11 twitter tag.

I was very pleased to see they gave plenary sessions to both Jared Spool and Lou Rosenfeld, these were both excellent talks, as expected: Lou covered the balance between quantitative and qualitative research. Jared made us reflect on what the core skills for UX are and how they can be measured.

Nate Silver’s opening keynote was a great walk through of the power and challenges of statistics. The panel by Arango, Hinton and Resmini did a great job at keeping a continuity of discourse and reminding us of why the architecture metaphor is so powerful and useful for what we do. Russ Unger and Dan Willis took the role of bringing a dose of entropy into the conference with their “UX of Disruption” presentation, where they brought the audience and made a whole dramatization in order to allow participants to feel disrupted, and later discuss the experience. I later peeked briefly into an interesting conversation about building UX communities; I was saddened to arrive late, as I have lots of interest and experience in this subject. Later came my own presentation (http://www.slideshare.net/mantruc/posting-our-hearts-out), where I covered the research project I’ve set up for my dissertation; including problem definition, a large-scale survey I ran last year, a model I’m building with this, and future plans for research. In brief, I’m trying to understand how and why tech-savvy adults – much like the kind of people at the Summit – are becoming used to sharing private information in public online spaces. I received very positive comments and good questions; there was lots of interest in the topic and encouragement to continue with my line of research. We closed the day with Jared Spool’s plenary, full of food for thought.

On the second day I paced down on the presentations although I still caught some very interesting ones. Johanna Kollman did a great job at explaining why the changes we make to websites can be very painful for our users, and how we can make cleaner transitions. Eric Reiss, one of the not-to-miss characters of the IA Summit, delivered a great talk on how to make e-commerce work, with four essential rules of thumb; some very basic principles that seem so hard to follow by many retailers. The day was closed by Lou Rosenfeld’s neat talk about interpreting research data.On Sunday, I saw a very clear talk by Kim Bieler reminding us of the power of the top layer of interface/visual design and how it can improve the user experience. I was unfortunately unable to attend the closing plenary by Cennydd Bowles, who graciously posted the transcript of his talk on his blog (http://www.cennydd.co.uk/2011/fall-and-rise-of-ux/)

There were many presentations I was not able to attend – sometimes for schedule conflicts – that I’m looking forward to catching the podcasts for, these include: Rethinking User Research for the Social Web with Dana Chisnell, The Stories we Construct by Stephen Anderson, Upping Your Game by Leanna Gingras, Peter Morville’s Ubiquitous IA, Nailing it Down by Joe Sokohl, and I also heard great things about the presentation by Belén Barros Pena and Bernard Tyers on Mobile Usability Testing. I’m sure there were other great talks I’ve not even made a note to look at, the Summit was packed with great work.

There is still some good stuff coming out of the Summit site http://2011.iasummit.org/ and I’m guessing the podcasts will be announced and linked to from there as well.

------------------------------------
About our guest blogger – Javier has been an information architect since 2000, he’s also been involved in the IA/UX community since. He co-founded his first online community in 1998 – evolt.org – in an experience that would later become a case study in Rosenfeld & Morvile’s IA Book, in a chapter for which he was liaison. Javier has been attending the IA Summit since 2004, for which he has been a reviewer four times. He has been a leading force in the field in Chile and Latin America, starting a strong IA Community in Chile that has its own IA Conference for already six successful years. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Information Science at UNC Chapel Hill, focusing on communication in social media, under the direction of Gary Marchionini, who is also one of the founders of the IA Summit. You can find out more about Javier at http://www.unc.edu/~jvelasco/

Letter from the TriUPA President

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:00:00 GMT

2011 is off to a great start.

We have a very energetic and enthusiastic group of volunteers in the Executive Council. Please join me in welcoming them:
Secretary and Treasurer: Don Sugar
Co-Directors of Community Programs: Jake Geib-Rosch and Richard Phelps
Co-Directors of Professional Development: Teri Brooks and Leslie Tudor
Director of Marketing & Communications: Dorian Van Gorder
Director of Membership: Laura Blanchard
Director of Social Programs: Evan Carroll
Director of Technology: Katrina Lee

We held several events in the first quarter. The Professional Events team hosted a talk by Andrew Hinton on Information Architecture as well as several UIE Webinars, which have been extremely well-attended and insightful. We will continue to host Webinars throughout the year.

The main focus of this year’s training is on two topics that stood out in the survey we did last yearundefined Mobile User Interface Design and User Experience in an Agile World. We hope to organize a couple of training events for each of these areas to provide different viewpoints and approaches to these topics.

On the Community Events side of things, we are planning several exciting events starting in April. The first event is a presentation by Professor James Lester of NC State on highly interactive user interfaces.

In May, we will bring a panel of practitioners together for a discussion on Visualization. In October, we plan on holding a BarCamp event where participants will work on several specific design problems with advice from several experts. So, please start getting your problems ready!

As we work through the schedule of events, we will keep you informed with our digest-style emails. If you have any comments or concerns please feel free to contact us at contact@triupa.org.

Mona Singh, Ph.D

President

The Intersection of Usability, Accessibility, and Search Engine Optimization, by David Minton

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:00:00 GMT

Usability, Accessibility, and SEO (search engine optimization) all contribute to successful website projects. Though not always adequately addressed for a variety of reasons, when they are it is typically by different teams, at different points in the design/development process (see A. in figure 1). This makes sense if they are three distinct disciplines, but what if they are approached as three aspects of the same process (see B. in figure 1)?

Figure 1: Two ways to look at Usability, Accessibility, and Search Engine Optimization. A. Illustrates a common approach, with the issues addressed separately. B. Illustrates a coordinated approach to the three disciplines, displaying the intersection between the three.

How can this be? One concerns making websites easy to use for the majority of visitors, one for serving the special needs of a subset of visitors (thought of together as “the disabled”), and the last focused on how the website does in search engine results. If you really think about it, they are all forms of usability; only the latter two serve special audiencesundefinedthe disabled, and search engines. This is of course somewhat simplistic; though there are many differences they are not completely unrelated.

In the realm of website design and development, a good example of this interaction is the crafting of hyperlinks, the heart of html (hypertext markup language). It is generally accepted that the link text (i.e. the hyperlink) should contain descriptive text to help a user easily determine what a link refers to. Jacob Nielsen named “non-standard links” one of his Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005.

“Explain what users will find at the other end of the link, and include some of the key information-carrying terms in the anchor text itself to enhance scannability and search engine optimization (SEO). Don't use "click here" or other non-descriptive link text.”

As Nielsen suggested, using non-descriptive text such as “click here” is not just poor usability, it is also weak SEO, since search engines such as Google favor text in hyperlinks in ranking pages for given phrases. How many websites ignore these suggestions? If you perform an exact phrase search on Google for “click here” you will receive over 1.3 billion results.

Descriptive hypertext is also a factor in how disabled users interact with websites. A common form of assistive technology (AT) used by the vision impaired is screen reader software. One of the ways screen readers allow users to interact with web pages more efficiently is to skip from link to link. If all of the links read “click here,” this shortcut is rendered useless.

Something else all three have in common is that extensive thought and planning should be done at the very beginning of a website development project for it to be successful in these three areas, at least if time and money is a factor (and when is this not the case?).

While most website publishers (the website developer’s client) will put some thought into usability, whether they consciously realize or not, they won’t put much thought into search engine optimization, and even less into accessibility (unless they are in an industry in which there are accessibility requirements). Just as with designing for usability, deciding a website needs to be accessible, or perform well in search engines will be time consuming (which equals expensive) if only considered during development, or after the deployment of the website.

While its possible content can be rewritten to optimize a site for search engines without programmatic complications (in the case of a well implemented content management system), recoding a website for accessibility, as with usability, can involve drastic reengineering later.

With SEO on the other hand, the issue is knowing the correct parameters to optimize for. In contradiction to popular misconceptions, SEO is as much about researching, and selecting the correct keyword phases to optimize the website for, as much as anything else. If you haven’t taken the time to figure out what terms your potential site visitors are searching by, you can’t properly optimize a website for search results. Only once the best terms are figured out, can the website be optimized by including the phrases in specific parts of each webpage. Successful SEO (at least the on-page portion of organic SEO) requires either writing copy to appeal to search engines (by including the search terms), or rewriting the copy on an existing website.

In the end, the best strategy is to figure out the goals of the project at the start, and determine the importance of Usability, Accessibility, and SEO, since they will all come with a price, which may come in the form of time, money, simplified design, or a reduced feature set. No matter the combination, the effort will be more efficient if usability, accessibility and search engine optimization are performed in a concerted effort.

David Minton is a founding partner of DesignHammer, a full-service website design and development agency in Durham. He regularly writes about Usability, Accessibility, and Search Engine Optimization on the DesignHammer blog.

Agile Processes that Work for UX

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:00:00 GMT

by Mona Singh, Ph.D.

The last few years have seen a much welcome move towards the adoption of user experience design (UX) and Agile development. Although both these fields have been around for a long time, their recent concurrent introduction into software development organizations has led to some interesting and unexpected process enhancements. I describe one such recent enhancement of the Agile process and assess how effective it is in practice.

The latticed approach
Often, the process that Agile organizations have followed for incorporating UX is running the design and development sprints concurrently. In essence, the design sprint feeds the development sprint and the development sprint feeds the next design sprint by providing something testable. That is, design Sprint 0 feeds into development Sprint 1 and development Sprint 1 feeds into design Sprint 2. The diagram below, adapted from Krtizberg and Little, summarizes the current processundefinedhence, the name latticed.

This process presumably creates a win-win situation for UX professionals and developers: the developers get a clear specification for what they need to build and the UX professionals get software that is user-centric.

So what’s wrong with it?
Well, if you look closely, you see this approach is what one might call a short waterfallundefinedthe way the design and development sprints are structured misses out on benefiting from the communication and collaboration between the design and development teams. As a result, the design produced in a particular design sprint may suffer from technical problems that make it expensive to implement or otherwise suboptimal. The waterfall flow quickly breaks down and the finger-pointing begins. Even when there is no overt disagreement about a design, the development team can feel left out of the design process. I have seen various manifestations of the tensions that arise between the design and developments teams, including majorly bloated effort estimates and unnecessary criticisms of the design.

The collaborative approach
Instead, shouldn’t the team be a multidisciplinary? An alternative process is where the UX and development teams work within the same sprint. All user stories are organized within the same backlog. This approach fits the Agile philosophy much better than the lattice approach in that it brings teams together and fosters communication between designers and developers.

User stories look like the following:

Both the developer and the UX designer can work together on a story discussing potential designs, prototyping, developing, and even testing. When the developers are made a part of the design decisions, there is a tremendous benefit due to the resulting buy in. Isn’t that what agile was all about anyway: communication!

From the "better-late-than-never" department

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Hi everyone, Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Dorian, your helpful Director of Marketing and Communications for 2011.

If you haven't noticed, the year has started with a great bunch of events, and many more on the way. We're excited to be helping provide you with informative and fun workshops and seminars, both hands-on and in webinar form.

Hey, I'm looking for people who like to write about UX-IA-usability-design-etc. to be guest posters here on the blog. Raise your hand if you have something to say. (And I know you do-- we have the most talented pool of UPA-ers out there!) Please email me at dorian.vangorder@duke.edu with your ideas. You know you have something you've written in the past for work (or school, or your own blog) that you can share here, don't you? Or maybe it's something you've been dying to write about but didn't have the motivation. Well, here it is!

We're also looking to spread recognition of our group. We've started tweeting and Facebooking some. Have you seen us? Follow us on Twitter! Like us on Facebook! Help spread the good word!

And now, to the "better-late-than-never" part of this post... I've attached the newsletter from the last quarter of 2010 (with a few minor adjustments) for your reading pleasure. Enjoy, and hope to hear from you soon.

2011 TriUPA Executive Council Elections

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:00:00 GMT

It's time to vote for the 2011 TriUPA Executive Council.

Below please find the link to the official 2010 ballot for the
selection of the TriUPA Executive Council for the 2011 term. The
individuals elected by this ballot will assume their offices in January
2011.

We encourage you to carefully read the attached candidate statements
and vote for the individuals whom you believe will provide TriUPA with
strong and steady leadership.

Please access the survey by clicking on or copying the following link into your browser's address bar:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FHQXFSN

Please complete the online election ballot by 11:59pm ET December 17, 2010.

If
you have any questions concerning the above instructions, please
contact Don Sugar, 2010 TriUPA President at president@triupa.org.

File Attachments

Download file:

2011 TriUPA Cadidates Statements.docx

IA Summit 2011 is looking for new voices!

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Ever wanted to speak at a national UX conference? The upcoming 2011 IA Summit is interested in finding new speakers that want to contribute their voices to the UX community. Dan Willis Has a great post up on the IA Summit blog, "Fresh Voices," that encourages anyone interested in speaking to submit their ideas:

If you have never presented at the IA Summit, we are particularly interested in what you have to say and how you can help us make the 2011 more interesting and diverse. And if you haven't had much occasion to present before, this is a great opportunity: We have a group of experienced volunteers eager to work with you one-on-one as you frame your content, coach you on its delivery and support you while you develop your presentation. So don't delay, propose a session now.

If you haven't been to the IA Summit before, I highly recommend it. It's one of the best UX conferences I've ever attended, a great way to meet new people who share your passions, or even connect with your UX heroes.

I would love to see the Triangle's active UX community represented at national conferences like the IA Summit. There's a ton of talent, experience, and great ideas in this area, and it's time we shared it.

To learn more, follow @iasummit on Twitter or visit IASummit.org!

TriUPA 3rd Quarter Newsletter

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Catch up with the latest news from TriUPA!

What's inside:

Letter from the President
Upcoming Events
Member profile with Heather Hesketh

File Attachments

Download file:

TriUPA Newsletter October 2010.pdf

Start celebrating World Usability Day Today!

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:00:00 GMT

World Usability Day 2010, on November 11, 2010, will focus on how products and services impact and facilitate communication around the world. Here in North Carolina, the Triangle Usability Professionals Association (TriUPA) and the Carolina Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) are teaming up to sponsor a communication game to encourage more communication among chapter members in addition to the annual World Usability Day celebration.

How do you communicate in everyday life? Put your communication skills to the test with the “Amazing Place” game. We’ve posted photos of a variety of locations around the Triangle to the TriUPA Facebook page . Your task is to identify these areas by communicating with other people, and the goal is to connect with TriUPA and HFES members and meet new people. To make it interesting, we’ve made it a competition.

The Game:

Our game is inspired by the DARPA Network Challenge, envy of The Amazing Race participants, and the WUD 2010 theme of Communication. We’ve posted photographs of locations around the Triangle. Your mission is to identify the locations we’ve posted and take a picture of you and your team at each location. Then post your pictures by following the instructions at the TriUPA Facebook page by the deadline of November 1, 2010.

The Rules:
A person or team wins the game by accumulating the most points. Accumulate points by identifying the most locations and gathering the most members to participate with you. Ties will be decided by the date of posting. Earlier dates beat later dates.

Post a photo of yourself at one of our mystery locations = 1 point
Each additional TriUPA or HFES member in the photo = 2 points
Each additional non-member in the photo = 1 point
Electronically inserting your image into our photos = 0 points! (Don’t cheat, we’ll know!)

You are encouraged to work with other people –that’s the whole point. You could find all the locations yourself but what fun would that be?

Prizes:

Prizes will be awarded in several categories:

First photo posted.
Person or team with the most points
Person or team in the most locations
Most connected person
Picture with the most people

The Logistics:

We’ll get you started by providing a Facebook group. How you use technology and communication to meet the challenge is up to you and your imagination!

Go to the TriUPA Facebook page to find the photographs of locations. We’ve already started posting photographs on the Facebook page and all of the locations will be posted by September 1. Be sure to check the Facebook page for updates.
Connect with other TriUPA and HFES members on Facebook to identify the locations and meet up for photos. You could find all the locations yourself but what fun would that be?
Post your photos on the Facebook page.
The deadline for uploading photos is November 1. The winner will be announced at our WUD celebration.

What is World Usability Day?

It's about making our world work better.

It's about "Making Life Easy" and user friendly. Technology today is too hard to use. A cell phone should be as easy to access as a doorknob. In order to humanize a world that uses technology as an infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, government, communication, entertainment, work and other areas, we must develop these technologies in a way that serves people first…

World Usability Day was founded in 2005 as an initiative of the Usability Professionals' Association to ensure that services and products important to human life are easier to access and simpler to use. Each year, on the second Thursday of November, over 200 events are organized in over 43 countries around the world to raise awareness for the general public, and train professionals in the tools and issues central to good usability research, development and practice.

TriUPA Newsletter - Q2 2010

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Keep up with the latest news from TriUPA in the July 2010 Newsletter!
Inside you'll find a letter from the President, recaps of our latest community events, and more.

File Attachments

Download file:

TriUPA Newsletter July 2010_0.pdf

TriUPA Newsletter - Q1 2010

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Take a moment to read the first edition of the TriUPA Newsletter for 2010!

Inside:

Letter from the President

Upcoming Events

Member Profile with Janey Barnes

World Usability Day 2009 Recap

Innovate Carolina conference April 10

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Local. Fun. And bursting at the seams with new tools for growing your business.

Why should you come to the Innovate Carolina Conference on April 10, 2010?

To UNDERSTAND your customers better than you ever have before
To FIND leading-edge tools to separate you from your peers at your company
To DISCOVER how the thought leaders in innovation are creating growth
At Innovate Carolina, you will MEET YOUR PEERS within the innovation and product development space who live right here in the Carolinas. You might find your next job, business partner, or new fellow comrade. Hosted by Product Development and Management Association, Carolinas Chapter.

For more information:
http://innovatecarolina.wordpress.com/

Free Flex, Air and Coldfusion Conference

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The Triangle Area ColdFusion Users Group (TACFUG) is planning a conference called CFinNC for October 17-18, 2009 on Centennial Campus at NC State University. The topics will be ColdFusion, Flex/Flash, AIR and miscellaneous other topics. The presenters will range from triangle speakers along with presenters from all over the US. Registration for this conference is FREE for attendees.

If you are interested in learning more about Flex or other Adobe technologies such as AIR and Coldfusion this is a great opportunity to receive FREE training. For more information or to register please visit: http://cfinnc.com/

STC Carolina Competitions

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

STC competitions offer an excellent way for you and your team to get recognition for your technical publication, help system, artwork, training, or any other form of technical communication. Each year, the STC Carolina Chapter generally sponsors the following competitions:

Online Communication Competition: This page describes the categories in which you can submit an online communication entry.
Technical Publications Competition: This page describes the categories in which you can submit a technical publications entry.
Technical Art Competition: This page describes the categories in which you can submit an art entry.

The Call for Entries has been distributed. Start working on those Competition Forms for items you or your colleagues want enter! Remember, you do not have to be an STC member to enter (but members save money on the entry fee, and even more by submitting entries by the Early Bird date.

Entries are due by October 9.
Early Bird rate ends September 18.

If you're shy about submitting your work, sign up as a judge. Assessing the work of other technical communicators invariably gives you insight into your own work. Judge Training day is a great networking opportunity too. You don't need to be a member to judge, so recruit those non-members in your office. Judge training is October 17. This year, the door prizes include four signed copies of "The Well Fed Writer" by Peter Bowerman.

Contact: Betsy Kent <lizkent@nc.rr.com> for more information.

TriUPA workshop -- Escape the Lab: Remote User Research and Usability Testing -- October 1st, 2009

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

What: Escape the Lab: Conducting Remote User Research and Usability Testing

When: full-day workshop: 9a - 5p | Thursday 10/1/09 | coffee & lunch included

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development in RTP

How: Capacity is limited -- Register online now to reserve your spot!

Intended audience
Researchers, designers, and product managers who want to watch real people use technology from the comfort of their own desks. (While saving travel costs and the planet!).

About the workshop
Nate Bolt, one of the pioneers of remote UX research -- and author of the forthcoming book, Remote Research -- will lead this hands-on workshop covering the latest remote UX techniques and tools.

Give us a day and we can teach you all the rocket surgery you need to conduct qualitative studies the real-time, native environment way.

Learning Objectives
What we’ll cover...

Strengths and weaknesses of remote ux research
Study design & scripting
Participant recruiting options
Moderating in the remote environment
Tools for screen sharing, recording, and communication
What can go wrong and what to do about it

About the speaker
Nate Bolt, president of Bolt|Peters, is fascinated by the personal, social, and cultural role of technology, and how research and design can transform those roles. After pioneering and directing the User Experience department at Clear Ink in 1999, which included the construction of Natural Environment and Remote Observation laboratories, Nate co-founded Bolt | Peters. He now serves as el presidente, where he has overseen hundreds of user research studies for Sony, Oracle, HP, Greenpeace, Electronic Arts, and others. Beginning in 2003, he led the creation of the first moderated remote user research software, Ethnio, which is being used around the world to recruit hundreds of thousands of live participants for research.

Nate regularly gives presentations on native environment research methods in both commercial and academic settings, and is currently co-authoring Remote Research, a book on remote testing. Working with faculty at the University of California, San Diego, he created a degree titled “Digital Technology and Society,” which focused on the social impact of technology. He also completed a year of communications studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he was jailed briefly for playing drums in public without a license.

Join the World Usability Day Design Challenge!

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Would you like improve the sustainability of our world?

Are you passionate about user centered design, graphic design, industrial/product design, engineering, human factors and/or psychology?

If so, then you should participate in our TriUPA World Usability Day design competition!

Participants will tackle a design issue where user centered design and usability is central to the success of a solution that drives sustainability.

Sounds great! What do I need to do?

1) Sign up to participate by September 23, 2009.

2) Attend an Information Session.

You don’t have to attend this session to participate in the challenge, but if you have questions or would like more information, please join us on September 17th (Thursday) at 6pm at Capstrat (1201 Edwards Mill Road, First Floor Raleigh, NC 27607).

3) Pick a topic from our list of suggestions, or create your own!

4) Present your design ideas, findings and solutions.

Participants are invited to share their solutions during our World Usability Day event to be held November 12th from 6:00 - 9:00PM, at the SAS Auditorium. Presentations need not be formal and can be a poster, informal oral presentation or PowerPoint format. All participants should plan a presentation around 7 - 10 minutes.

For more information or questions about this year’s event contact:

Rebekah Sedaca, rebatilley@yahoo.com

Laura Blanchard, laura.blanchard@mac.com

World Usability Day - November 12, 2009

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Please save the date for our annual Triangle area World Usability Day celebration.

The theme this year is: Designing for a Sustainable World.

World Usability Day 2009 is approaching design from cradle to cradle. Coming from a user-centric perspective and looking beyond form and function, we are exploring the impact design has on our world. For this year's event we've lined up a great speaker and planned a killer design competition. See below for more information.

Speaker
Amy Hathaway, a Water Quality Engineer from the City of Raleigh, will be talking about the Fred Fletcher Park Water Garden design project. The project is unique in that it addresses the environmental issues of storm water runoff, water pollution and erosion in an aesthetically pleasing way that creates an enjoyable and educational park experience for visitors.

Design Challenge
In keeping with this year’s theme, we are featuring a design challenge. The challenge is open to club members, undergraduate and graduate students in related fields and asks them to solve some of today’s sustainability design issues. Participants will present their solutions and ideas during this year’s event. Learn more about the design challenge >>

For more information or questions about this year’s event contact:

Rebekah Sedaca - rebatilley at yahoo.com or Laura Blanchard - laura.blanchard at mac.com

Slides from Edward Tufte and Information Design Strategies for the Web

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Nathan Huening, who presented "Edward Tufte and Information Design Strategies for the Web," has provided his slides for anyone interested in downloading them.

Slides: Edward Tufte and Information Design Strategies for the Web (PDF)

Edward Tufte and Information Design Strategies for the Web

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:00:00 GMT

When: 6:30pm | Thursday 7/23/09

Where: Rigsbee Hall (208 Rigsbee Ave, Durham, NC 27701)

How: Register Online - We're looking forward to seeing you there!
Co-Sponsored with Refresh the Triangle!
"Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and complexityundefinedrather than to fault the data for an excess of complication." --Edward Tufte.

No matter how sophisticated the technology nor pleasing the design, your Web visitors are really interested in one thing. (No, not that.) They're after great content like your essay, your photo, your widget, your tutorial. It's what makes the Web so great: exploring, learning, and sharing what we know. And the task of a designerundefinedwhether of user interfaces, graphics, data or typeundefinedis to present this information appropriately and elegantly; to remove obstacles to understanding, not introduce them.

In this presentation, Nathan Huening first presents an overview of the work of information design expert Edward Tufte and then discusses concrete applications and examples for applying his principles of analytical design to the Web. Selected themes include: contrast and meaning in design, avoiding "chartjunk" and "computer administrative debris", clarity and clutter, the value of aesthetics, and simplicity vs. minimalism.

Edward Tufte is Professor Emeritus of statistics, information design, interface design and political economy at Yale University. In addition to his touring workshops, Mr Tufte has written four books on the display of information and analytical design: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1983), Envisioning Information (1990), Visual Explanations (1997), and Beautiful Evidence (2006).
About the Speaker
Nathan Huening is a principal at Sprocket House, a creative firm based in Chapel Hill that specializes in Web and print design. When he's not writing client copy or puzzling over UI design, he enjoys making messes in the kitchen and falling off his unicycle to the bemusement of curious onlookers.
Refresh the Triangle
Refresh the Triangle is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of New Media endeavors in their areas. Promoting design, technology, usability, and standards.

Recap: "Sketching for Interaction Design" workshop

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:00:00 GMT

TriUPA recently welcomed David Malouf, professor of interaction design at SCAD, for a full-day workshop on sketching for interaction design.

TriUPA member Leslie Carter was kind enough to provide some notes, ideas, and links to resources from the workshop. Thanks, Leslie! (You can also download a Microsoft Word copy of the notes: Notes from Sketching Seminar with Dave Malouf - June 2009).

[scribd id=17145309 key=key-c7t0irr4qhth6mfov4b]

Drinks with David Malouf, TriUPA presenter -- 7:30p Tue 6/23 @ Carolina Inn

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:00:00 GMT

David Malouf, one of the co-founders of IxDA, is presenting "Sketching for Interaction Design" for TriUPA.

Want to meet Dave and talk interaction design before the workshop? Join Dave and other TriUPAians for drinks...

7:30pm
Tuesday 6/23/09
Carolina Inn bar
http://www.carolinainn.com/chapel-hill-trip-planner.php

Hope you can join us!

Join fellow Triupians for UX Trivia Night!

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:00:00 GMT

When: 6:30pm | Wednesday 6/10/09

Where: Raleigh Ale House at Brier Creek

How: Register Online - We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Know the difference between HCI and Hi-C? Do you make user interfaces in your Alpha-bits? Can you recite all the HTML4 tags? In reverse order? Want to get to know other UX Professionals and win prizes?

Come out and join us for the first ever TriUPA UX Trivia Night. You’ll be able to show off your UX knowledge while answering user friendly trivia questions in a quest for fame and prizes.

This is a great chance to get to know other triangle area User Experience folks in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. There are a few prizes too:

Chance to win free admission to a TriUPA workshop of your choice
UX Books straight from our library
Bragging rights, bragging rights, bragging rights!

Attending the UPA 2009 International Conference - Portland?

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:00:00 GMT

If you are attending the 2009 Usability Professionals Conference in Portland be sure to visit the UPA Networking Event on Wednesday, June 10 to meet up with other Triangle area Chapter members! The networking event will also showcase UPA projects, SIGS, and other Chapters. If you’d like to connect with other TriUPA members prior to the conference, comment here on our blog, or contact Kim Chang at kim.chang at bcbsnc.com.

Attention Writers!

Fri, 22 May 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The TriUPA community needs you!

Do you have ideas for articles that you would like to see on the TriUPA website?

Are you passionate about a particular user experience related subject?

Do you have expertise or a success story that you would like to share?

If you are interested in writing for our site, please contact Kimberly Chang at kim.chang at bcbsnc.com.

Carrboro Coworking Free in May for Job Seekers

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Finally, job seekers get a break. Carrboro Creative Coworking, a professional workspace in downtown Carrboro, will throw open its doors in May to anyone currently searching for work.

Eager to help those who have lost jobs in the recent economic downturn, owner Brian Russell is offering free coffee, free Wi-Fi and a desk in a collaborative shared space on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the month of May.

“Our community atmosphere helps people network, which is crucial to those who are unemployed,” Russell said. “Good jobs are found through the connections people give you, through tips and personal references. Carrboro Coworking is designed to foster that kind of networking, and I wanted to share our part-time coworker service with those who need it most right now.”

A part-time coworker can use a desk in a large, shared room during Carrboro Coworking’s normal business hours. Amenities include a kitchen, complimentary coffee, free parking and high-speed Internet access. The office is on Lloyd Street, within easy walking distance of Carrboro’s shops and restaurants.

When job searchers began stopping by and asking about access to the space, Russell told them they could have the first day free, something he offers to all new coworkers. But he wanted to do more. A coworker suggested the free month, and Russell immediately took up the idea.

“North Carolina has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country,” he said. “Chapel Hill and Carrboro are traditionally considered more insulated, but they’re not as insulated as we thought. And the tech sector, which is usually considered stable, is being hit as well. I wanted to step up and do what I can.”

Carrboro Coworking welcomes entrepreneurs, telecommuters and freelance professionals in many fields, but some of its services are tailored to those who work in information technology. The space hosts Meetups on IT topics like Ruby on Rails, Erlang, Python, Rich Internet Applications and iPhone/Cocoa development.

Brown bag lunches with guest speakers, after-hours Wii games and other special events bring coworkers together and let them blow off stress. Resume coaches and free events with small business advisors will be conducted too. All events with day and time information will be posted at http://carrborocoworking.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b7219e188e737e12....

“Having fun and staying focused while you hunt for a new job is key,” Russell said. “I want people to have a friendly place to go while they search for new work or maybe start up a new business. I want to help people be productive in this economy.”

Carrboro Creative Coworking is a professional shared workspace with a community atmosphere. It is located at 205 Lloyd Street, Suite 101, Carrboro NC 27510.

For more information, contact Brian Russell at brian@carrborocoworking.com or (919) 442-5301 or visit www.carrborocoworking.com.

TriUPA IA Summit 2009 Recap

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:00:00 GMT

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the annual IA Summit conference, and we were lucky enough to have six local colleagues (including myself) make it out to Memphis, TN for the event. In an effort to bring the Summit back to the community, we held a recap event last Thursday. We shared our favorite presentations, and some of the larger themes we noticed throughout the event.

A huge thanks to everyone who came out, and, as promised, here are the presentations we talked about:
Amanda McGuire (BCBSNC)

"ROI: Speaking the Language of Business," Eric Reiss
"Using Enterprise IA to Support Business Strategy," Gary Carlson & Samantha Starmer
"When Appeasement is Not Enough undefined Or, How to Work Within 'Government Time'," Naomi Norman
"Strategies for Enabling UX to Play a More Strategic Role," Richard Anderson & Craig Peters
"Turning HiPPOs into Allies: How to Connect With Powerful People in Your Organization," Samantha Starmer

File Attachments

Download file:

amanda-ias09-recap.ppt

Javier Velasco (UNC SILS)

"Experience Themes: An Element of Story Applied to Design," Cindy Chastain
"Evangelizing Yourself," Whitney Hess

Anita Crescenzi (UNC Health Sciences Library)

Dr. Michael Wesch's Keynote
"Revealing Design Treasures from the Amazon," Jared Spool

File Attachments

Download file:

anita-ias09-recap.pptx

Jonell Gades (Fidelity)

"Lessons from Slime Mold: How to Survive and Thrive in Ever-Changing Organizational Environments," Kate Rutter
"Motivating Teams: Motivating Teams: Inspiring People to Do Great Work," Dorelle Rabinowitz
"Beyond Findability: Reframing IA Practice & Strategy for Turbulent Times," Andrew Hinton, Livia Labate, Matt Milan & Joe Lamantia

File Attachments

Download file:

jonell-ias09-recap.ppt

Jackson Fox (Viget Labs)

"Is Interaction Necessary?," Karl Fast
"Digital Space & the Context Problem," Andrew Hinton

File Attachments

Download file:

jackson-ias09-recap.pptx

Other Resources
In addition to our slides and the presentations linked above, you can see many more presentations on Slideshare, and listen to podcasts of the sessions on Boxes & Arrows.

Talk: Interaction Design for Novel Media Technologies

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The School of Information & Library Science at UNC has an interesting seminar happening this Friday undefined

Talk: Interaction Design for Novel Media Technologies
Speaker: Dr. Hyowon Lee, Dublin City University

Manning Hall 208
UNC Chapel Hill
Friday April 3rd
12-1pm

Abstract:
Current R&D in media technologies such as Multimedia, Semantic Web and Sensor Web technologies are advancing in a fierce rate and will sure to become part of our important regular items in a 'conventional' technology inventory in near future. While the R&D nature of these technologies means their accuracy, reliability and robustness are not sufficient enough to be used in real world yet, we want to envision now the near-future where these technologies will have matured and used in real applications in order to explore and start shaping many possible new ways these novel technologies could be utilised. In this talk, some of this effort in designing novel applications that incorporate various media technologies as their backend will be presented. Examples include novel scenarios of LifeLogging application that incorporate automatic structuring of millions of photos passively captured from a SenseCam (wearable digital camera that automatically takes photos triggered by environmental sensors) and an interactive TV application incorporating a number of multimedia tools yet extremely simple and easy to use with a remote control in a lean-back position. The talk will conclude with remarks on how the design of novel applications that have no precedence or existing user base should require somewhat different approach from those suggested and practiced in conventional usability engineering methodology.

ASIS&T event: Introduction to Content Management Systems (CMS)

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The Carolinas Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology is hosting this workshop on content management systems...

Event details
There are roughly a gazillion open-source CMS products using a variety of means (PHP, Ruby on Rails, Java, blogging software, etc.) to manage documents, graphics, text, and other digital creations. They can also be used to manage web content, and hold the promise that all you need to do is create the content and leave the HTML markup and publishing to the CMS.

But just what exactly is a CMS? What does it look like? How does it work? Many CMS products are free or open-source--but does that mean they're cheap in terms of the time you spend setting them up?

This event is intended for beginners or those new to the CMS idea. It's especially for anyone who's been asked to use a CMS to revamp their organization's web site, but doesn't know where to start or where to go for more information.

There will be no hands-on activities at this event, but there will be plenty of opportunity to see a few choice CMS products in action and to ask lots of questions.

When
Saturday, April 18

9 a.m.-1 p.m. (approx)

Where
Manning Hall, UNC-CH campus

Directions

Registration Fees
Students (with ID or student email address): $15

Members of STC or ASIS&T: $25

General: $35

You can pay via credit card at the cc:ASIS&T site.

Recap: "Design Research" workshop with Todd Wilkens (Adaptive Path)

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Todd Wilkens (from Adaptive Path) presented a full-day workshop on design research for TriUPA on Friday 2/20/09.

Todd introduced Adaptive Path's design research process, emphasizing the importance of qualitative, contextual research. He argued for focusing on people's behaviors, motivations, and meanings (as opposed to a more traditional user research focus on tasks, goals, and preferences).

Here are some ideas I took home from the workshop…

Approach and framing

One's attitude to the research process is important. Research shouldn’t be “scary”undefinedit’s just “going out and talking to people.”
UX practitioners should embrace the “messy complexity of human life,” and look for behaviors, motivations, and meanings. Todd argued that using this type of language/framingundefinedas opposed to traditional usability language of tasks, goals, and preferencesundefinedreinvigorates design practice.
Adaptive Path won’t do projects without time and access for stakeholder interviews. They rely on these interviews to unearth assumptions, benefit from good ideas, identify landmines, and find misalignment within the client organization. They deal with conflicting stakeholder views by presenting the alternative views objectively, and helping stakeholders reach a consensus or decision.

Research methods

Be creative and open when brainstorming research methods. Todd told workshop participants to “consider illegal ideas”undefinedI found this approach helped to broaden my thinking, as our group considered unusual approaches such as wiretapping and disguising a researcher as a taxi driver. These off-the-wall ideas can lead, in turn, to divergent but practical (and legal!) approaches.
It’s important to think about the experience of research approaches and methods from the participant’s perspective. Is a survey going to be time-consuming and out of the context of use? Is an interview trying to address topics that are too personal?
People fundamentally want to tell their stories… they just need to be in the right context to do so.
Give team members--particularly clients--a clear role to play when conducting interviews. For example, if a client comes to a field interview with the research team, give him a camera and ask him to take photos.
Debrief after field interviews using a summary sheet of the key, high-priority research questions guiding the project. Have each interviewer review these questions individually, noting relevant insights from the fieldwork, then discuss as a team.

Suggested resources

"Recruiting without fear" report

Please add your thoughts, questions, and resources in the comments!

Cheers,
--Abe
VP, Professional Development Programs // TriUPA

Recap: "What Every Designer Should Know About Interface Engineering"

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

TriUPA recently organized a viewing of the Rosenfeld Media webinar, "What Every Designer Should Know About Interface Engineering." Thanks to Brian Russell of Carrboro Creative Co-Working for hosting this event!

TriUPA member Scott Boggs of RTI has kindly provided a recap of the webinar. Thanks, Scott!

The talk was basically conveying a developer’s perspective to designers (e.g. visual designers). He generally did not consider designers as the folks doing the front-end (HTML/CSS) code; but rather, the ones creating the static visual design/layout and perhaps some interaction design.

Developers
Designers

Code: DHTML, XML, JavaScript, PHP/JSP/ASP, HTML, CSS, Frameworks (i.e. STRUTS, JQuery), etc…
Visual Designs, i.e. Photoshop, maybe Flash, Illustrator, Fireworks, etc… He generally thought of (and critiqued) static designs coming from designers.

Implementation Focus
Inspiration Focus

Generally Logical
Generally Creative

1. The Site is Dynamic

Photoshop is static and thus can limit thinking, web sites and applications are not. Prototype early and often. Consider the dynamic nature of the site as an opportunity and challenge, not as a problem.

Dynamic Content:
- must “integrate content and make it functional”.
- Suggests reading “Scalable Design” article by Luke W.
- Must account for potentially long titles (dynamically generated).
- Must design for potentially large data sets
Dynamic Layout:
- Some designs allow user to affect layout
- Fluid layoutundefinedwhat happens when you resize browser
- The visual design must account for these
Dynamic Interaction:
- Design for the interesting moments up front
- Prototype, Prototype, Prototype!!!
- Consider “micro-moments” within larger interactions, i.e. each state during a drag and drop interaction.
Scalable Design:
- Ensure the design can scale if/when site content grows/changes
- Suggests book “Designing Web Interfaces” which discusses 12 screen patterns

2. Technology is Critical

Designers must understand the “magic” that brings design to life, and difficulties such as:

14 known IE6 layout bugs
63 different rounded-corner techniques
9 ways to layout columns
3 browser rendering engines
34 ways to improve performance
Etc…

Thus, opt for markup based designs; move away from graphics-intensive design. Plan for “spriting”undefinedmore efficient use of images. [ Here’s an article on spriting. ]

Example: Netflix’s star rating display used to use an image file with 51 lines of stars that moved to display different ratings. Thus when they modified something, they had to update the 51 sub-images. Now they use 2 imagesundefined1 of 5 blank stars, 1 of 5 full stars. They position the full-star image over the blank stars and adjust the width of the full star image to display more or less of it. They can show more states with less images.

Designers should know how stuff gets used: he suggests using Firebug (FF add-on) to explore elements.

Know what is challenging, i.e.:

Vertical alignment
Rounded corners and drop shadow
Columns aligned at bottom
Pixel perfect widths
Specifying max/min width
Taming IE6
Hard to layout against browser flow
Height is harder to control
Etc…

Tips

Know what technology can and can’t do.
Not all designs cost the same
Know what your engineers can and can’t do.

Plan for quick, early iterations and test the prototypes.

Ultimately, “the most important thing is to get things done”; i.e. don’t be a CSS (or other kind of) preacher.

3. Components are Key

Components and template mean reusable modules, templates, layouts, etc… Developers tend to think in terms of reuse; designers tend to want variety. Components generally refer to reusable chunks of code, templates to a reusable visual designs (and also the HTML/CSS code to display it).

Embrace Componentsundefineddesign for each component and its reuse throughout the site.
- e.g. Netflix maps all pages into templates, and have named and defined the sections on each template.
- e.g. the display of DVD covers with “Add/Play” buttons is a component reused throughout the site.
Embrace Grids
- It’s the right way to design anyway
- Grids map to templates
- Reference grids and components in visual designs
- Suggests book, “Principles of Beautiful Web Design”
Component/Template resources
- Blueprint CSS framework
- Yahoo User Interface Library, i.e. Grid Builder
- PLUM: “a new, free, all-in-one "magic bullet" for ColdFusion developers.”
- 960 Grid Systemundefinedsimilar to Blueprint
- jQueryundefined“jQuery is not hard for designers to pick up to add behaviors and interactions to pages”

4. Partnership is Imperative

“The magic happens with collaboration.” “Communicate and iterate.”

Communicate:

There is a power to naming things, i.e. a name contains a concept.
Explore or develop pattern libraries
- e.g. Yahoo Developer Network Design Pattern Library
- Be aware of “anti-patterns” like “hover & cover” (pop up content that hides important elements, like a link or button)
Suggests a book “The Non-Designer’s Design Book” [ probably more for developers ]
(Designers) “talk to your engineers.”
- They hold weekly roundtable to throw around and explore new ideas and also to air frustrations and difficulties.
Practice transparencyundefinedget your design “into the wild”. i.e. make it visible, let it generate conversations, print it huge and post it in hallways or meeting rooms.
Make designs URL accessible, not trapped on a hard drive somewhere.

Iterate (Prototype):

Can use Keynote, PowerPoint, Flash, Fireworks, jQuery, [ or paper, or other methods ] to make prototypes
e.g. Netflix created 150 variations on a button prototype (in 1 week) and then tested/accessed them before choosing one.

5. Yes, We Can.

Given ongoing advances in technology, interface engineers have the power to say “Yes” more than ever.

IE8
- has accelerators and visual search
- is fully CSS 2.1 compliant
  - CSS based table layouts more functional
  - Fixes margin collapsing
  - Fixes the “hasLayout” issues
Safari/Webkit
- Has more CSS goodness
  - i.e. masks, reflection, canvass drawing, gradients, marquee
- Safari 4 just released
- Generally font-scaling is now being handled by newer browsers
Chrome
Firefox 3.1
- Faster JavaScript engine
- Support for HTML 5
- PRISM
- “Weave”undefinedpushing metadata into “Cloud”
Yahoo Browser Plus
- Rich web app.s with desktop features
HTML 5
- Canvass tag
- Offline storage
- Drag and drop
- Etc…
Silverlight
- Rich set of controls
- Zooming
- Rich media support
Flash 10
Flex for Flash Platform development
Adobe Air
- Blurring lines between web and desktop app.

Expect to see more rich media and video integrated into web sites/apps.

Design Research workshop slides

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Todd Wilkens' design research workshop slides

Upcoming events at PDMA: innovation and product development

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:00:00 GMT

PDMA Carolinas is a community for North and South Carolina professionals and organizations that have a stake in the broad areas of product and service innovation, development, and management, from the very front end of innovation to manufacturing.

PDMA has kindly extended a membership discount to TriUPAians--just register with discount code 'TriUPAVIP'.

Upcoming events

March 3, 2009, Charlotte, North Carolina
Discovering Your Next Great Innovation: How Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) is driving organic growth at Ingersoll-Rand

With The Innovator's Dilemma and The Innovator's Solution, Clayton Christensen grounded the nation's innovation initiatives around the key question, "What job does this product or service actually do?" Strategyn has taken this philosophy and created a repeatable process that a company can actually execute.
Join Rick Norman of Strategyn and Jeff Hynds of Ingersoll Rand as they lead an interactive discussion of how Outcome-Driven Innovation® has actually been put into practice at IR.

Discounts for early registration are available until February 25th.

Registration and details.
March 24, 2009, Greenville, South Carolina
PDMA at InnoVenture SouthEast 2009 Conference

Robin Karol, Executive Director, PDMA, to speak during lunch keynote (conference attendees only)

Afternoon session on Collaborative Product Development: Best Practices, Pitfalls, and Tools (free session, open to the public)
This session will feature a panel of product research and development experts from leading manufacturing and education institutions in South Carolina including Milliken, Michelin, Clemson, and Selah Technologies.

Registration and details.

March 26, 2009, RTP, North Carolina
The Future is Now: iRobot's Journey of Commercializing Autonomous Solutions

Founded in 1990 as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT) is at the forefront of the growing robot industry, delivering home and government robots that make a difference in people's lives.
Join Edison Hudson, Director Strategic Alliances, iRobot, and Rick Vosburgh, Executive Director, iRobot, for an informative presentation of iRobot's journey - from its initial struggles to the overwhelming success of Roomba, PackBot and other robots thanks to innovation, persistence, and flexibility.
Network with our speakers, and with your peers from the PDMA and our event partners ASME and TriUPA.

Discounts for early registration are available until March 1st.

Registration and details.

Last chance to register for "Adaptive Path's Design Research" workshop

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Deadline to register

TriUPA's upcoming workshop on design research methods ("Adaptive Path's Approach to Design Research" -- http://triupa.org/DesignResearch), will be held on Friday, February 20th at CED from 9am - 5:00pm (lunch is included in the cost of the workshop).

» You must register online by 5:00pm Wed 2/18/09 to attend the workshop.

Don't let money be an object to your attending the workshop! Contact Abe Crystal if you can't afford the workshop fee, particularly if you're between jobs or you can't get expense approval from your employer.
About the workshop
This workshop is for intermediate to advanced UX professionals working to develop a more complete understanding of their customers. Todd (from Adaptive Path) will guide attendees beyond usability tests and focus groups to gain a deeper and more complete picture of their customers' lives. This workshop covers everything from basic models of human behavior to interviewing and data analysis to strategies for making research work effective in your organization.

The majority of discussions about user research focus on the details of various methodologies such as interviews, lab studies, surveys, etc. But the bulk of the hard work and value in research comes from what happens before and after data collection. This day is structured to provide you with a framework for conducting effective user research with a focus on research planning and analysis. Effective research is about generating ideas as much as it is about evaluating design concepts; activities and concepts will focus on developing a deep understanding of your customers through qualitative and contextual research. Nearly every section involves hands-on research activities to help you learn to put the concepts we discuss into practice.

And here's a nice review of a design research workshop Todd presented in Minneapolis, by TriUPA member Geoff Mackey.

Webinar recap: The Science of Persuasive Design

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

In the HFI webinar "The Science of Persuasive Design," presenters Kath Straub and Spencer Gerrol highlighted social psychology studies behind persuasive design and many examples of its application. Here's a recap of the talk from TriUPA member Scott Boggs, Web Designer at RTI International.

The webinar was hosted by: Hesketh.com, who also kindly provided drinks and donuts.

“Ugly Options”
A study asked people to choose who they’d like to date from 3 photos: Tom, Jerry, and a photo of Jerry modified to make him less attractive (users did not know this was a modified picture). Most picked Jerry.

Same study, but when photos were: Tom, an “ugly” version of Tom, and Jerryundefinedpeople mostly picked Tom

Take Away: People unconsciously respond to the relation of options presented; the regular Tom or Jerry appeared more appealing when juxtaposed to a similar, but less attractive, choice.

Example: Magazine subscription:

When offered 2 choices:

Web subscription: $58

Print subscription: $125

Most chose the Web subscription.

But when offered 3 choices:

Web subscription: $58

Print and Web subscription: $125

Print subscription: $125

Most chose the Print + Web subscription.

Example: Restaurant Wine sales

People tend to choose the middle option. So with 3 bottles of wine--$8, $27, and $33undefinedmost choose the $27 bottle.

But when higher priced option is added--$8, $27, $33, $51undefinedpeople then tend to choose the $33 bottle.

Take Away: Higher priced option sets an “anchor” of reference. It “reframes” the comparison.

"Social Proof/Social Pressure"
“If others are doing it, it must be good.”

Example: People in shoe store who want to try on what other customers are trying.

Example: Acting troops in urban setting who en masse look at the sky or duck at the same time; regular people all around will also look up or duck.

Example: Towels in Hotel. To encourage customers to re-use towels, hotels first used signs saying “Help Save the Earth”undefinedbut it was not effective (persuasive). Changing it to something like “Other customers are re-using their towels” greatly increased re-use. Further modifying message to something like “previous customers in this room re-used their towels” had an even greater effectundefinedit became even more personal, and thus more persuasive.

Example: Airline website had better purchase ratios when they added a graphic “Top 10 Destination” to certain flights. Even greater success occurred when they added a pop up testimonials from an average customer to the flight listing.

"Scarcity"
Scarcity has the benefit of Social Proof (others are doing it), plus added pressure.

The same airline website, above, had a further increase in view/purchase ratios when they added the number of seats left to the flight listings. “2 seats left” implies that others are doing it and also creates pressure about availability.

Example: Beef in Argentina
Predictions that bad weather in Argentina would limit beef production led to 2X the usual amount of orders. Announcing that these beef sales would be handled by an exclusive supplier, led to 6X the regular orders.

Example: When shoe salesman person says “I’m not sure if we have that in stock”, customers wanted the items more.

Take Away: the implication of scarcity increasing customers’ anxiety and their likelihood to purchase.

"Framing"
How you present information can make one change their attitude or perception.

Example: 2 presentations of Tooth Flossing scale (desired outcome = call your dentist)

How often do you floss each week? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How often do you floss each month? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7+

Someone who flosses 2x/week ends up on the low end of the 1st scale (framed as weekly), they are more likely to call dentist. But on the 2nd scale (framed as monthly) they are at the topundefinedand thus less likely to call dentist.

Take Away: how you lay out the scale options creates the anchors and thus changes perceptions.

"Momentum"

Example: Car wash punch card requiring 8 car washes to get a free oneundefined2 different designs

User gets card with 8 empty squares, after getting 8 washes (and the card punched) then they get a free car wash. This had 19% completion rate.
User gets card with 10 empty squares, but employee punches 2 to when they give them the card. This had 34% completion rate, almost double the other design.

"Processing Fluency – Rhyme"

Rhyming statements are judged to be more accurate and trustworthy

Example: “Caution and measure will win you treasure.” was perceived as more trusted than “Caution and measure will win you riches.” And likewise for other phrases.

Example: Readsmart typography
Studies showed that in printed text, increasing the white space between clauses, phrases, and sentences and also making phrases end on the same line of text (i.e. not wrap) led to increased ease of reading, better comprehension, and faster reading.

Studies of this type treatment in non-profit donation appeal forms show increased rates of response and also increased amounts of donation.

Take Away: designed the visual display of type to mimic our spoken language makes it more effective. This could help web content to be faster and easier to read. (get your $amp; or <span style=”white-space: nowrap”></span> code ready!)

"Opt In or Opt Out?"

Example: Organ Donation

Countries who use an Opt In form, i.e. “Check the box if want to donate your organs” have a low rate of organ donors. (i.e. 20%)
Countries who use an Opt Out form, i.e. “Check the box if you do not want to donate your organs” have a much higher rate of organ donors. (i.e. 95+%)
In another test, “neutral” yes/no check boxes led to an 80% donation rate, while Opt In had 40% rate, and Opt Out had a 90% rate.

"The Number of Choices Influences Outcomes"

Too many choices leads to increase likelihood of opting out, not buying, not choosing, etc…

Example: Jam sample displays in super market showing 6 jams or 24 jams. The stands with 6 jams had fewer people approach but far more ended up buying the jam. The stands with 24 jams had more people test the jams (bigger display = more noticed?) but significantly fewer people bought any jam.

Example: Kayak.com offers filters in the left column to narrow parameters and reduce listings. People are far more likely to purchase from a list of 4 results than from a list of 500.

Example: When consulting with patients who had tried multiple treatments for hip problems to no avail, doctors who understood the remaining choices to be, 1., ibuprofen, or, 2., Hip replacement surgery were more likely to recommend ibuprofen. However, doctors who understood the remaining choices to be 1. ibuprofen, 2., another medication which demanded some understanding, or ,3., hip replacement surgery were more likely to recommend surgery.

Take Away: too many choices confused customers/users/doctors. They are more likely to act/purchase/etc… when presented fewer choices.

Example of Number of Choices combined with Framing Concept:
People were asked to either:

3 reasons why you love your significant other, or
10 reasons why you love your significant other

And then asked “How much do you love your significant other?” People who were asked to give only 3 reasons felt that they love their sig. other more than people who had to give 10 reasons. Probably, it was harder to give 10 reasons so they perceived that they didn’t love their sig. other as much. It’s similar to the flossing scale above.

"Reciprocity vs. Reward"

Customers develop greater trust for companies/sites who offer them something before they complete some task (i.e. register on the site, give personal information, make a purchase) than for companies/sites who offer them the same thing as a reward after completing the task.

Example: Website had more success in getting users personal information when they offered the related white paper free to any user and then asked for info. They were less successful when they offered the white paper as a reward for giving the personal information. The later strategy resulted in more people giving information (i.e. to get the reward) but half the amount of information was given.

Persuasion techniques can amplify motivations and/or remove blocks and barriers.

For more information, you can visit the presenters’ website: http://humanfactors.com/petdesign/

Workshop recap: "Reboot Your Work" by Matthew Cornell

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Overview

Matthew Cornell (see his site, http://www.matthewcornell.org/, for lots of ideas and tips on personal productivity) presented "Reboot Your Work: Modern Methods for Productivity, Sanity, and Control" on Monday, January 12th.

This was the first full-day workshop in TriUPA’s 2009 professional training series. Nearly 30 TriUPAians from around the Triangle attended. Special thanks to TriUPA’s generous sponsors, who made this workshop (and all of TriUPA’s events!) possible:

GSK
BlueCross BlueShield
Insight
Lenovo
Hesketh.com
Capstrat
User-View
SAS
MoreBetterLabs

You can help support our workshops, virtual seminars, World Usability Day celebration, and other events: join TriUPA today!

Key take-aways

Here are some of the key points that I took away from the workshop. Please add your own comments, notes, and questions!

Matt emphasized the importance of systematically processing all new inputs (whether email, voicemail, paper, a conversation, etc.) using a consistent workflow [see Matt's flowchart.pdf]. Regular, thorough processing prevents inputs from piling up, which can cause anxiety and stress. Ideally, it's best to set up minimum number of collection points, then train yourself and others (colleagues, family, etc.) to use them consistently.

Calendars are often overloaded with many types of information. Matt argued it's better to keep calendars as clean as possible, containing only appointments/meetings, as well as reminders of upcoming deadlines, and date-specific actions (such as, "Pick up a cake for Fred's birthday party sometime on Friday"). By keeping our calendars clean and current, we can work with confidence: checking our calendars for "must do today" meetings and actions, then reviewing and working from a defined list of actions.

Strong parallels between personal productivity and user-centered design emerged during the workshop. We can treat the challenge of personal productivity as a design problem at the personal level. Consider thinking of yourself as the end user, and imagine how to design a workflow system to support your needs, tasks, and information flows. Matt provided a set of heuristics and guidelines that can inform this personal design process. A related problem is that we've never been taught how to manage ourselves, so need training in "Workflow 101." By combining better design of our personal systems with education and training, we can achieve huge gains in effectiveness, efficiency, and reduced stress. (And as we learned in the workshop, the CDC estimates that 80% of health problems in the US are stress-related!)

Matt recommends people consider planning each day the night before, so as to have a structure in place before diving into a work environment that's often filled with distractions and interruptions. Since multitasking and constant interruptions dramatically reduce our ability to concentrate and do complex intellectual work, it's essential to build defenses that can protect our focus and attention.

Overall, the workshop helped me "reboot my work" by reflecting on how I manage my inputs, calendar, projects, actions, and review processes. I know from experience that personal systems become stale over time, and it's critical to regularly re-assess and improve them. Thanks to Matt for helping me, and others, begin that crucial work.

Resources mentioned:

Upcoming workshop: Design Research!

Todd Wilkens (design researcher at Adaptive Path) will visit TriUPA on February 20th! Register for his workshop now at: http://triupa.org/DesignResearch

PDMA workshop: Best Practices and NPDP Certification

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:00:00 GMT

In today's difficult economic environment, knowledge of innovation and new product development best practices is more important than ever to execute more with less resources, and to build a competitive advantage at both organization and individual level.

"Today more than two-thirds of the New Product Development team proudly tout NPDP certification and bring to bear all the credibility and reach of a proven New Product Development Body of Knowledge, helping to tear down walls of doubt and open up new opportunities to innovate and create new value.", Donald Comer, New Product Development Director, Fedex (PDMA Visions Magazine, April 2006, Certification News).

"A promotion to Process Manager and influence with senior managers were results of my NPDP certification efforts...", NPLearning alumni

This two-day training is perfect for those who want to learn about new product development, as well as those seeking PDMA's certification as a New Product Development Professional (NPDP) . The class is capped at 20 students to foster the best possible learning environment to address each individual's learning needs. Both individuals and small teams will benefit from the diverse group interactions and immersion in this off-site workshop. This workshop will be led by NPLearning's Jama Bradley because more professionals have been certified after taking NPLearning workshops than any other training!

Benefits:

Learn from rich discussion with the instructor and other participants about real-world applications
Unify virtual teams through a consistent training experience
Immerse your staff in two solid days of instruction for faster learning
Personalized coaching session for those taking the NPDP exam
Online Practice Test for those seeking certification

You'll learn the fundamentals, terminology, best practices, essential tools, and the methods to innovate in a timely and effective manner.

This event qualifies as sixteen (16) Professional Development Hours toward PDMA's NPDP recertification. Other professional organizations up to 16 PDUs.

Date: January 28-January 29, 2009
Time: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Food and drinks included.
Location: 4110 Premier Drive, High Point, NC 27265. Airports: Raleigh Durham (RDU) or Greensboro.

Fees:
(Preregistration required by January 13): $1,489.00 PDMA members, $1,689.00 non-members. Government and group discounts available. Contact Claire-Juliette Beale at carolinaschapter@pdma.org

» Preregistration available online at (credit card payment accepted). Use code TriUPAVIP for a 10% discount!

Refund/cancellations- Cancellations are accepted; however, a credit will be issued to a future public or online workshop with NPLearning.

Questions?
For more information or questions, contact Claire-Juliette Beale at carolinaschapter@pdma.org or 301.996.8325 or Jama Bradley at jama@nplearning.com or 404.931.8525 or 970.292.8066.

TriUPA workshop -- Reboot Your Work: Modern Methods for Productivity, Sanity, and Control -- January 2009

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:00:00 GMT

When: 9am - 4:30pm | Monday 1/12/09 or Tuesday 1/13/09

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development

How: Register online...

» Sign up for the workshop on Monday, January 12th, 2009
or

» Sign up for the workshop on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Each workshop is strictly limited to 30 people to promote close interaction with the instructor. You must sign up by January 9th to attend the workshop. So register now to reserve your spot!

Intended Audience
This workshop will help any professional looking to improve productivity and effectiveness while reducing stress and overload. The concepts are relevant to those in user experience, product development, and related disciplines--including researchers, information architects, designers, analysts, and managers.

About the Workshop
Start the year by freeing up your brain so you can think clearly, do more, and work creatively!

In this fast-paced full-day workshop, you will learn modern techniques to juggle and prioritize all the information constantly coming at you: dozens of projects, round-the-clock demands for your attention, and the perpetual overload of email and IM.

You'll apply the concepts using hands-on exercises at the individual, small group, and large group levels. You'll leave with a solid system for doing your job more productively, with less effort, and a greater sense of control.
What You'll Learn
Just as there are principles and guidelines for designing user interfaces, there are smart approaches for designing and managing your personal workspace and system. Matthew Cornell will introduce concrete techniques that will help you…

Channel the flow of all incoming work, including email, calls, and paperwork,
Capture the loose ends that occupy your mind and hamper your creativity,
Reduce stress and overload at work and improve your work-life balance,
Turn anything requiring your attention into clear, actionable work,
Create a comprehensive inventory of your projects, actions, and delegated tasks, and
Start implementing a customized system with your favorite tool - Outlook, Gmail, or iPhone.

At the end you'll have learned in detail all aspects of managing the "incoming stuff" in your life, how to more effectively follow through, and how to make consistent progress on simultaneous projects. Finally, you'll experience the relief of capturing everything that was on your mind, and have the confidence of knowing how to handle whatever comes at you in 2009.
About the Speaker
Matthew Cornell is a consultant specializing in productivity. He has worked with executives at NASA, Dr. Hauschka Skin Care, and the National Science Foundation's prestigious CASA Engineering Research Center. He contributes expert opinions to media (including Men's Health magazine) and his work is regularly featured on leading productivity sites such as 43 Folders and Lifehack.com. He has degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and more than 20 year of experience in software development. Matthew resides with his family in Western Massachusetts.

Matthew's influential blog has gained thousands of readers, thanks to insightful articles like "Add, subtract, multiply, divide: Productivity lessons from basic math".
What UX professionals are saying about Matt…
"Matt guided me through the process of organizing my office and taught me how simple it can be to keep my desktop clean, my email inbox empty, and my mind focused on the task at hand. He is a knowledgeable, patient teacher who offers wonderful insight and guidance about modern productivity techniques."
-- Liza Cunningham, President, FireHaus Studio, Inc. | User Experience Design

Notes from "How to be a UX Team of One?" virtual seminar

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

TriUPA sponsors Shanna Ward (Insight) and Janey Barnes (User-View) kindly provided these notes based on their viewing of Adaptive Path's recent virtual seminar, "How to be a UX Team of One?"

A slidecast, templates, and links relevant to the seminar are available on Leah's website.

Overview

The discussion began by trying to turn a new leaf, instead of feeling the shame of being a UX Team of One, take pride in being a UX Team of one. Often times this role can hold the most impact, but as a team of one the UX professional is often a jack of all trades and a master of none, really a generalist as opposed to a specialist in their field. These generalists often have to stand alone and need effective strategies to work with the other specialists, i.e. specific research teams, designers, marketers, development, etc. One of the challenges is knowing when and where to get involved into the development process. People with lots of experience tend to avoid being a team of one, but often this level of expertise helps in this situation. There are several stages of growing a UX group, the first and largest is to be interested, then moving into more comitted roles are invested, committed, engaged, and completely emerged.

Stealth Skills for a UX Team of One

Be Smart with Documentation
Design Better than you Thought You Could
Collaborate Like a Master
Be Politically Correct

1. Be Smart with Documentation:
There is good documentation and bad documentation.

Documentation can focus attention on the wrong thing. Documentation lends itself to “controlled ownership”, can provide an excuse/reason for procrastinating (e.g., I have to focus on the formatting of the documentation as opposed to the content), and can be an end unto itself.

It's important to assess how the documentation is furthering UX goals and process...

Who is reading our documentation?
How long is the documentation?
How much cross referencing is needed?
Is the documentation overly glossed?
Is the documentation communicating an idea?

Good documentation...

Works for multiple audiences
Tells its own story
Is quick to produce

2. Design Better than you Thought You Could
Sketching, simple pen and paper can have save time and is an excellent exploratory and refinement tool.

Exploratory sketching is the first step, in this step the goal is to generate lots and lots of ideas, some better than others. Using a 6-up template will help push development of several concepts. If you are stuck then play with words, pull out relevant words and design around them. Also having an inspiration library will help to generate additional ideas, these would include interesting shapes and concepts that help to get the creative juices flowing.
Refinement sketching is done after exploratory sketching, once several ideas are generated now is the time to refine these concepts. For this phase Leah recommended using a 1-up Template to help define the concept in a format where it is easy to share with others and can be used as a tool for discussion. Some sketching tips include: using weighted lines for emphasis, shading to decrease focus, and labels to add clarity and meaning.

Once sketches are refined now is the time to share and get feedback, both positive and negative. Design is not an absolute, there is no right or wrong in design, just MY preference and YOUR preference.

Resource: article on sketchboards.

3. Collaborate Like a Master
This is a critical step and is a helpful way to gain a broader perspective for solutions and serve as a way to critique already established ideas. There are three types of workshops that can be held...

1) controlled review (boring and typical documentation review)

2) collaborative review (all members review current concepts and actively generate new concepts and critique existing ones)

3) collaborative design (this workshop is a bit more challenging to conduct, but with the right group this can be very effective.

When conducting Collaborative Workshops be sure to...

make sure there is enough time to conduct the research, this process shouldn't feel or be rushed
invite all key players
bring tools of the trade - sharpies, sticky notes, paper, pen, 1-ups, 6-ups, tape

Structure of an effective Collaborative Workshop...

Give paper/pen to everyone in the room (6-ups blank templates)
Explain the design problem
Give a set amount of time to solve and sketch the problem
Make sure to walk around and help
Discuss amongst the team

Structure of an effective Sketchboard Workshop...

Get large sheet of paper and place all current sketches in a structure (using tape and sticky notes), you want to be able to roll it up so it can be shared
Review and collaborate with others, make sure you explain all ideas and encourage the group to articulate ideas

The goal of these workshops is NOT approval, but rather discussion and critque of concepts. Negative feedback is a good thing and if you aren't getting it then push to receive it. Try holding a black hat session where for 30 minutes you collectively pick the ideas apart.

4. Be Politically Savy
As a UX Team of One we are not the only ones that care about user needs and goals, i.e.development, marketing, and researchers are all interested in users, we all just go about understanding and meeting those needs differently. Being an evalengist for users will often take more energy and yield little results. Try to do fun and engaging activities to illustrate the effectiveness of UX profession, i.e. engaging collaborative workshops, trading cards, posters. Or, get access to folks when they are a captive audience e.g., posters in a bathroom, lunch, cocktails. Design is a process that needs to be effectively promoted.

For UX professionals that need to work remotely with team members Leah recommends using Concept Share.

World Usability Day celebration in RTP -- register now!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

What: World Usability Day celebration

When: 6pm - 9pm - Thursday, November 13th 2008

Where: Ruvane Auditorium at GSK

Cost: Free to all! Food and drink will be served! Please sign up so we have an idea of how big the crowd will be.

How: Register now: http://triupa.org/2008WorldUsability
(if you're a TriUPA member, be sure to click "Login to Register" once you get to the RSVP page)

About our event:
TriUPA will celebrate World Usability Day this year on Thursday, November 13th, at GSK. We have created a program that centers around UPA's theme of transportation. We are fortunate to have three speakers who have worked in the transportation field and can enlighten us about the usablity challenges in products and services in that area. We have organized a Design Challenge, in which three teams are applying user-centered design to transportation problems. The teams will be presenting their results at WUD. You cannot afford to miss this year's WUD, so please sign up now!

6 pm - 6:45 pm: Dinner and socializing. Make sure to check out our UX trading card game. Everyone who builds a complete set of cards will be eligible for a raffle!

6:45 pm - 7:45 pm: Transportation and Usability:

* Talk by Graham James, Professional Transportation Planner
* Talk by Beth Mcgough, Human Factors Engineer, JCI, Michigan
* Talk by Alex Hussain, Design Engineer, HumanCentric

7:45 pm - 8 pm: Break and dessert.

8 pm - 9 pm: Presentations by teams competing in the Design Challenge:

* Modular design system for bus stops
* Wayfinding and information displays for bus travel
* And one more... (topic TBD)

Presentation of prizes for UX Card game winner and Design Challenge winners.

Thanks to TriUPA's sponsors for making our World Usability Day celebration possible:

* Lulu
* GSK
* BlueCross BlueShield
* Insight
* Lenovo
* Hesketh.com
* Capstrat
* User-View
* SAS

Recap: "Designing for Efficiency" workshop with Dr. Deborah Mayhew

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Dr. Deborah Mayhew presented the second workshop in TriUPA's professional training series, "Designing for Efficiency." The workshop was held at CED on October 22nd, 2008.

Dr. Mayhew helpfully sent us both mayhew_1dayefficiencytriupafinal.pdf and an Excel spreadsheet template for conducting keystroke-level efficiency studies.

The workshop focused on helping UX professionals understand when and how to focus on efficiency as part of the user-centered design process.

Some key points:

Efficiency requires consideration of cognitive, motor, and perceptual activities.
Efficiency should be the key design goal when:
- Users are highly trained
- Users perform tasks repetitively with a very high frequency
- Tasks are generally structured and linear, with low variability
- User time is at a premium
- Efficiency has a strong impact on customer service
Designers can improve their focus on efficiency by:
- Setting task efficiency goals (a simple, but often-neglected approach)
- Following design guidelines and principles, addressing cognitive, motor, and perceptual aspects of human-computer interaction
- Apply unique requirements analysis data
Three primary techniques for improving design efficiency include:
- Keystroke level modeling
- Efficiency heuristic evaluations
- Efficiency-focused user studies

Recommended reading:
Web Form Design book

Sign up for TriUPA's 2008 World Usability Day design challenge!

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

TriUPA's 2008 World Usability Day design challenge!

Here's your chance to show off your UX and design skillz by attacking transportation design problems from a user-centered perspective. Form a team and meet other TriUPAians from around the Triangle. It's gonna be a blast... but you've got to sign up to get involved. Sign up before registration closes on 10/22/08!

»» Sign up for the challenge!

Summary of Challenge
Oct 22nd: Registration deadline

Volunteers from the TriUPA community register to participate in the design challenge. At this point all that is required is a commitment to participate, you don't need a team or a specific idea.

Please sign up here.

Oct 25th: Design Challenge Kickoff (at Viget Labs in Durham)

Registered volunteers meet to form teams and pick a design challenge.
Each team will have 4 or 5 practitioners each.
The design problem may be anything related to transportation. Including
- How do humans interact with the following aspects of transportation:
  - Modes – automobiles, planes, trains and subways, boats, trucks, busses, bikes, animals, and more.
  - Infrastructure – roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, and more.
  - Technologies and resources supporting transportation – online travel advisory and ticketing, maps and more.
  - Security
  - Signage
- How do the modes interact with each other?
- How do transportation modes and issues impact our environment? How can being green improve usability of transportation?
- How have accessibility issues and challenges been addressed by transportation?
- Waiting (in traffic, for trains/buses/planes to arrive or depart, etc.) is a fundamental part of transportation. How can we improve the user experience of waiting in the context of transportation, particularly public transportation?
Teams will work on the design problem they pick from Oct 25th to Nov 13th. Each team must prepare a 15 minute presentation for WUD. The presentation must highlight the techniques used, artifacts generated, interesting findings, the final results.

Nov 13th: WUD
Teams will be asked to present their designs at an evening event on November 13th, hosted by GSK in RTP. Prizes will be awarded for innovation, practicality, environmental impact, and creativity.

Designing for Efficiency workshop slides

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Dr. Mayhew has been kind enough to provide a PDF copy of slides for her upcoming workshop.

mayhew_1dayefficiencytriupafinal.pdf

Recap: "Effective Prototyping" workshop

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

[gallery]

TriUPA “Effective Prototyping” workshop from Abe Crystal on Vimeo.

Overview

Todd Warfel (see his site, http://toddwarfel.com/, for updates on prototyping, includes slides from previous presentations, and surveys on prototyping practices) presented "Effective Prototyping" on Monday, September 15th. This was TriUPA's first full-day workshop. Nearly 60 TriUPAians from around the Triangle attended. Special thanks to TriUPA's generous sponsors, who made this workshop (and all of TriUPA's events!) possible:

Lulu
GSK
BlueCross BlueShield
Insight
Lenovo
Hesketh.com
Capstrat
User-View
SAS

Abe's take

Here are some of my notes from the workshop. Please add your own comments, notes, and pictures on the TriUX blog!

Todd emphasized the value of prototyping as a "generative process" that supports collaboration. Prototyping (as opposed to documentation/specification) supports "being on the same page" and creating new design ideas.

He described MessageFirst's design process, known as DRIVE (discovery and research, interaction and visualization, engineering). In this process, "every system we build starts with sketches." MessageFirst emphasizes paper sketching and creates dozens or hundreds of paper skethches to explore ideas before moving into digital prototyping. Paper is "the least intimidating toolkit out there" and has the unique property that clients or stakeholders "can destroy it" (modify, annotate, etc.). This mutabiilty encourages the co-creation of design ideas.

Sketches are best shared in a "design studio" process, in which designers present sketches, accept critique ("don't get attached to your designs"), and annotate/revise. In the workshop, we practiced this process by creating simple sketches and paper prototypes, then presenting them to the group for discussion and critique. Todd noted that this design studio process is underused in software design.

Overall, MessageFirst focuses on creating ideas and discussion quickly through generative sketching. As the team works through a 6-8 week design cycle, weekly update/review meetings keep clients in the loop. Ultimately, "production-ready" HTML/CSS/Javascript are provided to clients, and the designers then work with the clients IT team to help make sure the design is implemented as they had envisioned.

Todd presented six major types of prototypes...
1. communication
2. gauge flexibility
3. sell ideas internally
4. market to customers
5. work through a design
6. testing

... and eight guiding principles for prototyping:
1. "know your audience" (e.g., design, engineering, sales, CEO) and intent (what focus? what level of fidelity?)

2. "plan a little, prototype the rest" (and keep options open through rapid, low-fidelity media)

3. "set expectations" (perhaps the most important principle... use kickoff meetings to explain the design process and educate clients about what type of work they will see and how it's used)

4. "you can sketch" (be bold in using sketching, don't be fearful of aesthetic, and help clients understand your process, and the time and effort it involves)

5. "it's a prototype, not the Mona Lisa" (find the right level of fidelity for your purposes)

6. "if you can't make it, fake it" (e.g., simulate--rather than engineer--ajax transitions)

7. "prototype only what you need" (match to scenarios/usability test script, and be open to leaving out certain features/functions)

8. "reduce risk--prototype early and often" (analogous to agile methods)

Todd also walked through some benefits of prototyping with analog/paper tools (including post-it notes, index cards, transparencies, etc.). Paper prototyping can be extremely fast, isn't constrained to pre-built UI widgets, and encourages modification/annotation of designs. Participants created paper prototypes of a social photo/video player, and presented them for discussion.

Key take-aways:
The workshop encouraged me to remember the importance of sketching and generative prototyping, and revitalize my design research process. I've heard Bill Buxton and others wax poetic about sketching, but looking back at my notebook shows weeks can pass with nary a paper sketch in sight. Todd's points reminded me I can sketch a lot more often, and generate more ideas by doing so.

Similarly, the value of a "design studio"-style review process was apparent, and I agree that it's underused in many cases. I also like the idea that design feedback should be framed to focus on "what's positive/effective about this design?" first, and then "what could be improved or extended?"

I believe the admonition to "set expectations" and explain to clients the time and effort involved in generative prototyping is right on target, applicable to almost any situation where clients/stakeholders aren't deeply familiar with UX methods.

Resources mentioned:

Upcoming workshop: Designing for Efficiency!

Dr. Deborah Mayhew, editor of "Cost-justifying usability" (among many other books) will be hosted by TriUPA on October 22nd! Register for her workshop ("Designing for Efficiency" now at: http://triupa.org/DesigningEfficiency

TriUPA Training Series #2: Dr. Deborah Mayhew presents "Designing for Efficiency"

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

We are excited to announced the second event in TriUPA's new training series! These events will provide cutting-edge, industrial-strength, knock-your-socks-off UX training in TriUPA's four focus areas: usability testing, user research, interaction design, and information architecture.

What: "Designing for Efficiency" -- a full-day workshop

When: 9am - 5pm // Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development

Cost: $125 (TriUPA members) / $100 (TriUPA sponsors) / $50 (students)

How: Register here: http://triupa.org/DesigningEfficiency

Capacity is limited--please register ASAP!

About the Workshop
This one-day course is aimed at anyone (developers, user interface designers, usability engineers, information architects, graphic designers, software end-users and end-user managers, marketers, trainers, etc.) who has an interest in helping their organization achieve end user productivity (i.e., efficiency) through the design of software tools.
Coffee, drinks, and a full lunch will be served.About the Speaker
Dr. Deborah J. Mayhew, internationally recognized consultant, author, speaker and teacher in software and Web usability engineering since 1981. Dr. Mayhew is known as an early pioneer in software and web usability testing and user interface design. Author of many books on usability and UCD.

Job: Senior UX Positions - MathWorks

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Senior User Experience Researchers and Designers at The MathWorks (multiple positions).

Come work at a great, stable company where:

- The development organization understands and supports user centered design

- User centered design happens on our products, our web site, *and* the internal tools our employees use to do their jobs

- You can be part of a dynamic team of other usability specialists.

- The company is profitable, growing, fun, and committed to changing the world with our products

So what will you do?

You will be responsible for providing user centered design activities related to several MathWorks product areas. You will work with teams to understand the user centered design needs of their projects and then develop creative solutions for meeting these needs.

You will make recommendations to team members about what usability methods to use to answer their questions about users and design directions for their projects. You will work closely with the team members to help them develop user profiles and create task lists. You will help them create paper prototypes, and review online prototypes developed by others. If your skills lie in visual and interaction design, you'll take on design projects for your teams.

You will run usability tests, conduct interviews, organize surveys, and complete any other usability assessments you think are appropriate. You will help the developers' record and interpret the results, and you will be responsible for making sure that the project team understands what users' feedback means. You will help the team decide what to do about feedback, and will provide input for design decisions based on that feedback. You will participate in documenting requirements and functional design specifications.

Qualifications:

- BA or MA in cognitive psychology, human factors, or related field, or equivalent experience

- 4-8 years as a usability engineer in software development, with direct experience with a variety of usability methods

- Knowledge of MathWorks products or Perforce a plus

- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

- Ability to balance needs of a large number of concurrent projects.

All positions are located in Natick, Massachusetts.

For more information or to submit your resume, please contact Amy Kidd, Manager of MathWorks Products Usability at akidd@mathworks.com

************************************************

About The MathWorks:

Join us in accelerating the pace of discovery, innovation, and learning in engineering and science. At the MathWorks, we cultivate an enjoyable, participatory, and rational environment that nurtures individual growth, appreciates diversity, encourages initiative, values teamwork, shares success, and rewards excellence.

The MathWorks, creator of MATLAB® and Simulink®, was founded in 1984 and currently employs more than 1,800 people worldwide. The company has been profitable every year since its inception and is privately held.

Come join us!

ASIS&T Fall 2008 Workshop

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:00:00 GMT

PUSHING BOUNDARIES IN INFORMATION VISUALIZATION:
Using Virtual, Immersive and Interactive Technologies in Research & Practice

The Carolinas Chapter of ASIS&T (cc:asis&t) is pleased to announce an upcoming workshop Pushing Boundaries in Information Visualization to be held at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) in beautiful Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Saturday, September 13, 2008. The focus of this workshop is on current and developing technologies to enable more effective collaboration within professional and research environments.

PROGRAM GOALS
1) Showcase some of the innovative uses of technology in terms of virtual and immersive environments for interacting with information

2) Generate attendee discussion around the use, integration and evaluation of such tools (i.e. how do we evaluate the use of these technologies? how can research improve practice? how can practice inform research, etc.)

WHEN Saturday, September 13, 2008
9:00 am – 4:30 pm

WHERE Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)
UNC Campus – ITS Manning
211 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

COST Free for ASIS&T members
$50 non-members
(ASIS&T student membership is only $40)

REGISTER Online at http://www.asis.org/Chapters/carolinas/events/fall2008workshop.html
Attendance limited to 45
Payment must be received by Monday, September 8

PARKING Ram's Head Parking Deck on Ridge Road north of Manning Drive; Dogwood Parking Deck, corner of Manning Drive and Hospital Drive, one block west of ITS Manning http://www.dps.unc.edu/maps/visitor/Visitor.pdf

PROGRAM
A number of researchers will demonstrate the ways in which they have been able to take advantage of current technologies in order to manage their collaborate projects and share research data using RENCI's facilities, including its high-tech Social Computing Room, an environment providing a full 360-degree display and allowing virtual, immersive, and interactive engagement for groups. Attendees may also experience haptic environments and multi-user online social environments that offer possibilities for further expanding virtual, immersive, and collaborative work.

The program will feature a colorful mix of research projects ranging from electrical stimulation of the nervous system with cochlear implant, to scalable visualization of genealogy links, experiential look at the death penalty, visualizing activity on a busy website, and comparing human and yeast cell protein interaction networks. Attendees need not be familiar with the disciplines of these research projects – the program will expose you to the use of immersive and interactive technology across a range of disciplines and then encourage discussion about the possibilities.

Breakfast, lunch and a delightful reception are included in the program – so please join us for this immersive and engaging program.

asis&t is the Carolinas Chapter of the American Society for Information Science & Technology
http://www.asis.org/Chapters/carolinas/ Join us on Facebook too

Document your code for free

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:00:00 GMT

I am looking for two small software applications or modules to use in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses. Students will write documentation and online help for the applications and then test them. Of course, I can always look around for freeware or shareware utilities that have minimal or no documentation, but I would prefer to find "real world" applications where students' docs, help, and tests could actually prove valuable to someone. These assignment will occur in October or November. If you have a small piece of code for which you would like user documentation and some testing, please let me know.

Thanks,
Stan Dicks stan_dicks@ncsu.edu

TriUPA Training Series #1: Todd Warfel presents "Effective Prototyping"

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:00:00 GMT

We are excited to announced the first event in TriUPA's new training series! These events will provide cutting-edge, industrial-strength, knock-your-socks-off UX training in TriUPA's four focus areas: usability testing, user research, interaction design, and information architecture.

What: Effective Prototyping: full-day workshop

When: 9am - 5pm -- Monday, September 15th 2008

Where: Council for Entrepreneurial Development

Cost: $125 (TriUPA members) / $100 (TriUPA sponsors) / $ 50 students

How: Register here: http://triupa.org/ EffectivePrototyping

About this Presentation
Are you interested in making prototyping a key part of your design prcess? Or do you currently practice prototyping and need some fresh ideas?

This highly detailed, practical, and hands on workshop will provide a framework for creating and testing prototypes. We'll discuss what prototyping is, when to use it, when to use other methods, and what to expect.

Todd will present eight guiding principles for prototyping and will perform a hands-on demonstration of several techniques. In addition to an overview of how and when to use prototyping in the IA/UX process Todd will also provide some techniques for the more seasoned veteran.

About the Speaker
Todd Zaki Warfel is a Principal and Founder of Messagefirst, a Philadelphia-based design research consultancy, where he blends research and design to evolve products in innovative and beautiful ways. Todd is a dynamic speaker and storyteller by nature. He is an active speaker and member of a number of industry communities and organizations, including the Information Architecture Institute, Interaction Design Association and Usability Professionals' Association.

Todd's clients have included Albertsons, AT&T Wireless, Bankrate, Bank of America, Citi, Comcast, Cornell University, IntraLinks, The Hartford, LA Times, Motorola, Palm and SBC.

Todd currently lives in Philadelphia and blogs at toddwarfel.com. His upcoming book, Practical Prototyping: A Practitioner's Guide to Prototyping from Rosenfeld Media, will take a hands-on approach, enabling you to develop prototypes with minimal muss and fuss. The book will discuss how prototypes are more than just a design tool by demonstrating how they can help you market a product, gain internal buy-in and test feasibility with your development team. It is anticipated to be available later this year.

For more information about Messagefirst, visit http://www.messagefirst.com

Organic Search Marketing Class

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:00:00 GMT

The partners of Sidhe Communications, LLC will present the first in a series of organic search marketing classes beginning on May 17th, 2008 at the Raleigh School of Communication Arts Digital Circus from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Seating is limited to 20-25 participants, so reservations must be made in advance. Cost is $200. Visit http://www.sidhecommunications.com and click the link to download a registration form. Payment can be made by check or Paypal. A command of standard written English and good writing skills are required.

Elizabeth Kirwin will provide an overview of best practices for writing for the web, and discuss the basics of keyword writing strategies that optimize content for organic search. Sarah Benoit will review the importance of keywords studies, offer an overview of keyword research, and step participants through a keyword research exercise. The course is designed to be interactive. Participants will be asked to bring a list of 10-15 keywords and a website writing task in need of completion.

To register download the application form at http://www.SidheCommunications.com.

NCSU College of Design presentations

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Forwarded from HFES Carolina Chapter:

Faculty from the College of Design at NCSU have graciously offered to give a collection of presentations next week at NCSU. They are interested in sharing their research and design ideas with the HFES community.

Time: Thursday, March 27, 5:30-8:00pm
Location: Kamphoefner Hall, College of Design complex, Burns Auditorium, NCSU

There will be a reception (with refreshments) in the lobby area of the Burns Auditorium from 5:30-6pm.Professor Haig Khachatoorian will moderate this event. Presentations will begin at 6pm and will include the following:

Bryan Laffitte / Associate Professor & ID (Industrial Design) Dept. Head - "Visualization as a Tool for Collaborative Innovation"
Percy Hooper / Associate Professor & Director of I D Graduate Programs - "Invention, Innovation & Design : Transforming Propositions to Products"
Bong-IL Jin / Associate Professor - "The World Traffic Safety Design Competitions"
Dr. Sharon Joines / Assistant Professor - "Ergonomic Interventions for Ultrasound Technicians"
Tim Buie / Assistant Professor - "Game Design : Designing the Interaction Experience"

Each presentation will last approximately 20 min. and there will be a question and answer session to follow.If you plan to attend the reception, please let Miranda Capra know so that adequate refreshments are available.

Dave Kaber, HFES Carolina Chapter President

Miranda Capra: mcapra@humancentric.com

Conference: Voices That Matter--Web Design Conference

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Registration is now open for The Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference in Nashville!

Check out the great lineup of speakers and sessions. TriUPA members can use the User Group Discount Code, WD2MAL5 to receive $200 off the Core Conference. If you register before May 2, you'll get the Early Bird price of $1095, in addition to the user group discount of $200, bringing your price to $895.

Videos from IxDA conference

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:00:00 GMT

IxDA was kind enough to video the entire Interactions '08 conference, and post the conference sessions online. The keynotes by Alan Cooper and Bill Buxton are especially worth watching.

IxDA conference videos

Workshop on Usable IT Security Management (USM '08)

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Workshop on Usable IT Security Management (USM '08)

Date: July 23, 2008

Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

The workshop is part of the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS)

USM'08 solicits short research and position papers from academia and industry about all aspects of IT security management usability. The workshop will provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners to discuss this fascinating and important topic. Those interested in participating in the workshop should submit a research or position paper of up to six pages, along with a cover letter describing their research interests, experience, and background in the area of usable IT security management.

Important Dates:

Position papers deadline: April 13
Notification of acceptance: May 11
Camera ready final versions of the papers due: June 6
Workshop: July 23

Workshop organizers: Konstantin (Kosta) Beznosov (UBC) & John Karat (IBM)

For full call for papers and other details, visit http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2008/usm.html

Tools of the Trade Presentations

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:00:00 GMT

At our final event of 2007, Janey Barnes and I (Jackson Fox) presented on "Tools of the Trade:"

Our presentations are now available online:
Morae
[slideshare id=221012&doc=tools-of-the-trade-morae-11997546155676-4&w=425]
UserVue & Ethnio
[slideshare id=274156&doc=remote-usability-tools-1203540140902748-3&w=425]

World Usability Day 2007 Opens on November 8 With Live Webcast Plenary Session

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:00:00 GMT

Live Webcast Plenary Session undefined Download Required in Advance

Our opening plenary session, which will be webcast live on November 8th at 8:30 am United States Eastern Standard Time, will feature an address from World Usability Day’s founder and director, Elizabeth Rosenzweig, and a panel discussion with distinguished speakers supporting the 2007 theme - Healthcare!

The panel discussion focuses on novel strategies and integrating solutions to healthcare challenges from a user centered design perspective. Challenges range from drug delivery, technologies, and medical devices, to pediatric healthcare and personal healthcare records. The panelists use these examples to show how the application of user centered design principles benefit vital issues in human health and how this will continue throughout the upcoming year and beyond.

2007 National UPA Salary Survey

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:00:00 GMT

The UPA 2007 Salary Survey will close on November 15. If you haven't completed
it, now's your chance! Every two years the UPA surveys user experience professionals to attain in-depth data about the development of the user experience field. The survey is anonymous and open to all user experience professionals, not just UPA members. A version of the report is freely
available to all, and will be ready in approximately three months. Please help us by taking the survey. You can also read the 2005_upa_salary_survey.pdf 2005 salary survey report .

Refresh the Triangle

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Refresh the Triangle ...
is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of New Media endeavors in their areas. Promoting design, technology, usability, and standards.

World Usability Day 2007

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Where: Ruvane Auditorium @ GSK
When: November 8, 2007 undefined 6:00PM to 9:00PM
RSVP for World Usability Day!

Join UX professionals from around the Triangle area for an Interactionary (a live design competition), keynote speech, food, drink, and fun!
Keynote Speaker:
Anthony D. Hall, Ph.D.
IBM Global Web Strategy and Enablement
Interactionary
Simply put, the Interactionary is a live team-based design competition. Teams are given a design problem and 10-20 minutes to design a solution to the problem. Teams then present their design to the audience, and the judges.

Click here to join the competition

CED Tech conference and Game Night Reception 10/11

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:00:00 GMT

CED's annual tech conference is this Friday:

CED’s Tech 2007 will explore the future of emerging and converging technologies that are reshaping today’s hottest industries. Now in its 17th year, Tech 2007 will focus on the latest cutting-edge markets and global opportunities in clean technologies, medical devices, new materials, nanotechnology and more, as well as telecom, internet, software and hardware.

Also, regional gaming companies will be demonstrating their most recent wares at the Game Night reception, 5 - 7pm.

Reinventing Web Services: An Interview with Heather Hesketh

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:00:00 GMT

TriUPA sponsor Heather Hesketh (hesketh.com) is interviewed in the latest Carolina STC newsletter. Here's an excerpt:
How did you get started in the user experience business?
In 1995, businesses were asking “Web what?” and I was trying to change my career from technical writing to applied anthropology. So, it was user experience that brought me to the Web. From the beginning what excited me about the Web was its potential to transform business and communication. To be effective online requires balancing business goals, user needs, and technical feasibility. User experience brings to bear methodologies from applied anthropology, computer science/human factors, and marketing to strike this balance. It took ten years to evangelize this approach such that business would embrace it. For our part, we advocate the use of user centered design methodologies not through the message of “it’s the right thing to do” but through metrics and results.
Read the full interview at the STC's site.

Communicating Designs Through Comics

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Rebekah Sedaca from Capstrat led a great discussion on using comics to communicate design at our last TriUPA local lunch. You can read about Rebekah's experience in her Boxes & Arrows article, "Comics: Not just for laughs!" If you're interested in trying to use comics in your work, Rebekah shared a list of useful resources you can check out:

BarCampRDU 2007

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Registration is open for BarCampRDU 2007!
A Bar Camp is an unconference where people interested in a wide range of technologies come together to teach and learn. Unfamiliar with the un-conference format? Here's the idea in a nutshell. Rather than having scheduled speakers, everyone pitches sessions the morning of the BarCamp. Those sessions are put on a schedule, and lots of little groups form for intense group learning. Everyone is expected to teach, to talk, to participate. Yeah, its different from a regular conference - but it works!
If you're interested, I would head over and sign-up soon, it looks like it could fill up fast. BarCampRDU 2007 will be August 4, 2007 at the Red Hat Offices, Raleigh, NC.

TriUPA now on Facebook

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Triangle UPA now has a TriUPA Facebook Group! The group is open to members and non-members alike.

Ready for DCampSouth?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the event a success!

DCampSouth is this Saturday!

Time: 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Date: June 2nd, 2006
Place: School of Communication Arts, Raleigh, NC

DCampSouth, the unconference for everyone interested in design and user experience, is this Saturday! I hope I'll see you at the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh this weekend, but first I wanted share a few interesting things about DCampSouth.

We're opening with a keynote by Thomas Vander Wal! We're very excited that Thomas has agree to kick things off for us.
DCamp is all about great discussions, and anyone can start one. We're going to invite everyone who attends to propose a session and add it to the schedule on Saturday morning. No PowerPoints are necessary, and you don't even have to prepare any material to propose a discussion.
DCampSouth is FREE!
There's lots more info on the DCampSouth wiki, so be sure to stop by and check it out. You can find a schedule for the day, proposed session ideas, directions and more... http://dcampsouth.pbwiki.com

See you soon!

Article: "Comics: Not just for laughs!"

Thu, 24 May 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Congratulations to TriUPA member Rebekah Sedaca (Capstrat), on her recent article in Boxes and Arrows:Comics: Not just for laughs!Using comics is a novel means of communicating complex design concepts. There is has been a lot of talk about it recently, but it this medium only reserved for artists? Rebekah Sedaca decided to give it a try. It worked and she's outlined her process and tools that you may be able to use.

Trip report: CHI 2007

Fri, 11 May 2007 21:00:00 GMT

I attended CHI 2007 in San Jose. CHI is a large (2,500+ attendees) conference that focuses on academic HCI research, but also includes many panels and sessions on trends in user experience research and design. Here are some of my observations from CHI. undefinedAbe
Trends in design
Bill Moggridge’s keynote talk emphasized the need for “intuitive design” to help navigate complexity and create designs that people enjoy. He quoted Eames: “the design is an expression of the purpose… it may if it is good enough be judged as art.”

He then laid out a framework of “design skills”:

Frame (or reframe) a problem or objective.
Create and envision alternatives.
Select from a range of alternatives (solution space).
Visualize and prototype.
Synthesize a solution within constraints, and understand the impact of design changes on results.

He gave a usefully simplified example of how cultural context can influence design. In Japan, most professionals commute on trains, and the social norm requires maintaining a respectful quiet. As a result, Japanese commuters work quietly with mobile devices, using many small buttons and a complex UI. Americans, on the other hand, commute primarily by car. Fiddling with small buttons and screens and difficult and dangerous while driving, but we can “shout to our hearts’ content,” so voice input is a promising alternative.

BM also showed an entertaining video of a Japanese woman trying to purchase a soft drink with her i-Mode cell phone. This was a usability disaster, and illustrates how the design of many mainstream products is still basically broken. Many videos are included with the DVD accompanying his recent book, Designing Interactions.

A later panel, “Who Killed Design?” followed up on BM’s ideas of intuitive design. Bill Buxton described the crit [that’s a critique, as in MFA and similar design programs] as “a fundamental part of the design process,” but one that’s rarely written about or discussed. He argued the design community needs to reflect more carefully on the role of structured critique and feedback in the design process. The trend in design education, presented by educators Terry Winograd and Meg Armstrong, is for heterogeneous teams (e.g., business, engineering, and design) and incorporating reflection on design activities. A challenge for both students and practitioners is to distinguish “problem setting” from “problem solving” and learn when to apply each approach.

Buxton argued passionately that “there is a calculus [of design], it’s just not the same calculus we use in the sciences, and it must be respected.” The CFO’s opinion on design should not be considered equivalent to an experienced designer’s opinion, just as it wouldn’t be considered equivalent to an engineer’s opinion.
Prototyping
A panel on prototyping took up the challenge of “what’s wrong with prototyping in HCI research?” In a nutshell, current prototyping practices are weakundefinedprototypes aren’t real (representative of the ultimate system or design idea being investigated), and evaluation using them isn’t real (participants, tasks, questions, and time periods are limited or unrealistic). Unfortunately, “getting more real isn’t realistic,” because creating more detailed prototypes and extensive evaluations is prohibitively expensive in many cases.

The panel focused on addressing this dilemma in HCI research, but design and UX practitioners likely confront similar problems. Two approaches seemed particularly promising. Jonathan Grudin emphasized the bias inherent in having the prototype creator (e.g. an interaction designer or information architect) evaluate the prototype. Even when another person (e.g., usability engineer) evaluates the prototype, she is likely to be a friend and collaborator. Grudin suggested an exchange approach: “you evaluate my prototype, I’ll evaluate yours.” Of course, this may be difficult in cases where confidentiality is an issue. But an IA working on an intranet might be able to evaluate a prototype for someone in another industry working on an ecommerce site, and vice versa. Ron Baecker suggested evaluating multiple prototypes at one time, to get a broader range of opinion and more useful suggestions from users. But Jared Spool countered that, in practice, “the same design team can’t create meaningfully different prototypes” and it would be too expensive to engage multiple teams in prototyping for the same project.

Spool also emphasized the importance of failure, saying “it’s very important that we talk about failure.” He suggested morbidity and mortality conferences in medicine as a potential model for UX/HCI. The idea is to focus “not on success or failure, but what you’ve learned.” Grudin suggested the “overoptimistic” history of videoconferencing as a cautionary tale. Initial research on videoconferencing was very encouraging, with successful small-scale evaluations, but there was a lack of attention to serious problems that emerged with widespread use. He concluded that “HCI as a field needs more reflection and consolidation of what’s been learned.”
Web 2.0 and enterprise software
“Web 2.0” ideas have taken public, “consumer-facing” sites by stormundefinedcan they do the same for internal, enterprise software? Jonathan Grubb of RubyRed Labs asked us to “please never say the word ‘enterprise’ again.” Instead, he encouraged designers to “pretend you’re making consumer software for people who work in big companies.” He contrasted the power and rapid adoption of social tools, such as Facebook, versus administrative tools such as a university’s directory. The idea is to replace the traditional “top-down push” and centralized software with individual-led adoption. The very structure of traditional enterprise software inhibits rapid iteration, which is critical to effective design.

Grubb suggested designers try to “Give people something that will inspire envy in their coworkers.” He gave the example of “showing off” Basecamp in an organization that was using MS Projectundefinedcoworkers literally envied Basecamp’s simplicity and visual appeal. He further argued that “niche consumer sites have been successful, so why not niche business applications?” A continually improving ecosystem of public tools, such as Yahoo Pipes, enable designers and web developers to quickly prototype new concepts.
New approaches in ethnography and design research

Informances
Ron Wakkary presented “informances” as a way to bridge ethnography and design. His team worked with families as “everyday designers.” In the informances, students who conducted the ethnography went on to act out the role of a participant. He showed a video of an informance that highlighted how one participant in the study struggled to use cell phone voice recognition. The benefits of this approach include understanding embodied action (such as the physical movements involved in using a cell phone), and developing a shared understanding of the insights from fieldwork. Wakkary cautioned that, like participant observation, informance is a practiced skill, and not everyone is comfortable performing.
Dialogues in design research
Johanna Brewer presented her experiences with workshops that combined fieldwork, group discussion, and design. The workshops were intended to explore the theme of “in-betweenness,” as expressed in activities such as public waiting (lines, etc.), and in transitional times/spaces (such as commuting). The workshops included “research speed-datingundefined2 minute introductions” to match participants, scavenger hunts and observation tasks in the city, and the presentation of interesting examples from the field. Participants then engaged in a design activity based on ideas from the field data, and finally reflected on the results and their conceptual significance.

The workshops led to interesting concepts to explore futher with research (e.g., the theme of ‘legitimacy’undefinedthe right to be waiting/lingering in a certain place at a certain time). In addition, provocative design concepts also emerged, such as “myst-air,” which would create clouds of water vapor, to mark one’s ‘territory’ in a public space. Brewer characterized the workshops as a cyclic process between practical engagement and conceptual discussion, creating a dialogue between theory and practice with a complex topic. This is an intriguing alternative to standard UCD and participatory design processes.

Have you signed up for DCampSouth?

Mon, 07 May 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Less than a month now until DCampSouth! Have you signed up? If you have, why not invite your friends and co-workers? DCampSouth is open to anyone who wants to talk (and learn) about design undefined not just designers.

DCampSouth Date & Location

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:00:00 GMT

It's official, DCampSouth will happen on Saturday, June 2nd at the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh, NC.

Date: June 2, 2007
Place: School of Communication Arts

What happens next? Well, it's time to spread the word about DCampSouth. You can help us out by posting information to weblogs, groups, and mailing lists. Let you co-workers know! Let your friends know!

Also, we're still looking for volunteers to help organize the event. If you're interested, email Jackson Fox (jacksonfox@gmail.com).

Help Plan DCampSouth!

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Hey there DCampers! I wanted to post a quick update on the status of DCampSouth. We’ve had several suggestions for locations and are very close to selecting both a day and a place. Speaking of dates, I’m interested in hearing which of these days work best for people: May 19th, May 26th, June 2nd.

The next big step is to put together a planning committee to start hammering out the details of the event. If you are interested in helping to plan DCampSouth, please email me at jacksonfox@gmail.com. I’m looking for 5-6 people to help out. If you’ve already emailed me about planning, I’ll be in touch soon!

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on locations, and a big thanks to everyone who has signed-up on the wiki. If you haven’t signed-up yet, don’t forget to add your name to the Campers page on the wiki.

Announcing DCampSouth 2007

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Triangle UPA is excited to announce that planning has begun for DCampSouth 2007, an unconference for anyone interested in design and user experience.

When: June 2, 2007
Where: School of Communication Art, Raleigh NC

Learn more at the DCampSouth 2007 Wiki

In May 2006 I had the good fortune to attend DCamp at the SocialText headquarters in Palo Alto, CA.

Masterminded by Rashmi Sinha and Stacie Hibino, DCamp brought together over 150 people to talk about design, information architecture, usability, and user experience. It was a huge success. I learned a lot, met some really interesting people, and left feeling inspired.

At the end of the day it occurred to me that folks in Silicon Valley shouldn't be having all the fun, so I stood up and announced that I hoped to bring the DCamp idea back home to Durham, NC. Well, it took a little while, but the time has come to make DCampSouth happen.

The goals of DCampSouth are simple.

1. Have fun
2. Meet interesting people
3. Learn a lot
4. Build the community

To achieve these goals we're going to need CAMPERS, ORGANIZERS, SPONSORS, and most importantly... A LOCATION. Unconferences are democratic things, so we're putting the call out to anyone interested to get involved.

If you have a great location near RTP, or if you know of a great location, email me at jacksonfox@gmail.com.
If you want to help make DCampSouth happen, email me at jacksonfox@gmail.com.
If you want to be a sponsor of DCampSouth, email me at jacksonfox@gmail.com.
If you want to attend DCampSouth, add your name to the DCampSouth wiki and sign-up for the DCampSouth Google Group to stay up-to-date.

We can't set a date until we have a location, but we're hoping to find a Saturday in May to hold the event.

To stay informed, you should watch the DCampSouth wiki, subscribe to the DCampSouth Google Group, and follow the TriUX weblog. In the mean time start thinking about how you want DCampSouth to work, and share your
ideas on the wiki.

We hope to see you at DCampSouth!

Updated: We have a date and location now!

Presentation recap: Art Swanson on Windows Presentation Foundation

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:00:00 GMT

The first event in TriUPA's 2007 program series was held Tuesday, 3/20/07 at GSK. Art Swanson from Insight provided an introduction to Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), and Microsoft's Blend application.WPF is the user interface and graphics framework for applications developed with Microsoft's .NET 3.0. As Art demonstrated, Microsoft's rethinking of this fundamental technology has led to some major advances for designers, and (potentially) for users.WPF is based on XAML, a markup language for specifying user interfaces. By moving user interface layout description into a markup language, Microsoft has achieved a high level of abstraction--something more often associated with HTML/CSS than desktop applications. In essence, the "style" of desktop applications can now be specified by the designer separately from the underlying application code and logic. (Just as Web designers have been able to achieve dramatically different presentation styles by applying CSS to well-structured HTML--see CSS Zen Garden for examples).This ability alone would be interesting, but hand-coding complex XAML for complex desktop applications might cause designers to quickly lose interest. Microsoft's Blend tool provides extensive visual design tools for building WPF interfaces. Using Blend, designers can specify complex interactions, such as using a slider to control the size of another element of the interface, without any hand coding. Even a brief demo of these tools was extremely compelling, so I'd suggest that anyone interested download the Blend trial from Microsoft's site. In particular, Blend could be extremely useful for rapid prototyping of interfaces to support usability testing or other UCD activities.Thanks to Art for sharing his expertise on these important new technologies! --Abe Crystal

April social event for TriUPA

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Capstrat has generously offered to host the April social event for TriUPA.
Come out this Tuesday evening for drinks, snacks, and the good company of your fellow usability professionals.
Usability students graduating soon should take special note the benefits of being in a room full of potential future employers ;-)

WHAT: TriUPA Social
WHEN: Tuesday, April 3 6-8 pm
WHERE: Capstrat

http://www.capstrat.com/cs/contact.cfm#map

1201 Edwards Mill Road
Suite 102
Raleigh , NC 27607
919.828-0806 (main number)

There are no special parking instructions.
The building locks at 7:00 , but may be open later for the event.
If it is locked when you arrive, please call the main number.

Capstrat will be providing beer, soda and snacks.

Interested? Please RSVP online by Monday, April 2nd.

(To RSVP, click "Register Now," then log in if you are a TriUPA member, or enter your contact information if you aren't a member).
Contact Abe Crystal, TriUPA President, or Virginia Ingram at Capstrat [vingram@capstrat.com], with any questions.

New Book: “Thoughts on Interaction Design”

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Peter Warren, TriUPA VP of Membership, recommends this new book by Prof. Jon Kolko at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Thoughts on Interaction Design
It is the primary goal of this text to better define Interaction Design: to provide a definition that encompasses the intellectual facets of the field, the conceptual underpinnings of Interaction Design as a legitimate human-centered profession, and the particular methods used by practitioners in their day to day experiences. This definition and investigation centers around the issue of argument and rhetoric, and illustrates that Interaction Design is a form of communication that can be thought of as identical in nature to language. As Interaction Design is a vast subject, this text attempts to touch on many topics in a slight manner rather than one topic in a deep manner.

Reminder: Good Experience Live Conference

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Gel 2007, in New York City, April 19 - 20. It's one of the most acclaimed conferences around, with an array of innovative speakers that inform, but go way beyond, mainstream user experience work. Register by March 20 for the best rate.

Windows Presentation Foundation & Windows Vista

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:00:00 GMT

The first TriUPA event of 2007 is here!
Windows Presentation Foundation & Windows Vista
The release of Windows Vista and Microsoft Presentation Foundation
(WPF) provides designers with a powerful set of new tools for
developing Windows user experiences. Art Swanson will introduce us to
the possibilities afforded by Vista and WPF.As an extra special bonus, we're giving away free 1-year TriUPAmemberships to
new folks who attend the event!
Location: Ruvane Auditorium at GlaxoSmithKline (see directions below)
Date: March 20, 2007
Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm
RSVP at TriUPA.org.

Directions from Raleigh
* Take I-40 West to the Durham Freeway (147) North.
* Follow the Durham Freeway and take the Alexander Drive exit.
* Turn left off the exit and move to the right lane.
* Take a right into the GlaxoSmithKline campus at the 2nd stoplight (Moore Dr).
* Go to the fourth driveway and turn right, the sign will say Administration #1.
* Park in the parking deck, there is a walkway from the parking deck to Ruvane Auditorium.
* Sign in at the security desk, the event is held in the auditorium to the right of the lobby.
Directions from Durham
* Take the Durham Freeway (147) South to the Alexander Drive exit, and turn right off the exit (stoplight).
* Stay in the right turn lane and turn right at the next stoplight into GSK (Moore Dr).
* Go to the fourth driveway and turn right, the sign will say Administration #1.
* Park in the parking deck, there is a walkway from the parking deck to Ruvane Auditorium.
* Sign in at the security desk, the event is held in the auditorium to the right of the lobby.

NCSU DesignTech Looking for Interested Students

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 22:00:00 GMT

NCSU DesignTech Looking for Interested Students

Dr. Ben Watson (Computer Science) and Pat Fitzgerald (Art+Design) heads up a great Summer Research Program. It's open to students from the UNC School System. Last year participants came from NC State University, NC Central University, Meredith and Peace.

To get an idea what we were up to last time...

From DesignTech home page http://designtech.ncsu.edu/:

Design Tech -- Sparking Research in Interactive Visual Design

Design Tech, an REU site funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and the Department of Defense (DoD) Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Experiences (ASSURE), is an interactive visual design hothouse with projects spanning artificial intelligence, graphics, visualization, and visual design. Projects include cinematic camera control for interactive narratives and games; automated tours through virtual, visualized environments; agent-based visualizations of streaming data such as RSS feeds and sensor telemetries; and PDA-based navigation tools.

The Design Tech undergraduate experience involves a 12-week summer research program that provides outstanding research opportunities in the areas covered by Design Tech faculty research interests. Students receive a stipend, travel and living expenses during their participation in Design Tech. This Research Expereinces for Undergraduates (REU) program is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.

Talk at UNC: “Sharing Knowledge, Multiplying Value: The Non-Linear Nature of Open Source Software”

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:00:00 GMT

The OCLC/Frederick G. Kilgour Lecture in Information and Library Science at UNC SILS has been announced:What: Sharing Knowledge, Multiplying Value: The Non-Linear Nature of Open Source SoftwareWho: Michael Tiemann, Vice President, Open Source Affairs for Red HatWhen: 8:30am, February 20, 2007Where: UNC’s School of Social Work Tate Turner Kuralt Building AuditoriumMore information: Day-long forum to highlight sharing knowledge

NCSU HFES Presents Henry Petroski

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:00:00 GMT

North Carolina State University Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Student Chapter,
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Carolina Chapter, and the Institute of Industrial Engineers Raleigh Chapter proudly host:
Henry Petroski
Presenting: "The Evolution of Useful Things"
Monday, February 5, 2007
5:30pm-6:30pm
North Carolina State University Centennial Campus
Engineering Building II, Room 1025 (EB2 1025)
[890 Oval Dr., Raleigh NC 27695]
Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of History at Duke University. He has written broadly on the topics of design, success and failure, and the history of engineering and technology. His books include:

"To Engineer Is Human", "Design Paradigms", and "Engineers of Dreams", all of which deal with large structures like bridges. He has also written about small, common things in his books, "The Pencil", "The Evolution of Useful Things", "The Book on the Bookshelf", and
"Small Things Considered". His next book will be a technical and cultural history of the toothpick.

Please RSVP to Jennifer Cowley by February 2 if you plan to attend.
(Note: You are welcome to attend even if you cannot or do not respond.)

Cory Doctorow speaking at UNC

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:00:00 GMT

What: Cory Doctorow speaking at UNCQuick on Cory: Boingboing editor, EFF, SciFi Writer, Disney-obsessed Copyfighter, Fulbright Chair at Annenberg UCSDWhen: 2 pm Thursday February 22nd (aka 2/22 at 2)Where: Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel HillRead about Cory's previous trip to UNC. More about Cory:Cory Doctorow is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing, and a contributor to Wired, Popular Science, Make, the New York Times, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. He was formerly Director of European Affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards and treaties. In that capacity, he worked to balance international treaties, polices and standards on copyright and related rights, advocating in the halls of governments, the United Nations, standards bodies, corporations, universities and non-profit. Presently, he serves as the Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. His novels are published by Tor Books and simultaneously released on the Internet under Creative Commons licenses that encourage their re-use and sharing, a move that increases his sales by enlisting his readers to help promote his work. He has won the Locus and Sunburst Awards, and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards. He co-founded the open source peer-to-peer software company OpenCola, sold to OpenText, Inc in 2003, and presently serves on the boards and advisory boards of the Participatory Culture Foundation, the MetaBrainz Foundation, Technorati, Inc, Stikkit, Annenberg Center for the Study of Online Communities, SiteShuffle, and Onion Networks, Inc. His latest novel is Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.

NCSU human factors talk: Henry Petroski

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:00:00 GMT

What: Talk by Dr. Henry PetroskiWhen: Monday, 2/5/2007, 5:30 - 6:30 pmWhere: NCSU Centennial Campus, Engineering Building II, Room 1025 (EB2 1025)Speaker Bio:Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesi Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. He has written broadly on the topics of design, success and failure, and the history of engineering and technology. His dozen or so books on these subjects include To Engineer Is Human, Design Paradigms, and Engineers of Dreams, all of which deal with large structures like bridges. He has also written about small, common things in his books, The Pencil, The Evolution of Useful Things, The Book on the Bookshelf, and Small Things Considered. His next book will be a technical and cultural history of the toothpick. A memoir about delivering newspapers in the 1950s and about what predisposed him to become an engineer is entitled Paperboy. His most recent book is Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design.More information: NCSU HFES chapter events

Welcome new TriUPA officers

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 22:00:00 GMT

A new year ushers in a new crop of TriUPA officers:• Abe Crystal, SILS, President • Jackson Fox, Lulu, VP of Programs • Peter Warren, Insight PD, VP of Membership • Mir Haynes, Anabo Studios, VP of Communications • Noel Fiser, Motricity, Secretary/Treasurer We're eager to hear your ideas for improving TriUPA. Do you have thoughts on events we should be offering, what we should be doing online, or how we can better serve our members generally? Please comment on this post or get in touch with one of the officers.

TriUPA Officer Elections & 2006 Report — Thursday 12/14

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 22:00:00 GMT

It's December and the first official year of TriUPA is coming to a close, which means it's election time!

Come on out to Motricity's new office on Thursday 12/14 @ 6:30 PM to review the end of the year report from our current president (yes, that's me) and to vote on new officers.

Executive Council candidates for 2007 include:

Abe Crystal, President
Jackson Fox, VP of Programs
Peter Warren, VP of Membership
TBD, VP of Communications
TBD, Secretary/Treasurer

As you can see we still have two vacancies. If you're interested in being a leader in the local community, making a lot of friends, and having a great time in the process, contact me and I can provide more information about the roles and responsibilities. '07 promises to be our greatest year yet. We raised more than $5K in sponsorship funds and are looking forward to putting it to great use in service to the local community. So, sign up for one of the open officer positionsexpand your network, grow your leadership skills.

Note that you must be a TriUPA member to vote, but that's quite easy (and cheap--$15 a year). Sign up today!

(Heck, show your support by joining even if you don't intend to vote!)

Hope to see you there!

-Rick

Gel 2007

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Good Experience Live (Gel) Gel ("Good Experience Live") is a conference and community exploring good experience in all its forms -- in business, art, society, technology, and life.Gel 2007 will be held: Thursday-Friday, April 19-20, 2007 The Equitable Theater (7th at 51st/52nd) New York City Register by December 12th for the best price.

Recap: World Usability Day 2006 Interactionary

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:00:00 GMT

GSKThe GlaxoSmithKline team exhibited enthusiasm and great team spirit on their “home court.” After hearing the problem description, the team divided into user researchers and designers, with two members interviewing members of the audience while two began design. GSK was also the only team to bring an audience member into the end of the process for evaluation. Their final design was focused on simplicity and addressing the problem of motivationundefinedhow to get children to pick up after themselves. The proposed storage was designed to be child-friendly, and to make a fun sound when an item was dropped into it. The limitation of this design was that it didn’t solve the entire problemundefinedin particular, it didn’t address the organization and retrieval needs of parents, or the specific characteristics of computer games and books. IBMThe IBM team was well-organized and communicated effectively, with dry humor and good use of the whiteboard. They took a “blue sky” approach to the design brief, arguing that all content will soon be available digitally. Based on this assumption, they designed a set-top device that could provide unified access to this digital living room. The drawback of this approach is that it might be very difficult to create an interface for 3 – 5 year-old children. N.C. StateThe N. C. State team came out strong with good teamwork, and managed their time effectively. The team solicited design ideas from parents in the audience, and focused on organization of physical materials. They developed a combination of color-coded shelves and wheeled organizing bin. This design was both practical and realistic. Its major limitation is that it does not address the need to organize and retrieve materials based on specific characteristics, such as title or author. UNCThe UNC team also came out with a strong focus on teamwork and audience interaction, with two team members interviewing audience members while two others clarified assumptions. Similar to IBM, the UNC team pushed the limits of living-room technology. Their design integrated a personal library kiosk (with a touch-screen interface) into shelving. The shelves supported both adults (high height, lockable cabinets) and children (low height, open shelves and bins). The limitations of this approach included cost and implementation, and the usability of the kiosk for children. The audience speaks...Here are the results of the audience voting: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th GSK 48% 16% 16% 20% IBM 0% 32% 20% 48% UNC 20% 16% 44% 20% NC State 32% 36% 16% 16%

IBM Interactionary Team Profile

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Nicole S. Robbins is a User Experience Designer for IBM WebSphere. "I'm currently working on IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory. With all projects, I strive to simplify the user experience and consider the user, then the technology. I joined team IBM to rally around our common initiative and meet more designers in the field."

David Kovach is a Senior User Experience Designer at IBM. "I am a user experience multidisciplinarian currently working in the IBM developerWorks organization. My background is in the enterprise software arena having been raised in the wonderful world of SAP. Much of my formal experience was in Silicon Valley - a hotbed for UE, UCD, UI, HF, Ux, HCI, and home to the 13 acronyms that were created in the last 2 minutes. I work hard to shed personal views, challenge executive beliefs and take a strong stand everyday for what users want and need. Currently, I am working on a 14 part mini-series called, "UE Blog", which will hit www.ibm.com/developerworks in the coming weeks."

Lisa M. Salcedo Eichorn works in the IBM Software Group, WPLC for the Lotus Product Design. "Working with a multidisciplinary team, I strive to create software products and information deliverables that are simple, useful and effective. Prior to joining the Lotus team, I designed IBM products for the Networking, Retail Store Solutions and Pervasive Computing divisions."

Ryan L. Urquhart is part of the IBM Software Group, Tivoli and is a Tivoli User Experience Engineer. "I am a User Xperience Engineer working with the ITCAM portfolio of products. I have a background in Industrial & Systems Engineering, with a concentration in Human Factors Engineering. In my current position, I use Copper's Outside-In-Design methodology to make the product more consumable for our customers. Additionally, I assist with mentoring other product families inside Tivoli. I decided to join this team of professionals to learn what others are doing to incorporate usability into their process, meet new people with similar backgrounds, and bring home the GOLD for IBM :-)."

GSK Interactionary Team Profile #1 - Lora Fairbanks

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you get involved in user experience design?
I went to college for Industrial Design and Graphic design. In the curriculum at NC State University's College of Design, I gained a lot of exposure to Human Factors. Designing with specific people and needs in mind really interested me and I chose to explore this further when choosing my career after college.

What's your speciality and is that your favorite part of user experience design?
I am an interaction designer - the problem solving inherent in this role is definitely my favorite part of user experience design. I would say that I am most happy when there is also a graphical element involved.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a user experience designer?
Being a User Experience Designer is a challenge in itself - you see allllllll the things around you that could be better and deliberate on how you could fix them, given the opportunity.

What is one product that has been your crowning achievement and why?
Palscommunity.com was a really rewarding project. I liked that it had a philanthropic goal - empowering patient advocates. Additionally, it was a "from scratch" website and was rewarding to see the process work from start to finish.

What's one of your favorite designs (of any kind)?
I love gmail!

What do you do when you're not dreaming about how to improve all of the world's broken products?
I have an amazing dog named Able who runs the remainder of my life. I am an avid painter, enjoy travelling, and have recently taken up cycling.

GSK Interactionary Team Profile #2 - Jean Wright

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you get involved in user experience design?
Working collaboratively with our multifunctional UCD team members here at GSK

What's your speciality and is that your favorite part of user experience design?
Specialties and favorite parts - Contextual Inquiry, Usability Testing, Personas and Scenarios, High-level Navigation Design

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a user experience designer?
Managing shortened timelines and shifting goals / strategies by clients.

What is one product that has been your crowning achievement and why?
Current project - high interest with so many different services - redesigning Brand site through interviews, cardsorts, usability testing, IA design and iterative design services.

What's one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?
Favorite? In terms of functional design that's usable - Southwest.com (sooo easy to book a flight) Least Favorite? Automated check-out kiosks at grocery stores - argghh - still a bit of user research left to do on those.

What do you do when you're not dreaming about how to improve all of the world's broken products? Spending time w/ family & friends, traveling, swimming in the ocean, dancing, cooking, yoga, walking, reading

GSK Interactionary Team Profile #3 - Cheryl Moehlenbrock

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you get involved in user experience design?
Mainly through my internship here at GSK.

What's your speciality and is that your favorite part of user experience design?
I'm still learning but currently, my specialty is creating the visual design for web pages and applications.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a user experience designer?
Finding the best compromise between the client's goals, ease of use, and what looks good.

What is one product that has been your crowning achievement and why?
The project I'm most proud of so far is a computer mouse design that adjusts to accommodate a range of hand sizes. It also encourages the user's wrist and forearm to be in a neutral posture.

What's one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?
favorite design: the OXO Good Grips kitchen tools line.
least favorite: Hummers - They may be well designed, but they're not meant for the road. They're overkill.

What do you do when you're not dreaming about how to improve all of the world's broken products?
When I'm not at school or work, I'm painting, playing guitar, spending time with friends, or reading.

GSK Interactionary Team Profile #4 - Lori Hawkins

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you get involved in user experience design?
I was working as a trainer / tech writer for an over-engineered (unnecessarily so) application. The team brought in a Usability expert who not only suggested a larger study, but also suggested our team learn about Usability. I became one of the first members of our team to start using the techniques (with the guidance of a great mentor, and the fact that I had spent many years evaluating software for schools.)

What's your speciality and is that your favorite part of user experience design?
My specialty is research and analysis. However, I like doing many aspects of the job, including some design. My favorite part is the users expressing their appreciation of being asked for input. It makes the job seem worthwhile.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a user experience designer?
As I am sure all in the field have - balancing user needs against business needs.

What is one product that has been your crowning achievement and why?
Can't say. It's top secret and I'd have to eliminate you if I told. :-)

What's one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?
Knitting needles - how simple can it get. (see below). Least favorite - wow that could be a long list - I especially hate doors that have lack of affordance so I look like a dork trying to push a door that should be pulled.

What do you do when you're not dreaming about how to improve all of the world's broken products?
Knitting - lots and lots of knitting, and I read voraciously.

GSK Interactionary Team Profile #5 (alternate) - Gina Rumley

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you get involved in user experience design?
Was a software trainer for many years & Tech Writer then was UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Analyst which was somewhat similar to this field- easy transition.

What's your speciality and is that your favorite part of user experience design?
User research- but I enjoy working with wireframes and mockups.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a user experience designer?
Analyzing data and applying it to a new design.

What do you do when you're not dreaming about how to improve all of the world's broken products?

UNC Interactionary Team Profile #4 — Noel Fiser

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you become interested in user experience design?My family encouraged artistic and intellectual expression. Though my brother's the certified artist in the family, I always enjoyed thecreativity involved--even if I never have time for it. Web site design gave me the opportunity to apply structure to creativity through HTML and later CSS. There's so much opportunity for self-expression, as well as rigorous analytical skills, I was hooked. What’s your favorite aspect of user experience design?That's easy. When someone tells me that my work is "cool" I know I've done a good job, because they're no longer thinking about the drudgery of the task they're working on but they've been immered in the whole user experience. What’s one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?I don't tend to have favorites because I see interesting designs every day (digg,baby!). Unfortunately, it's all too easy to make a bad user interface, so I try not to keep those designs in my mind for very long either. Plus, if you get too attached or repulsed by one thing, you automatically limit your own creativity. What do you do when you’re not dreaming about how to improve all of the world’s broken products?Who has time for anything but dreaming these days? There's a lot of work out there and I try to keep myself busy--constant improvement. That said, the occasional night out, trip to the gym, or nature walk can be energizing.

The Triangle’s World Usability Day Keynote Speaker

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Graeme Boddy, Vice President of Information Services and Business Applications at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina

Graeme was born in Nelson in Lancashire, England. He and his family spent most of their life traveling the world with his father who was in the R.A.F. After traveling through Europe, Graeme took a temporary job as a Computer Operator in 1978 to build funds to attend college. He quickly found himself in the computer boom of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and after programming in COBOL & RPG on large number of Computer Systems found himself in management.

Graeme has lead teams in many countries, with different language and cultures. He is committed to building diverse teams and providing an environment of growth.

Having built many systems as a programmer, analyst and designer, and seeing the less than stellar impact that poorly designed systems have had upon the poor users upon which they were foisted, Graeme has a new found respect for usability and its practitioners.

UNC Interactionary Team Profile #3 — Lisa Thursby

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you become interested in user experience design?I began my career as an anthropologist studying material culture. I was particularly interested in how object design manipulated human behavior and how to interpret the messages people send to each other through their ownership of objects and related designs. When I started investigating how these concepts applied to technology and electronic environments, I discovered user experience design. What’s your favorite aspect of user experience design?Discovering how users relate to objects and electronic spaces in terms of understanding the layers of needs and impetus behind object use. What’s one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?Any object perfectly balanced between aesthetically driven design, and functionality. When I find such objects, I tend to buy them for inspiration. Once, I saw a thermos at a local grocer that was so beautifully designed I simply had to touch it. Once in my hands, I noticed it had some ingenious features. I had no interest in using a thermos until I encountered that design. I want my designs to compel other people in the same way. Least favorite: Insert name of website you despise the most here >[_____]. What do you do when you’re not dreaming about how to improve all of the world’s broken products?I'm a long-distance runner. I use the proverbial "runner's high" as a creative space. Some of my best creative ideas were birthed during 6-10 mile brainstorms.

Interactionary Panel of Judges

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

We have a great panel of judges for this year's interactionary! Register to attend, today!

Virginia Hill of IBM
Shimon Shmueli of Touch360
Ross Teague of Insight Product Development

Virginia Hill is an IBM interaction designer, committed to the use of a contextual inquiry approach to understand software users, their needs and behaviors, and to form the basis for user models whose goals drive the design of products.

Shimon Shmueli is co-founder of Touch360, an RTP-based strategic innovation and product design firm. His expertise is in new product development and design, innovation, and marketing. Before founding Touch360, Shimon was with IBM, where he held leadership positions in marketing, division-level business strategies, and new product development and design. Shimon was a co-founder and CTO at KeyNetica, a company that pioneered the use of the USB Flash Drive as a mobile platform. Shimon holds an MSEE/CS degree from Polytechnic University; and an MBA from Wake Forest University. Shimon has been a speaker and mentor in various forums, including Johns Hopkins University, Virginia Tech, MIT Sloan, and George Mason University, where he was an adjunct marketing professor.

Ross C. Teague Ph.D., is the Director of Research at Insight. Ross' role is to create the most useful and powerful methods for collecting product requirements from people based on their abilities, goals, and environments, and to provide the understanding and opportunity areas needed for Insight's innovation and design process. He has been conducting user research and interface evaluations for the past 15 years using methods "stolen" from psychology, marketing, advertising, sociology, and anthropology. He's currently focusing on definining the experiences consumers are interested in having with products so his team can "design for experiences." He received his Ph.D. in Human Factors and Applied Cognition from George Mason University.

Motricity looks for simpler ways for cell phone users to download content

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

A story in today's News & Observer profiled some of Motricity's recent user research. Congratulations to Rick Cecil, TriUPA president, and the rest of the Motricity UX team!newsobserver.com | Rest for an overworked digit Motricity looks for simpler ways for cell phone users to download content Motricity of Durham studied how people use their cell phones so that it could make the interaction easier. The goal: to get more people to spend more money.

UNC Interactionary Team Profile #2 — Christie McDaniel

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you become interested in user experience design?
I have became increasingly interested in user experience design throughout my time at SILS. Evaluating websites and developing websites for client really puts you in the user's position and you learn just how important it is to design your system or your interface around the needs of the user.

What’s your favorite aspect of user experience design?
I enjoy analyzing people to figure out what their needs are versus what can realistically be done. Creating user-centered systems is like putting together a puzzle - all of the pieces have to fit.

What’s one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?
I really enjoy interfaces on iPods. It's effective and easy-to-use - it does exactly what you want it to do. I despise frames - they are the worst thing to ever happen to websites!

What do you do when you’re not dreaming about how to improve all of the world’s broken products?
When I'm not in school I do yoga, I run, and I read absolutely anything I can get my hands on. And of course, there's my Nintendo DS which provides hours of fun.

UNC Interactionary Team Profile #1 — Brian Landau

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

How did you become interested in user experience design?I became interested in being a user experience designer when I came to SILS and started learning about the different specialties of Information Science. I became particularly interested in User-Centered design processes and all the techniques and disciplines that fall under that. What's your favorite aspect of user experience design?Thinking about and mapping out the users' flow through their interaction/information space.What's one of your favorite designs (of any kind)? One of your least favorite?

Delicious Library Application for MacOS X
Backpack from 37signals
TextMate text editor for the Mac
OmniOutliner Application from OmniGroup

What do you do when you're not dreaming about how to improve all of the world's broken products?World Domination… oops I mean Peace.Actually, I'm probably analyzing the latest episodes of my favorite TV shows: LOST, Jericho, and Heros. That and hoping to get a new Mac everytime a new model comes out.

Making Life Easy - A Project for World Usability Day 2006

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Making Life Easy is an initiative to "make some noise about things that are hard to use." You can:1) See what is frustrating other people
2) Rate these annoyances on a scale of Usability Pain (coming soon!)
3) Upload a photograph and describe what makes life needlessly difficult

World Usability Day: Time to register

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Register for World Usability Day Announcing the 2006 World Usability Day celebration in the Triangle! Join UX professionals from around the Triangle area for an Interactionary (a live design competition), keynote speech, food, drink, and fun! RSVP today! When: November 14th, 2006 from 6PM to 9PM Where: GlaxoSmithKline's Ruvane Auditorium Keynote: Graeme Boddy, VP of Information Services Business Applications of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Interactionary Design Competition We held a student competition last year and it was a huge success! This year we're expanding the competition to include two professional teams competing against each other and two student teams. Plus, each team will have only 10 minutes (Last year it was 20!) to design and present their solution to the problem. Professional Competition: IBM vs. TBA IBM Team

Nicole S. Robbins - User Experience Design, IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory
David Kovach - Senior User Experience Designer, IBM developerWorks
Lisa M. Salcedo Eichorn - IBM Software Group, WPLC - Lotus Product Design
Ryan L. Urquhart - IBM Software Group, Tivoli, Tivoli User Experience Engineer

Student Competition: UNC vs. NC State UNC Team

Brian Landau
Christie McDaniel
Noel Fiser
Lisa Thursby

NC State Team TBA RSVP today!

The NEW Web: An Unconference

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 22:00:00 GMT

The NEW Web: An Unconference When: Saturday, November 4, from 9 to 5 Where: Talley Student Center on the NC State Campus Cost: Free to attend What to bring: Laptops with wireless if you have them, lunch money, an open mind Who can attend: Everyone! STC Carolina and NC State STC Student Chapter are hosting our first ever unconference! The idea for this event is to share up-to-the-minute information about new web developments that are both easy and essential right now. We have scheduled sessions, but if there is something else you want to discuss then we can do that, too. The best part of any conference often takes place outside of the formal sessions; learning from and sharing with your peers is just as important and often more useful. That's the opportunity this unconference provides. - Abe Crystal

2006 Henderson Lecture: Dr. David Weinberger

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 21:00:00 GMT

What: "Everything is Miscellaneous," the UNC/SILS 2006 Henderson LectureWho: Dr. David WeinbergerWhen: 2 p.m., Thursday, December 7, 2006 Where: Murphey Hall Auditorium (room 116), UNC-Chapel Hill. A reception will follow. Abstract Ever since Aristotle, we have organized knowledge according to some basic principles. By odd coincidence - that is, by no coincidence at all - these are the same principles that guide how we organize objects in the physical world. The most common structure of knowledge is the branching tree, found in everything from books (volumes, chapters, sections…) to the tree of life (animals, vertebrates, mammals…). We've assumed that to know a field is to see how everything has its unique place. Then the digital revolution happened, eliminating the restrictions of physicality. For example, a real world librarian has to put a book on one and only one shelf whereas Amazon files books under as many different categories as possible. And, while traditionally the owners of the information own and control the organization of that information, in the digital realm, the users own the organization. You can't make changes in the basic principles of organization without changing the nature of knowledge itself: What knowledge is, who gets to decide, what constitutes a subject or topic, where does knowledge's authority come from? We are in the midst of this revolution that touches how we organize our businesses, our customers' control of the information they touch, and the "who" and "what" of trust. - Abe Crystal

It’s Time the Right Rail Advertising Bubble Bursts

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:00:00 GMT

by Rebekah Sedaca.
--originally published at Capstrat

Way back when the Web first started and before the corporate advertisers caught on to the whole information superhighway concept, Web designers and developers had all of this screen real estate in which we could display functionality, design, content, and information. Literally, we had a plethora of real estate in which to communicate our ideas and information.

Over time, as the heads in those corporate offices turned from their offline advertising to the Web, we saw a flurry of onsite advertising. With varying levels of success, popup ads, spam emails, banner ads and right rail promotions cluttered our minds, inboxes and screens. (The right rail is the rightmost column or section of a Web page that is often used to display advertisements.) With time and technology, tools like spam and popup blockers have diminished the effectiveness of online advertising. This has left advertisers with few online “safe” spaces, one of which is the right rail.

We have sold out the right rail to advertisers to the point that it’s becoming ineffective for even that purpose. User testing shows right rail, or column, “blindness” and it is only getting worse with the likes of Google sponsored links. Info World also recently published an article, "What Users Hate Most About Web Sites", that lists “invasive advertising” among its top gripes along with a note about “right rail blindness.” There are a number of hypotheses around the root cause of right rail blindness including the western convention of reading from left to right and superfluous advertising.

Rather than surrender the rightmost sections of our screens as useless for containing content and information (and ads, for that matter), we must take back that section of our screens. Web site navigation is one option. User testing on the subject has shown that users perform as well when navigation is on the right side of the screen as on the left. In one study, users were divided into two groups and asked to complete a series of tasks: one group using a left navigation-based site and the other a right navigation-based site. The results showed no significant different in time completion between the two sites.

There is even an argument to suggest that in following with Fitt’s Law, right navigation would be a more effective solution if convention could be ignored, since it is closer in proximity to the scroll bar. (And considering that the Web in its current state is relatively young, how set in stone can convention be?)

Right rail navigation also proved successful for audi.com. The right rail placement not only supported their “innovation in design” brand message, but also proved successful in user testing and rollout to the market. Furthermore, many blogging tools, like Word Press, are using the right rail of pages to capture tags, recent activities and the like. As blogging becomes more and more mainstream, the right rail may be able to rise to its former stature.

So can we change user behavior over time by removing advertising from the right rail and putting navigation and other site essential items there in its place? Only time will tell, but it sure beats the alternative of giving up on the right rail and losing that real estate all together.

I would love to get some feedback from the Triangle User Experience community on right rail usage, testing, and ideas about reclaiming it. Thoughts?

Re: mySpace.com/soc395m

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:00:00 GMT

By Lee Cherry

There has been an interesting chain of events happening behind the use of MySpace as an educational teaching tool by one of the professors here at NC State University - MySpace coursework under microscope. It appears, yet again, a new form of technology has far outpaced the policy and administration of technology in a large organization.

I am a big proponent of using "mashups" to create an environment for both blended learning and enhancing an application or web experience - facebook, linkedin, youtube, wordpress, movabletype, meebo, del.icio.us, etc. Integrating functionality of another succesful venture into product can be an added benefit in many instances. MySpace has been on a short list of “what ifs”… I think MySpace has managed to capture a lot of attention and loyalty among its users - of all age groups. Therefore, it was a matter of time before someone would adapt it in other innovative ways for their needs.

Now, I'm not saying MySpace is a silver bullet for any one particular thing, but it is definitely something that has caught a lot of people's attention and eyeballs - more eyeballs, more audience, more channels for revenue, more chances for change and learning; superficial maybe, time will only tell. I believe we are just scratching the surface for building a business use for presenting something on MySpace. On the other hand, I believe MySpace has a long way to go to correctly implement a more powerful means of adjusting some of the interface and usability issues.

To the University's credit, it has spent a lot of time and money on developing a series of tools that offer a method and a means to carry out distance education on a large scale - which is both the trend of the consumer education arena and the desire of the University (see more eyeballs statement from before). However, these tools still have a lot of room to grow before they really can address professor and student issues on usability and effectiveness.

I have trained with these distance learning tools and personally used them for classes but have found they can detract from the experience and are difficult to integrate into people's learning routine. I have also tried talking to the other professors here about utilizing the resources but only to receive bit of pushback. Not only must one have a professor willing to understand how to fit the technology into their traditional (and often entrenched) pedagogy; you must also have to have a technology that can adapt to their needs. However, that's a whole other debate.

You can spend lots of money, to build a toolset that you expect your users to fully utilize and enjoy; only to discover they are using a more personal and effective means to fulfill their needs. It's up to your organization if you decide to force the situation and build walls around your application for the sake of efficiency and coherence or work with your users to integrate and adapt the situation to create the most effective and desirable product to surpass their needs.

Research on the Quick

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

By Michael Gowan
Continuing a series of posts on redesigning a section of a Web site (see first post).
Since we’re talking about user-centered design, getting user input into a project at the beginning seems pretty important. But conducting interviews at the beginning of a project is often the first stepped dropped when deadlines get crunched.
On this project, I had planned to run an online survey and conduct follow up interviews with some respondents. But after entering that into my project schedule I ended up with a January 2007 launch date. That wasn’t going to fly -- I needed to have an outlet for new content no later than November 2006.

So I looked for other forms of user input that I already had on hand. Sacrilege, perhaps, for the readers of this blog. But with a little effort, I found enough to provide a user voice in defining the requirements.

First I looked at previous research that we had performed. Earlier this year we conducted some pretty extensive focus group and user testing work around what existing patients and prospective patients wanted from our site. A portion of this testing was dedicated to the health library. Bingo.

We’d conducted user testing during our Service section redesign that covered, indirectly, user needs in the health library. We had found how users interacted with the library when seeking information about treatments. It was enough to piece together a user task.

I also turned to the Web for other published research. The Pew Internet & American Life project has some specific health related research that provided high-level user needs. Paired with our own existing research, I started to get a good picture of what our users would want.

Other sources of external research included Jupiter and Forrester.

What quick methods have you used for getting user input before writing requirements? Post in the comments section to let me know.

Design Expo Raleigh 2006

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Design Expo Raleigh 2006 will be a two week celebration of the incredible designers who call the Triangle home and all the innovative work being created here. The theme for this year's inaugural event is "Hidden Gems: Great Design in Our Own Backyard." We have a powerful and wonderful design community - it's time for the rest of the world to know about it. The purpose of Design Expo Raleigh is to present great design to the public and to give designers, both professionals and students, a forum to display and discuss their work. A unique showcase of applied arts coming together as a whole, Design Expo Raleigh promotes broader awareness of many different design disciplines and creates an opportunity for local designers to network with each other, students, and the public. Among the diverse applied arts to be represented at Design Expo Raleigh '06 are Animation, Architecture, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Textile/Fashion Design. When: October 20 - November 4 Where: Heilig-Levine Building 137 S. Wilmington Street Raleigh, NC 27601 The main exhibition will be at the Heilig Levine Building. Other events will take place in other locations around Raleigh and the Triangle. Please see the calendar of events for information about specific events. Who will attend: Events are open to the public. We encourage professionals and all students (university, college, high school, middle school, etc.) and all of those interested in design to participate.

Using Product Design to Drive Brand Power

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Shimon Shmueli points us to "Using Product Design to Drive Brand Power," ...a talk I am going to give together with our partner from Taiwan. We gave this talk last night at the Austin Technology Council in Austin, and the response was very good. Although the approach will be mostly related to tangible products, I think it may be valuable to some of the UX audience. Hope to see some folks there!

Viso wireframing resources

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Collection of resources and links, form Anita Crescenzi at UNC Health Sciences Library.

Viso wireframing resources

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Anita Crescenzi has provided this helpful summary of wireframing/Visio resources [note: Word document].

Organizing the World’s Information: Google’s Vision for the 21st Century

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

The Health Sciences Library at UNC is proud to present "Organizing the World's Information: Google's Vision for the 21st Century" - a discussion with Craig Silverstein, Technology Director at Google.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 26th from 4-5:30pm in the Medical Biomolecular Research Building on the UNC campus and is open to the public. Register for your free tickets before they're all gone.

CED’s Tech 2006

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

A one-day local conference with an interesting program:
CED's Tech 2006 will explore the future of emerging and converging technologies that are reshaping today's hottest industries. Now in its 16th year, Tech 2006 will focus on the latest cutting-edge markets and global opportunities in a variety of technology sectors.

Using a range of session formats - from nationally respected keynotes to smaller, interactive conversations - Tech 2006 will incite conversations about technologies and products that will change the way we live, communicate, and think. Tech 2006 will showcase innovative technologies from entrepreneurial companies, university groups, corporations and research institutions; and unite the creators of exciting, novel technologies with the industry's top business influencers and creators.

Real Wireframes Get Real Results

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Hot on the heels of our tonight's TriUPA wireframe panel, a timely piece from Boxes and Arrows: Real Wireframes Get Real Results.
Fortunately, there are a few simple steps that will make wireframes be understood by anyone. They don't even have to be much more work. It's simply a matter of choosing to "get real" from the start.

CREATIVITY & COGNITION 2007: Call for Submissions

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 21:00:00 GMT

CREATIVITY & COGNITION 2007
Seeding Creativity: Tools, Media, and Environments

June 13-15, 2007, Washington DC, USA
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/CC2007/

The Creativity & Cognition Conference series began in 1993 and has evolved into a lively multidisciplinary event combining research and practice. Rigorous research is expanding as theoretic foundations are emerging and goals become more well-defined. Successful practice manifests itself in a growing array of creativity support tools for discovery and composition by software and other engineers, diverse scientists, product and graphic designers, architects, new media artists, musicians, educators, students, and many others.

Conference Theme
The focus of CC2007 is on cultivating and sustaining creativity: understanding how to design and evaluate computational support tools, digital media, and sociotechnical environments that not only empower our creative processes and abilities, but that also encourage and nurture creative mindsets and lifestyles.
Topics appropriate for submissions include, but are not limited to:

* Principles for interface, interaction & software design
* Empirical evaluations by quantitative and qualitative methods
* In-depth case studies and ethnographic analyses
* Reflective accounts of individual and collaborative practice
* Educational and training methods to encourage creativity with novel interfaces
* Social mechanisms in support of creative communities and collaboratories
* Emerging technologies, media, and approaches in the arts and creative practices
* Transdisciplinary methods and collaboration models

UX Panel: Wireframing

Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Join us for a panel and discussion about wireframing and wireframing
tools. We will be exploring a variety of tools and techniques used in
developing interface designs for desktop applications, mobile
applications and web applications.

Presenters:

Ryan West (SAS)
David Charboneau (IBM)
Jackson Fox (Lulu.com)
TBA (Motricity)

WHEN: Tuesday, September 19th, 2006, 6:00pm

WHERE: Lulu.com (see directions below)

Sponsored by TriUPA (http://www.triupa.org)

Where is Lulu?

Lulu.com
860 Aviation Pkwy Suite 300
Morrisville, NC 27560

From Durham, Chapel Hill and western NC

Take I-40 east towards Raleigh
Exit at Aviation Parkway (exit 285)
Turn right at the top of the exit ramp onto Aviation Parkway
Go south on Aviation Parkway approximately 1.3 miles to Southport Dr
Turn left on Southport Dr
Turn left into the second driveway on the left

From Raleigh and eastern NC

Take I-40 west towards Durham and Chapel Hill
Exit at Aviation Parkway (exit 285)
Turn left at the top of the exit ramp onto Aviation Parkway
Go south on Aviation Parkway approximately 1.5 miles to Southport Dr
Turn left on Southport Dr
Turn left into the second driveway on the left

Upcoming TriUPA Events

Coming in October: So how does UX design work in the Real World?
Coming in November: World Usability Day 2006!

IDEA Conference: Incoming!

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:00:00 GMT

What it is: "A conference on designing complex information
spaces of all kinds."

When it is: October 23-24, 2006 (Discount ends August 27th! Apply NOW)

Where it is: 'nuff said.

Why you care: "...this is not airy-fairy theoretical stuff. These presenters are practitioners, people actually doing this cross-channel, cross-media work with complex information. A primary goal of this conference is to give you the confidence to cross boundaries and engage with a wide range of problems." Check out the list of said practitioners.

How do I...: Start here.

Redesigning: A Case Study in Several Parts

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:00:00 GMT

I’m the editor of DukeHealth.org, Duke University Health System’s patient Web site. I thought I’d post a series of entries that follow our progress of redesigning a section on our site, detailing decisions made along the way and hopefully getting suggestions from all of you as to how we can make it better.
We’ve decided that our health library has to go. Or, more precisely, it needs to be wiped out and rebuilt from the ground up. Better, faster, stronger.
Piece by piece we’ve improved our site over the last year, creating more flexible designs that are attuned to user needs. We began with a new services template that we’re rolling out to all areas in that section, along with an A to Z index. Then we revamped the locations section.

Now it’s time for the educational materials.

Processing
My first step is deciding on the process to follow. We had success with this approach on a previous project:

Content inventory
Analyze existing research -- internal and external
User and business requirements
Wireframes
Content gathering
Prototype
User testing
Revisions
Content editing
Visual design
Development
QA
Go live

I’m always looking for a better way. A search led me to Usability.gov, which has a fairly develop user-centered design process laid out. Has anyone had success following that method?

In a project post mortem we determined that a missing step was touchpoints -- links in and out of the existing section.

The user impact is fairly significant, since missing this step could have resulted in broken links all over the place. We skirted that issue by keeping all the old pages live until we can fix the links.

But now users are getting two different locations experiences, old and new, and that’s not good, especially since the old way sucked.

So with the touchpoints step added we got:

Content inventory
Touchpoints
Analyze existing research--internal and external
User and business requirements
Wireframes
Content gathering
Prototype
User testing
Revisions
Content editing
Visual design
Development
QA
Go live

I wasn’t sure I placed the touchpoint stage in the right order. It could come later. It may be best to have it near the end so we understand all the links out. Should I split touchpoints in two: links in and links out? I kept playing with the pieces and remembering steps I was leaving out.

And several hours and a few charts later, I ended up with this:

Content inventory
Touchpoints
Research analysis
User interviews
Business interview
User and business requirements
Review
Wireframes
Review
Content gathering
Prototype
User testing
Revisions
Content editing
Visual design
Review
Finalize all documents
Development
QA
Go live
User testing
Iterate

Going through this exercise made me realize this: Without a clearly defined process before you begin, the project will fail users.

When you’re straying without purpose, the project ends up catering to the whims of what’s convenient and what the business wants.

And if you don’t plan for user inputs throughout the project, you can be sure the user needs won’t be taken into account when timelines get crunched.

I’m sure most of you can relate.

In my next post I’ll discuss our research analysis and user interviews.

Trip report: DIS 2006

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:00:00 GMT

I attended DIS 2006 at Penn State University from June 25 - 28. DIS (Designing Interactive Systems) is a small (around 150 attendees) conference that complements CHI by focusing more closely on processes, techniques, and tools for design. DIS is held very other year; I also attended the 2004 conference, which was held in Cambridge, MA. On both occasions, DIS has proved to be a very interesting conference that challenges received ideas about how and why we design. Some themes I noted in this year's conference... There is still a need for better methods for inspiring design and creating conceptual designs. Papers examined "inspiration card workshops" for involving users in design, effective storyboarding practices, and creating personas for children. Although methods like participatory design, storyboarding, and persona creation, are well-established, they also are still being refined and extended. This line of research reminded me that it's important not to become complacent in the use of standard methods--we should continually question our methods, even as they serve as the basis for much of our work. For example, Alissa Antle's work on personas identified two distinct approaches not ordinarily seen in persona definition: using a theoretical framework to guide persona creation (in her work, developmental psychology), and getting users to do user research (in her work, she had teenagers interview younger children). I believe both of these approaches could be fruitfully applied in a variety of domains. Extending work on ubiquitous computing, several research groups looked at augmented home and personal devices, such as flashlights, lamps, and tablecloths. Continuing interest in such devices has created the need for frameworks to guide design, leading to research on "pre-patterns" for digital home applications, and "themes" for interaction design (actually, Scott Klemmer's work in this area is generally applicable, and his paper "How Bodies Matter: Five Themes for Interaction Design" is highly recommended). At an even higher level of abstraction, one might ask, What is the outcome of design? How do we know when design is successful? A panel on "design quality" and Sol Greenspan's keynote on "lasting principles for design" both addressed this issue, and of course delivered no clear answers, but did provoke some interesting questions:

Could "schools" of design (such as Modernism in art and architecture) play a role in interaction design? Schools are marked by both prototypes (e..g, Le Corbusier's houses) and social dialogue. Could more explicit recognition and discussion of interaction design "schools" improve our understanding of design?
Can we move beyond the ideal of making design "invisible" (as in Don Norman's "invisible computer" or Yoshio Taniguchi's "invisible architecture") to making it visibly supportive and empowering? We might envision a design artifact that helps one feel enabled and excited--design that serves as an aid to identity.
Do we need to rethink the role of aesthetics in interaction design? As one questioner put it, "art is not about aesthetics," but about ideas and discussion (and sometimes, provocation). Interaction design could move from "literal interpretation" to "conceptual interpretation" by refocusing on how people interpret and discuss different types of interactive systems. Alternatively, we might try to understand more carefully the specifics of aesthetic experience in the context of interaction design. Could we identify "aesthetic bugs?"

And finally, as a nice counterpoint to the idea that we can or should always "design" an appropriate "experience" for users, consider Tuck Leong's argument that randomness should be a resource for design. -Abe Technorati : dis2006

Design Expo Raleigh: Now with extended deadline!

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 21:00:00 GMT

If you have a happening design project that you want to show off in a big way, grab this opportunity:
The Design Expo Raleigh (DXR) '06 has extended the entry deadline until July 7th. Entries will be judged; the best entries will get exhibit space at the DXR in October.

Each design discipline has a unique entry form and they can all be found >>here.

Never heard of DXR? Grab your calendar and pencil it in: October 20th til November 4th. Local designers will have work on display, there will be studio and architecture tours, speakers and lecturers, in short, a design bonanza. Check it out.

Strategic usability: Strengthening business decisions through user-centered design

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 21:00:00 GMT

You are warmly invited to a complimentary reception hosted by
Human Factors International (HFI). Our Executive Director
Jerome Nadel will speak on:

"Strategic usability: Strengthening business decisionshttp://www.humanfactors.com/Raleighreception.asp.

Companies invest millions in sophisticated software and Web sites,
yet often fall short of reaching their goals. This happens when business\n
objectives and end-user needs are not in sync.

Jerome will explain how usability goes far beyond interface design
and lets you make informed business decisions that can be validated.
The user-centered design process yields data which leads to recommendations\n
addressing executive concerns: revenue model, value proposition, process
improvement, and positioning. Using examples from Fortune 500 companies,
Jerome will share a practical approach to optimize user experience while\n
improving your overall business model. The "self-serve" Internet mindset
has made usability a necessity, not a luxury.

This is an ideal opportunity to network with other business leaders who
share\n
similar challenges.

Hope to see you there!

Sheryll Ryan
Director of Business Development
Southeast Region
Human Factors International, Inc.
http://www.humanfactors.com\n
Over 25 years of global services in user-centered design

\n\n
",0] ); //-->
through user-centered design"

Complimentary Reception -- drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served
Date: Wednesday, July 12th from 4:00-7:00 pm
Location: Prestonwood Country Club, 300 Prestonwood Parkway, Cary, NC
27513

Attendance is by advance reservation only and space is limited.
Please register online: http://www.humanfactors.com/Raleighreception.asp.

Companies invest millions in sophisticated software and Web sites,
yet often fall short of reaching their goals. This happens when business
objectives and end-user needs are not in sync.

Jerome will explain how usability goes far beyond interface design
and lets you make informed business decisions that can be validated.
The user-centered design process yields data which leads to recommendations
addressing executive concerns: revenue model, value proposition, process
improvement, and positioning. Using examples from Fortune 500 companies,
Jerome will share a practical approach to optimize user experience while
improving your overall business model. The "self-serve" Internet mindset
has made usability a necessity, not a luxury.

This is an ideal opportunity to network with other business leaders who
share
similar challenges.

Hope to see you there!

Sheryll Ryan
Director of Business Development
Southeast Region
Human Factors International, Inc.
http://www.humanfactors.com
Over 25 years of global services in user-centered design

Recap/commentary: Personas

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 21:00:00 GMT

The last Triangle UPA meeting (Wednesday 6/7, hosted by Lulu) focused on using personas in design. Robert Barlow-Busch (of Quarry Integrated Communications) presented an overview of personas: "rich descriptions of key customer groups, packaged in an engaging format and backed ideally by first-hand, ethnographic-style field research." Personas have many uses--not only can they inspire and guide design, but they can bring together different groups with an organization. In particular, they encourage communication and collaboration between marketing and user experience groups. Personas help UX and marketing talk about key assumptions, develop shared understandings, explore new products and feature spaces, and make better decisions about product scope and design. (For this collaboration to be effective, though, multiple roles and departments (sales, marketing, product management, engineering/development, etc.) must be involved throughout the creation and use of personas). Robert distinguished between primary personas (who "will be unsatisfied with a product designed for anyone else"), secondary personas (less demanding, and lower priority for design), and anti-personas (used to challenge assumptions about who the customer is). UX practitioners should strive to develop clear primary personas, because these personas illuminate the key tradeoffs and compromises in a design problem. In particular, when multiple primary personas are identified, it suggests that multiple products may be needed, so that each can be tightly focused on a particular problem and type of user. Robert pointed to Geoffrey's Moore claim that technology companies should "put all their eggs in one basket" to develop narrowly focused, but highly usable and effective products which avoid feature creep. Once developed, personas must be "marketed" to the organization. Robert told one client "the personas have to attend every meeting" and "we should never again talk about 'the user'". In other words, personas should guide every element of the design cycle, including recruiting participants for usability tests. To gain this impact, personas must be credible. Therefore, they should be clearly documented--UX professionals should explain the research and analysis methods they use to develop personas. For more on personas, see the recent book on personas, in which Robert has a chapter. - Abe Technorati : personas

BAR Camp RDU is seeking organizers and sponsors

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:00:00 GMT

RDU's first BAR Camp is looking for volunteers to provide logistical and day-of help. Sponsors are also being sought; anyone who can provide (money for) meals, whiteboards, poster material, pens, etc. please contact the BAR Camp organizers. How? Check the wiki for that information and more.

Getting Started With Personas

Wed, 24 May 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Here is the latest information about Robert Barlow-Busch's full-day persona design workshop:
Getting Started With Personas
Thursday, June 8, 2006
9:00am to 5:00pm
Durham, North Carolina
Hilton Raleigh-Durham Airport Hotel
Chances are good you've heard something about "personas" recently, as
they've become a hot topic in design, usability, documentation, and
marketing. But finding concrete, comprehensive information on how to
create and use personas can be difficult. In this workshop, you'll
get a hands-on introduction to personas that demystifies the process
and explains how to use them in the design and documentation of
websites, web applications, and software.
Taught by Robert Barlow-Busch, Practice Director of Interaction
Design at Quarry Integrated Communications. Look for an invited
chapter by Robert in "The Persona Lifecycle", the first authoritative
book about personas, published earlier this month. Workshop
participants will receive a free copy of the book.
To learn more, visit:
http://personas.mollyguard.com/

Personas by Robert Barlow-Busch

Tue, 16 May 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Forwarded from Lourdes Cueva Chacón: Come join a discussion that explores the benefits and unpacks the mystery behind personas. Personas are a type of user profile that has emerged as a best practice in web and software design, but about which little concrete information is available. What exactly is a persona? When are they useful, and when are they not? How do you create them? Specifically, how do you make sure they're representative of actual users, and not just an exercise in creative writing? And once you have personas, what can you actually do with them? Robert Barlow-Busch from Quarry Integrated Communications will answer these questions by sharing experiences from a variety of client projects conducted over the past 5 years. This talk will be a special presentation for TriUPA and IxDA members and friends since Robert is giving a full-day persona design workshop on June 8th. (Read more details in our next post). In advance of this event, you can read about one of the case studies Robert will discuss and download some example personas from Quarry's website (examples). About Quarry and the presenter: Robert is the Practice Director of Interaction Design at Quarry Integrated Communications, a marketing and design agency. Although its Interaction Design and Usability group is based in Waterloo, Ontario, Quarry has just relocated its US headquarters to Durham and looks forward to building some ties with the professional community in RTP. Robert and Quarry are long-time members of the UPA and frequent presenters at the annual conference and at chapter meetings, speaking on topics such as the basics of usability testing, personas, and how marketing and usability could work more closely together (yes, it's true: they can!). Robert has about 15 years experience across a variety of industries in Canada, the US, and Europe. After a particularly frustrating client meeting in 2001, in which nobody could agree who the customer was, Robert introduced personas to Quarry's design process. The team's work since then caught the attention of Forrester Research, who has identified Quarry as source of expertise in their report Where to Get Help With Persona Projects. Also, look for an invited chapter by Robert in The Persona Lifecycle, the first book to give an in-depth look at the practice of personas. When: Wednesday, June 7th at 6:00pm Where: Lulu Press Inc 800 Aviation Pkwy Suite 300 Morrisville, NC 27560 Map to Event Starting with this event, the coordinators are recommending places for participants to meet before and after the event. Before, in case you need to have some food in order to survive such a long day, and after, in case you want to keep chatting on the topic or just have a drink with your TriUPA fellows. So here our recommendations: Before event: (Map to) Village Deli Morrisville, just 2 blocks from Lulu. Feel free to bring your food to Lulu. After hours venue: (Map to) El Meson Mexican Restaurant

Computing the Future: Release 2016

Mon, 08 May 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Daniel A. Reed, a world-renowned authority on high-performance computing, will offer a glimpse of 2016 and the wonders (and annoyances) that new technologies are likely to bring over the next decade in a presentation Tuesday, May 30, on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Computing the Future: Release 2016

Trip report: CHI 2006

Sat, 06 May 2006 21:00:00 GMT

I attended CHI 2006 in Montreal from April 24 - 27. CHI is the major conference for HCI research (in the broadest sense, ranging from input and interaction techniques to field studies of complex work situations). It also attracts a large community of practitioners, particularly from the major software and hardware companies. Attendance was estimated at 2,400+, which is up significantly from the past few years, implying a relatively robust tech industry, along with growing interest in HCI and UX. Recruiting was notably robust. Microsoft had so many job postings they needed a 3-ring binder to hold them all. Google, Yahoo, eBay and SAP also had large recruiting presences. Some thoughts from the sessions I attended: The Route to the Sea for User Value This panel, with managers from Oracle, Intuit, World Savings Bank, and Sony/Ericsson, addressed the perennial challenge of integrating effective UX work into product development processes. Jeremy Ashley (Oracle) argued strongly that "we [UX professionals] have to have influence"--we must work with and persuade complementary groups (such as documentation and performance engineering) of UX's importance. More broadly, we must assume accountability for UX, "no matter what." Blaming other groups for not accepting the UX perspective is self-defeating. Perhaps the best approach, said Janice Rohn (World Savings Bank), is to "start in the boardroom" by understanding executives' goals. The challenge is that while "nobody in the corporate world says usability isn't important, they don't understand what it entails." The range and depth of work required to create great user experiences is still widely unappreciated. UX practitioners need to build relationships with engineering and product development executives to help bridge this gap. Ultimately, the goal is to make UX practices ubiquitous, so that "it's not just UX saying it's important to improve the navigation, it's the business saying it's important to improve the navigation." Until we reach that product-development utopia, said Lisa Anderson (Intuit) it's critical to "follow through on your passions." Don't give up on what you believe is right for users, despite the obstacles. Human-Information Interaction This panel addressed the provocative question of whether studying human information interaction (AKA behavior) should be separate from (but complementary to) HCI. Peter Pirolli and Stu Card made strong arguments for focusing on deeper theoretical issues such as what information structures best support people's cognitive functions, and how to represent information in large "information landscapes." Research needs to address these fundamental issues instead of just developing and testing new types of interfaces or interaction styles. (So, if anything, HCI should be a subset of HII). Tagging An example of HII research might be tagging and social bookmarking practices. A large panel featuring Josh Schacter of del.icio.us and George Furnas of Michigan debated the purposes and uses of tags. Definitions of "tag" included: "annotations," "loose associations," "rich ways of linking disparate objects" and "nicknames for groups of things." While many interesting ideas were proposed (including the idea that tags are the harbinger of widespread growth of communities around metadata), I had the sense that our understanding of how tags are used is still limited. Discussion focused on recall (AKA refindability) and "distribution" (social sharing of tagged information). But answers are missing to the broad questions, What are tags used for? and Are tagging systems effective? So, developing a deep understanding of tagging practices and what underlying information problems these practices are addressing could be a significant contribution to "HII." This contribution, in turn, would support the develop of new interfaces for the creation and use of tags. Some recommended readings:

Paul Dourish, Implications for Design. Easily the most-discussed paper at CHI. Dourish argues that "ethnographic" HCI research has become impoverished by an analytical/methodological stance that treats ethnographic data simply as an input to requirements definition. Required reading for anyone interested in field-based/contextual approaches in HCI and UX.
MS Research, Fast, Flexible Filtering with Phlat - Personal Search and Organization Made Easy. MSR team continues to improve and evalute desktop search.
MS Research, FaThumb: A Facet-based Interface for Mobile Search. Very nice mobile search UI from another MSR team.

-Abe

Trip report: IA Summit 2006

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:00:00 GMT

I attended the ASIS&T IA Summit in Vancouver from March 24th - 27th. The Summit is a playground for IA's of all stripes, from metadata specialists to management consultants. It was a lot of fun, and many interesting ideas were discussed in the three parallel sessions and in the hallways. Here are some of the thoughts that stuck with me...
THE CHANGING NATURE OF AUTHORITY.David Weinberger's keynote asked "What's up with knowledge?" He took a (humorous) sledgehammer to the foundations of information and library science, including the infamous DIKW (data - information - knowledge - wisdom) model. In his view, DIKW gets causality backwards--one needs knowledge and wisdom to get useful information, not the other way around. At the same time, he argued, traditional sources (the New York Times serving as poster boy) favor authority over transparency, whereas the new open, collaboratively-created sources (Wikipedia, standing in for a host of "social media" sites like Digg, del.icio.us, and the blogosphere as a whole) favor transparency. In particular, Wikipedia represents "publicly negotiated knowledge" as opposed to the private (elite) construction of knowledge by mass media instiutions and traditional publishers.
There is a dramatic change building: the ability of institutions to impose authority through carefully-constructed representations is dissipating, soon to disappear entirely. Peter Morville noted in the Q&A that large corporate and government sites often seek to express authority through IA. But next-generation IA is radically decentralized, incorporating many points of view expressed through blogs, del.icio.us tags, and so forth, thereby pushing authority to the edge of the network. As a result, IA's need to expand their scope to consider the broad, socio-cultural impact of their design work.
As Weinberger noted, Dewey thought he was doing God's work through classification, representing one true view of the world. The current landscape of IA, on the other hand, is distinctly postmodern, recognizing many socially-structured views. Despite many efforts to make IA into a postivist, quantified science, it appears the future may be resoutely interpretivist--understanding how the organization and representation of information intertwines with culture.
At the end of the conference, a "5-minute madness" session allowed anyone to speak their mind. One speaker noted the need to explore how and why information forms have evolved over time. Perhaps such work will helps us understand how information forms (from books to Web 2.0) transmit and influence culture and authority.
IA AND RESEARCH.The idea of turning IA into science isn't dead, of course. The Summit featured a whole double-length panel on the topic of IA and research. Don Turnbull identified four areas that could be considered central to IA research: classification, information-seeking behavior, metadata and semantics, and design methods. He proposed creating an open-access Journal of Information Architecture. Keith Instone argued for generating research questions from practice and creating partnerships between IA's and researchers. Peter Morville and Nancy Kaplan argue for "going beyond findability" to address all aspects of information interaction.
It is this last point that resonated for me. Research that informs IA practice is being conducted all the time, it just goes by many different names: information behavior, search strategies, hypertext, credibility and persuasion, personal information management, information literacy, and of course the all-encompassing "HCI." In my view, IA practice should seek to integrate (and mediate among) different methods (information science, usability, design research, human factors, HCI, management, marketing, etc.). IA research should integrate (and mediate) different disciplines (information science, HCI, communications, business, behavioral and social science).
A great example of this challenge was suggested by Donna Maurer's presentation on Lakoff for IA's. Lakoff distinguishes between the classical view of categories ("abstract containers with strict borders") and the modern psychological view based on prototypes and family resemblance (a robin is a better example of a bird than a penguin), as developed by Rosch and revised by Medin and others. Cognitive science research is rigorous. Some of the results are fascinating. But how can it be applied to the design problem--making complex, large-scale information spaces accessible and useful--that IA's grapple with? For example, what are the implications of naive categorization theory for information-seeking behavior and personal information management? How would this connection inform IA practice? I believe integrating and applying social and behavioral science results to IA problems could reinvigorate both IA practice and social science research.
--Abe

IA Summit talk: Facets are Fundamental

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 22:00:00 GMT

I gave a talk at the recent IA Summit in Vancouver entitled "Facets are fundamental: rethinking information architecture frameworks." My talk notes and slides are now available for anyone interested. Update: A review of my talk has been posted at Boxes and Arrows. -Abe

Is Target’s Pill Bottle Good User-centered Design?

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 22:00:00 GMT

"Do you really want to know what I think?" We assured her we did and were met with an outpouring of frustration related to the new design. While she immediately agreed it was better for consumers, she complained that the bottle was designed in a way that made her job significantly harder, even claiming it took her twice the time to fulfill prescriptions. More specficially, she complained about the inset area in which the label needed to be applied. If not applied just right, it was impossible to insert the info card. That led her to then complain about the card itself. She noted that it took significant time to make as they needed to be folded "just right" and could be easily ruined. By her reaction, it seemed clear that no one had ever asked her what she thought about this tool which she used more than any other.
An interesting counterpoint to all the fuss over Target's pill bottle design argues that a key user group--pharmacists--were overlooked.

--Abe

March UX Cocktail Hour

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Date: Tuesday, March 28th 2006

Time: 6:00 PM

Address: Johnny Carino’s in Southpoint

Ready for the first UX Cocktail Hour sponsored by the TriUPA? It's here! Same great people gabbing about UX issues over dinner and drinks!

Hope to see you there; please RSVP if you can make it.

Workshop: How to Build a Product People Will Buy

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Entrepreneurs Only Workshop: How to Build a Product People Will Buy
Have lunch with Barry Beith of HumanCentric Technologies and Shimon Shmueli of Touch360, the founders of two design firms that are based in the Research Triangle. They'll share their perspectives on building products that sell and how entrepreneurs with a limited budget can utilize good design techniques without spending a fortune.

Triangle UPA Planning Meeting and Elections

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 22:00:00 GMT

We met Wednesday, 2/22 at 6pm in the offices of Motricity. Rick Cecil, interim vice-president of the Triangle UPA chapter convened the meeting and introduced the elections.

Four officers ran unopposed and were elected without dissent:

Rick Cecil (Motricity): President
Responsibilities: overall direction; project management; events.
Abe Crystal (SILS): Vice President
Responsibilities: Website and blog.
Janey Barnes (user-view): Treasurer
Responsibilities: membership and financial management; incorporation.
Gershom Rogers (Cisco/SILS): Secretary
Responsibilities: mentoring program.

Our fearless leader, and newly installed president, Rick, then provided an overview of the chapter's goals and initiatives.

The chapter will focus on building and supporting the local community of practitioners in these disciplines:

Usability Testing
User Research
Interaction Design
Information Architecture

Specific initiatives will include:

Events planning. The core activity of the chapter is holding great events to bring people in the community together, and disseminate information and practices related to user experience work. Events may include:

Bimonthly presentations/workshops/tours (see: previous events)
Monthly cocktail hours
Annual World Usability Day activities
Birds of a feather (focus on a particular discipline)
Lunch meetings
"Site/Project of the Month" -- come in for "free advice," as WRAL/CBC New Media bravely did

Connecting people.

Recruiting more members and volunteers, and recognizing volunteers for their hard work.
Making 1:1 connections between professional peers.
Setting up mentoring relationships between professionals and students.

Informing the community. Building a great Website and blog to keep our members up-to-date, and reach out to new members.
Public relations. Getting the word out on user experience and its importance.
Cross-organization collaboration. Working with related organizations across the Triangle, e.g., CED.

We welcome your feedback and participation as we continue to build the chapter and our community. Please comment on this post, or get in touch with any of the officers, with your questions and comments.

undefinedAbe

Triangle UPA Planning Meeting, Wed 2/22, 6:00pm

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:00:00 GMT

The TriUPA Planning Committee meeting is coming up next week on 2/22 @ 6PM @ Motricity.

If you attended the meeting last Tuesday, you'll remember that I announced we would have online elections. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to hold online elections. For various reasons, we need to incorporate the local chapter and can't collect dues until we have completed that process. However, we are going to proceed with elections on 2/22 so that we can capitalize on the momentum we've generated in the past couple of weeks.

If you're interested in running or know someone who would be a good candidate, please let me know. The deadline for nominations is 2/21. (Available offices are President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.) In addition to having the election, we're going to discuss our initiatives for the remainder of 2006, including

Event planning and organization
World Usability Day Planning Committee
Web site and blog
Volunteer Recruitment (Regional Ambassador program)
Cross-organization collaboration

If you are interested in helping out on any of these initiatives, come on out to the meeting next Tuesday or email me. We appreciate all the help we can get!

Hope to see you there!

--Rick

Recap/commentary: McKinney Tour / WRAL Redesign

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 22:00:00 GMT

The most recent Triangle UX meetup (and last before we become Triangle UPA) was held Tuesday, February 7th, at McKinney in Durham.

Rick Cecil (interim VP, Triangle UPA chapter) gave an overview of the new UPA chapter, which is focused on further expanding the community of user experience professionals in the Triangle. Elections for the first slate of officers will be held at a planning meeting on Wednesday, 2/22. After the chapter is incorporated and a bank account established, anyone interested will be able to join online (dues are $15/year for professionals; free for students).

Adam Blumenthal (Interactive Strategist at McKinney) introduced McKinney's approach, advertising work, and interest in building an interactive group that will build full-scale Websites for large clients, as well as banner ads, minisites, etc. As an advertising firm with a strong focus on strategy, McKinney brings an interesting perspective to Web design. The big question for me was: To what extent does McKinney plan to include user research and user-centered design in its Web work? Adam emphasized McKinney's process of "connection planning," which builds an understanding of how customers connect to a brand. This is important (and goes beyond UX work in some ways), but still left me thinking "what about the poor user?" Having suffered through many gorgeous but unusable Flash-based sites developed by big agencies for big brands, I'm not eager to see more of the same. I hope McKinney takes the righteous path: hire people with UX expertise, and incorporate user-centered processes into their design work. The fact that they opened the doors of their (spectacularly designed) offices to a UX group is certainly an encouraging start.

Providing an excellent example of how user-centered design is important in practice, John Clark (Director of Technology, CBC New Media) discussed the ongoing redesign of WRAL.com. WRAL.com is a sprawling local news-and-beyond site developed by the local CBS affiliate station. It is highly successful compared to other TV station sites, both locally and nationally. It competes with both newspaper sites (locally, the News & Observer) and emerging community sites like Craiglist.

John described WRAL's design challenges and emphasized that CBS seeks to "focus on users" and create a brand-new design ("we started with a whiteboard we wiped clean") based on a "complete usability exercise". The site must serve multiple audiences: users, advertisers, and internal staff. However, John noted that CBC has "never done good research on usability and information architecture." They are working with an independent research firm to remedy this, but still face the challenge of creating "consolidation" between user requirements and business requirements.

John's talkundefinedand the example of a site many in the audience had usedundefinedprovoked a lively discussion. Suggestions for John included:

Incorporating multiple forms of research, including user research (interviews, surveys, observation, etc.), content research (content audits, analysis of competing sites, etc.), and log research (Website statistics, internal searches, referring searches, email and customer service logs).
Using multiple forms of evaluation (e.g., both 1-on-1 usability tests and focus groups).
Considering how to incorporate community and citizen journalism into the site. Questioners suggested Adrian Holovaty's work on newspaper websites, including Lawrence.com, as an example of innovative local news and community on the Web.

Overall, WRAL.com represents both a challenging information architecture problem (a large, diverse, regularly-updated site) and an opportunity to build local community and find other innovative ways to connect to people through the Web.

-- Abe Crystal

January UX Meetup

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 22:00:00 GMT

Date: Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
Time: 6:00 PM
Address: Johnny Carino's in Southpoint - Map it

We're back! Hope everyone had a nice break. :) Ready to get back into the swing of things?

Note this is on a Wednesday instead of our usual 3rd Tuesday. Hope you can make it!

Trip report: User interfaces for physical spaces

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 22:00:00 GMT

What would a public library look like if it was designed by information architects?
The Carnegie Libraries in Pittsburgh decided to find out. They hired Maya Design, a user-centered design consultancy, to help them renovate their library buildings. The results of this unusual collaboration were discussed at a recent workshop entitled User Interfaces for Physical Spaces. I attended the workshop and came away with a new appreciation of how user-centered design practices can inform physical environmentsundefinedas well as the culture and practices of institutions.
David Bishop of Maya introduced the project by explaining Maya's design process, which can be roughly characterized as a standard UCD process with special emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration (between engineering, human sciences, and visual design). Maya argues for "taming complexity instead of eliminating it," which I thought was a nice way of approaching a design problem like a libraryundefinedone wants to make it accessible, not dumb it down.
David also emphasized the value of information architecture as "one of the unchanging things" in a large-scale design. IA has a longer shelf-life than a particular, say, screen design or process flow, because it represents core concepts and terminology of a domain or institution that may exist for many years. In addition, the IA can be extended to new products and services in different environments. In fact, one of the striking aspects of this project was how IA componentsundefinedincluding organization and labelsundefinedwere shared between the libraries physical and electronic spaces (e.g. physical reference desk vs. Web site).
For me, the way Maya explored and developed the IA was what set this project apart. It's not such a breakthrough to realize that "Reference" and "Circulation" are library-centric, jargon terms that should be replaced. As explained by Aradhana Goel, Maya's IA work went much deeper than this. They developed an elegant model of how users progress through a library interaction:
Users go through Organizers to get Materials/Activities in order to Use/Participate.
Building on this model, they identified three classes of "organizers": Space, Categorizations, and People. And they observed that the "bridges" between these organizers were often problem areas. An example: how does one get from an item in the online catalog (Categorization) to the actual item somewhere in the building (Space)? By mapping use scenarios, and looking for "breakpoints," Maya was able to identify further systemic issues, such as disorientation, lack of state, and use of jargon, that could be addressed through better design.
In the afternoon, we visited two of the newly renovated libraries: the Squirrel Hill branch, and the Main Library. I was deeply impressed by both libraries, though I personally preferred the Squirrel Hill space (props to Arthur Lubetz Associates), which was open, striking, and colorful, with many playful touches (such as nifty hanging books).
As Peter Merholz notes, the Main library is housed in a beautiful historic building. And much of the renovated main floor looks grand. But it doesn't feel as "accessible" as the Squirrel Hill branch, and the elegant signage (props to Landesberg Design) was far less colorful and prominent.
The aesthetics of the renovated libraries are not the key issue, though. This project was fundamentally about improving the library experience in a way that can make libraries a bigger and more useful part of people's lives. I think it was a great success in this regard, and the rethought IA and task analysis will provide a foundation for library design for a long time.
Just as many Web sites and other information systems could be improved by incorporating concepts and practices from libraries (authority and subject control, research assistance, support for browsing, etc.), so too libraries could benefit by incorporating different perspectives (user researchers, interaction designers, information architects, customer service). Perhaps it's time for the "guild mentality" that unfortunately characterizes many professions (the requirement that librarians hold an ALA-accredited masters' degree being just one obvious example) to undergo some reconsideration. For all its problems, the idea of a "user experience" discipline that encompasses all of these different perspectives seems the most viable alternative. Emphasizing user experience work provides a framework within which professionals, with many types of expertise and training, can work together to improve products and services for customers. The experience of the Carnegie Libraries shows that this vision can be realized, with transformative results.
undefinedAbe Crystal

Photos from World Usability Day

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

The photos are here! The photos are here!

UX/IA Meetup on 11/16

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

We're meeting tomorrow night at the Cheesecake Factory @ Southpoint (Get Directions ») from 6:00 - 7:30. We're trying a new night this month--Wednesday instead of our typical Tuesday night. Hope to see you there!

Post World Usability Day update

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

It’s been a week (okay, a week and a few days) since we celebrated World Usability Day here in the Triangle.
We’re putting the finishing touches on the photo gallery and hope to have it published by the end of this week. (Though, it might not be until next week.) Thanks, again, to everyone who participated: our sponsors, our judges, the teams, and our great audience! Keep checking back here for more information about user experience in the triangle and next year’s World Usability Day!

Update: Usability Ticket

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

Some people have reported problems getting their usability ticket to post to the tag "uticket" in flickr. If you don't see your ticket under the tag, email your picture and a description of the violation or commendation to rick@triux.org.

Happy World Usability Day!

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

It's finally here. Some last minute notes about tonight's events:

* The event is tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. @ MCNC Building #1; Get Directions »
* It is free and open to the public, so come one, come all!
* Without our sponsors help, we wouldn't be here. Thank you Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motricity, and hesketh.com!
* Here's the agenda for the festivities.
* Our great line-up of panelists/judges!
* And, last but certainly not least, our interactionary teams.

World Usability Day continuing to make headlines

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

This article from the Sydney Morning Herald about World Usability Day starts off absolutely hilarious:

> The managers of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport faced a difficult problem a few years ago. They were having to spend a fortune cleaning the men's toilets because the aim of Dutch men was so poor.

> "They hired some guys who sat in the urinals for several weeks, just observing," says Ash Donaldson. "They noticed that if there was a cigarette butt or a fly in the urinal men would aim at it. So they etched the shape of a fly into each urinal - and that reduced the cleaning bill by 80 per cent."

I bet the conducting that ethnographic study was a lot of fun! ;)

Read the full article:

* http://tinyurl.com/acglm

World Usability Day in USA Today

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

Some interesting quotes:

> But some tech engineers and designers assume too much: that since they understand how the gadget works, everyone should. Bias quips: "A whole lot of companies went out of business because their users were too stupid."

...and...

>"The feature-list wars were not good for software," consultant Quesenbery says. "People threw a function in because it gave them a check-box on a list, not because it met the needs of the marketplace."

> Microsoft is redesigning the user interface for the next version of Office, due next fall. Microsoft will display only the tools you'll likely use most frequently. The goal: to cut the number of clicks to complete a task. In Office 2003, it took 26 clicks to insert a text box into a document; with the new version, four.

Read the entire article:

* http://tinyurl.com/99af6

World Usability Day featured on BBC News

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

From the BBC:

> With thousands of products and services to choose from, ease of use is still a bonus factor rather than a norm and those that possess this elusive quality often go on to dominate markets.

> Google, Amazon and eBay are successful brands not just because of their financial models but the ease with which their users are able to achieve their goals on these sites, be they searching, buying or selling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4393468.stm

World Usability Day celebrated at Motricity

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

Motricity is holding a corporate usability ticketing event. We've asked program managers and developers at Motricity to ticket products with great or poor usability. On Thursday, November 3, we'll collect the tickets and hold a random drawing to award an Ipod Nano to one lucky person.

Corporate ticketing events, like this one, are designed to encourage people to think about how usability issues affects their day-to-day lives, giving them a better understanding of how the products they build affect your customers' day-to-day lives. There's still time to hold your own corporate ticketing event.

Updated information about the usability ticketing contest

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

A couple of notable updates to the usability ticketing contest:

* Deadline for entries has been extended to Thursday at noon.
* Instead of looking for the most interesting usability tickets, we're now going to hold a random drawing.

For full details, visit:

* http://www.triux.org/usability-ticket/

More about World Usability Day on BBC

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:00:00 GMT

Another article about World Usability Day on BBC. Here's a quote:

> Thursday is World Usability Day.

> I'm sorry, but I'm not sure the world is ready for such a day.

> It's not that I don't think usability is a good idea - of course it is.

> It's not that I don't think some progress has been made. Of course it has. The success of the iconic iPod is largely down to the usability of the device, especially the click wheel interface and iTunes.

> No, my worry is that the world has so far to go in making technology usable that I fear that celebrating usability is premature and conceals just how much hassle we put up with on a daily basis.

Read the article:

* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4392644.stm

More cool stuff: Color Survey

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 22:00:00 GMT

Human Factors International is conducting a color survey on World Usability Day. What colors would you associate with different types of Web sites, such as banking, healthcare, and news?

On November 3, 2005, go to this page on the Human Factors International site and complete the brief survey. After the survey is complete, the results will be analyzed and discussed in Human Factors International's monthly eNewsletter.

It’s almost here!

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 22:00:00 GMT

World Usability Day is this Thursday. :-) That's right four days away. We're nearly finished with the preparations--just a few minor things to wrap up.

In the meantime, don't forget:

* Start ticketing! If you haven't already, get out there and get ticketing. That's an order. Well, as close to an order as it comes from someone who has no authority over you whatsoever. Even if you can't post your ticket to flickr, ticket something!
* Ticketing awards. If you do post it to flickr, you'll be in the running for one of two $50 awards.
* Help promote World Usability Day. Whether you're one person on a large company or a lone pioneer in your own company, you can help spread the word.
* And come on out on Thursday. We've got a great event lined up with an amazing line-up of panelists and a UNC/NC State square-off that's sure to be a lot of fun!

Two $50 awards for most interesting usability tickets

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Need another reason to attend the World Usability Day? How about $50? We’re awarding two $50 cash prizes to two of the usablity tickets posted to flickr.

We're awarding two $50 cash prizes to the most interesting usablity tickets posted to flickr. What do we mean by interesting? Anything that stands out as unusual--e.g. an unusual product, technology, or person(!?). Your description counts, too...unusual reasons for why you love or hate the product will certainly garner votes among the judges!

**Update:** Instead of awarding a ticket for the most interesting usability ticket, we're going to hold a random drawing; there will still be two $50 awards. For detailed information about the tickets and the event, visit:

* http://www.triux.org/usability-ticket/

All you have to do is take a picture of something that annoys the fire out of you--or something that you works so well it puts most other products to shame--and post it to flickr under the tag "uticket". And make sure you attach the ticket after you've posted it to flickr!

The deadline to be considered for the contest is Wednesday at 6pm Thursday at noon. We'll announce the winners during the ticket review on Thursday. The only catch is that you must attend the event in order to receive the cash. If you don't show, you don't get the dough. (Yeah, definitely not one of my better attempts at a rhyme.)

Corporate ticketing events

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Do you have co-workers or a boss who just doesn't understand why usability matters? Consider having that person post ticket a usability violation. That'll get them thinking about how usability affects their lives--and who knows, maybe you'll get that testing budget you've been vying for all these years, and then you'll get promoted because of all the amazing product improvements you initiated due to the testing...a guy can dream, can't he?

This shouldn't take more than 15-30 minutes to execute, and it should be a lot of fun! And besides, I'm sure you could actually list several products that are completely unusable that you use every day--admit it, you're always thinking about usability no matter what product you're using. (Surely *I'm* not the only one!) This is just an opportunity to share your frustration and/or joy.

Help promote World Usability Day

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We're heading into the final stretch for World Usability Day and are shifting gears from organization to promotion. I would love to see RTP have one of the best attended events, but we can't do it without your help. Help us reach our goal of 100+ attendees by

* Posting the following description with a link to triux.org on your Web site and e-newsletters: Attend World Usability Day on Thursday, November 3 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm @ MCNC (Get Directions »). World Usability Day is for everyone who's ever asked these questions: "Why doesn't this work right? What am I supposed to do with this now?" Save the date and visit http://www.triux.org/ for more information about the event.
* Encouraging your co-workers, employees, and clients to attend; even folks who work peripherally to the usability discipline or user experience field--such as product managers, project managers, and developers--will find the event educational and fun. The interactionary will provide a great opportunity to see a user-centered design process in action; and the usability ticket review will demonstrate how usability affects our every day lives. For practitioners, the event will provide professional development and networking opportunities.
* And, lastly, posting the following description of the usability ticket on your web site or e-newsletter: "Is there a product that never works the way you expect? What about a product that always exceeds your expectations? Share your joys and frustrations
by tagging the product with the usability ticket. Come on out to the Triangle's celebration of World Usability Day on Thursday, November 3 @ MCNC (Get Directions ») from 6pm to 9pm to discuss ticketed items from around the Triangle. For more information about World Usability Day in the Triangle, visit triux.org.

With your help, we can create a great event that will exceed everyone's expectations.

Thank you!

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Wanted to thank our local sponsors, once again.

* Gold sponsor: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
* Silver sponsor: hesketh.com
* Silver sponsor: Motricity

Thanks to them we have raised $1,000 for the event, which will help pay for the space, food, and some advertising. Thanks, all! We still need help, though. If you know someone who might be interested in sponsoring, pass on the sponsorship benefits.

Usability Ticket

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Participate in World Usability Day and win $50.

We’re awarding two $50 cash prizes to the most interesting usablity tickets posted to flickr. What do we mean by interesting? Anything that stands out as unusual–e.g. an unusual product, technology, or person(!?). Your description counts, too…unusual reasons for why you love or hate the product will certainly garner votes among the judges!

And what do we mean by usability? Think about products that never work the way you expect. You press one button expecting the thing to start and instead it turns off. That's a usability issue. Many products have good usability--from something as simple as a door that opens how you expect it to open to a cell phone that makes calling your friends super-easy.

Share your joys and frustrations--and enter the contest--by downloading the usability ticket and following these instructions:

1. Find a product or object or...whatever. Just something that either never works the way you expect or something that always exceeds your expectations.
2. Take a picture or screenshot.
3. Post the picture to flickr. (If you don’t already have an account, you will need to create one, but it is fast and free.)
4. Tag the item with "uticket" (without the quotes). This is extremely important as we won't be able to review the item you’ve ticketed unless you tag it with uticket (short for usability ticket). Feel free to add other tags to the photo as well (eg "usability", "design", "broken"). Wikipedia has more information on tagging (aka folksonomies).
5. Explain yourself! Add a comment on the item that describes why you ticketed the item. Love it? Hate it? Let us know!
6. Complete the citation and attach it the item for others to discover; use the usability violation for items with poor usability and the usability commendation for the things that exceed your expectations. Both are in the PDF!
7. Repeat!

The deadline to be considered for the contest is Thursday at noon. We’ll announce the winners during the ticket review on Thursday. The only catch is that you must attend the event in order to receive the cash. If you don’t show, you don’t get the dough. (Yeah, definitely not one of my better attempts at a rhyme.)

And, lastly, a big thanks to Todd Robert who designed the usability ticket for us. :-) Thanks, Todd!

Now print some tickets and get started!

Usability Ticket

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Participate in World Usability Day and win $50.

Share your joys and frustrations--and enter the contest--by downloading the usability ticket and following these instructions:

And, lastly, a big thanks to Todd Robert who designed the usability ticket for us. :-) Thanks, Todd!

Now print some tickets and get started!

Thank you!

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Wanted to thank our local sponsors, once again.

* Gold sponsor: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
* Silver sponsor: hesketh.com
* Silver sponsor: Motricity

Ready, set, ticket!

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

The usability ticket is finished. :-) Check it out and pass it on! There are two tickets (both are in the above PDF):

* One is for **usability violations**. Ever come across something that just really bugged you? Here's your chance to gripe to folks who will feel your pain.
* The other is for products whose **usability has just amazed you**. This might take a little thinking because we tend not to think about products that just work.

So, download the ticket and follow these steps to get started:

1. Find a product or object or...whatever. Just something that either works or doesn't work.
1. Take a picture or screenshot.
1. Post the picture to flickr.com. (If you don't already have an account, you will need to create one, but it is fast and free.)
1. Tag the item with "uticket" (without the quotes). This is extremely important as we won't be able to review the item you've ticketed unless you tag it with uticket (short for usability ticket). Feel free to add other tags to the photo as well (eg "usability", "design", "broken"). Wikipedia has more information on tagging (aka folksonomies).
1. Explain yourself! Add a comment on the item that describes why you ticketed the item. Love it? Hate it? Let us know!
1. Complete the paper citation and attach it to the item so other people can discover it.
1. Repeat!

And, lastly, a big thanks to Todd Robert who designed the usability ticket for us. :-) Thanks, Todd!

Now print some tickets and get started!

The judges are in!

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We've signed up five great folks for the panel!

* Dr. Barry Beith of HumanCentric Technologies
* Heather Hesketh of hesketh.com
* Beth Khalifa of Gamil Design
* Dr. Gary Marchionini of UNC's information science program
* Dr. Chris Mayhorn of NC State's human factors program

They'll judge the interactionary design competition and review some of the usability tickets.

World Usability Day: The Agenda

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

The agenda has finally been determined. It's amazing how everything is starting to fall into place!

* **6:00 - 6:30 Food!** We're going to have pizza and drinks in the lobby of MCNC. This will be a great time for talking with old friends and getting to know new ones. Note: Please don't take the food and drinks into the auditorium. We'll be charged for any cleaning bills!
* **6:30 - 7:30 Interactionary.** We'll migrate over to the auditorium starting around 6:25 for the interactionary. We'll announce the teams and have the coin toss to see which team goes first...and then begins the competition. (Insert oohing and ahhing.) After each team designs and presents their solution, we'll announce the winner, and then we'll have a short question and answer session with the teams.
* **7:30 - 7:40 Break.** We'll take a quick break. Please, eat more pizza.
* **7:40 - 9:00 Usability Ticketing review.** We'll take as long or as short as we need to. We'll have the panelists comment on some the items people ticketed and take comments and questions from the audience.

Hope to see you there!

The interactionary teams are ready to square off!

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We've got the classic school rivalry: NC State versus UNC.

In UNC's corner, we've got:

* Anuj Sharma
* Sam Kome
* Sayan Chakraborty
* Ric Simmons

In NC State's corner, we've got:

* David Windell
* Becca Green
* Patrick Nyeste

You'll definitely want to be there to root for your alma mater. And, if like me you didn't attend either NC State or UNC, you'll want to be there anyway--it's going to be a great fight!

Two more sponsors!

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Two new silver sponsors have signed on:

* hesketh.com - Thanks Heather!
* Motricity - Thanks Wendy and Brian!

We’ve found a location for World Usability Day

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We've finalized plans to **have World Usability Day at MCNC**. (Here's a great picture of the MCNC campus.)

Thanks to Steve Rutland and the gang over there for accommodating us on such short notice. :-) And thanks to our sponsors, like Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, for the donations that made renting the space possible. We still need more funds to make this event as successful as possible. Please forward the sponsorship levels and benefits on to your boss if you think he or she would be willing to donate.

While the agenda has not been finalized (we're so close, now), we do know that the event will run from 6:00 - 9:00. So, if you haven't done so already, mark November 3 from 6:00 - 9:00 on your calendar.

All that said, it feels great to see everyone's hard work paying off. We've found space, the agenda is nearly finalized, most of our panelists have confirmed, the interactionary teams are almost finalized, and the usability ticket is nearly complete.

Okay, okay, we do still have a lot of items "almost" and "nearly" finished, which means that we're going to have a lot of announcements come next week. Somebody help us if we don't get this finalized by then! ;)

Upcoming UX events

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We've got two events coming up next week:

* **TriUPA** is meeting on Monday, October 17th at 6:30; we're meeting at the Quorum in the Raddisson hotel. Get Directions »
* **TriUX/IA Meeting/IxDG F2F** is Tuesday, October 18th from 6:00-7:30; we're meeting at Johnny Carino's in SouthPoint. Get Directions »

Hope to see you at one of these great events!

Our first sponsor! Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

Its official! We've got our first sponsor: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Thank you, Amanda, Anita, and Kim!

Space and sponsorships…almost

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We're so close to several really interesting announcements about the Triangle's celebration of World Usability Day. I don't want to reveal anything before it's been finalized, so this post is really just to let you know that we've made some great progress these past couple of weeks. Particularly, we've

* **almost found space for the event**. This has been my top priority over the past couple of weeks, and I'm glad to say that the search has nearly come to a close. I found a great space that's centrally located and has plenty of parking. I should have everything finalized sometime next week.
* **been working on a list of sponsorship benefits** (thanks, Kim!) that will help us communicate the value of donating money to the event. I'll post the benefits here either tomorrow or sometime next week. If you think your company might be interested in donating to the event, please let me know.

There's still much to do before November 3! We're recruiting teams for the interactionary, we're recruiting judges and panelists, and we've still got to promote the event. My goal is to get 150 people to attend! It's a lot of people, I know. With your help, though, I know we can do it.

World Usability Day in the Triangle

Sat, 01 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT

We are moving forward with our plans to host a local World Usability Day event here in the Triangle. For those that did not attend the meeting, read more about World Usability Day here. Our event will consist of the following agenda:

* **Interactionary** - "The idea is to explode the process of design by forcing insane time constraints, and asking teams of designers to work together in front of a live audience." We'll give 2-5 teams a design problem in which they will have one hour to come up with a solution 2 teams 20 minutes to solve a design problem. For more information on this, see Scott Berkun's Web site in which he documents several interactionaries.
* **Usability Ticketing** - UX experts will "ticket" usability violations, take a picture of the ticket and post it on Flickr under a common tag. People can participate in this event anywhere in the triangle. We will create a "ticket" that you can print and use.

Recap/commentary: Trust in mobile ecommerce

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 21:00:00 GMT

The last Triangle UX meeting (Tuesday 9/20, hosted by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development) focused on designing ecommerce interfaces for mobile devices. Wendy Fischer (Motricity) gave a presentation entitled Selling Content and Building Trust using Mobile Devices. Slides are available on the Yahoo! Group.

Wendy emphasized the critical role of trust in encouraging people to buy content and services using mobile devices such as cell phones. Trust has long been recognized as a central part of ecommerce, with researchers demonstrating that many aspects of user experience designundefinedincluding visual design and usabilityundefinedaffect trust. Wendy's talk highlighted how trust issues can be even more pervasive and important on mobile devices. Design plays a key role in developing trust by enabling customers to feel comfortable and secure when making a purchase.

One key element in building trust is designing effective support for browsing. Some guidelines for supporting browsing include:

Minimize clicks ("a click is a terrible thing to waste")
Provide rich previews of content, or direct access to content
Provide easy comparison of different items
Provide help and assistance, especially for novice users
Personalize views to match device capabilities
Make all costs and fees clear
Make it easy to cancel a purchase or return an unwanted item

One company that implemented a "browse and buy" interface following these guidelines increased its returning customers from 18% to 46%.

The guidelines are in accord with research on credibility and trust, HCI guidelines, and browsing, suggesting that effective mobile design can build upon lessons learned in Web design and HCI.
At the same time, mobile devices, with their small screens and limited input options, make for a unique design platform. Exploring the tradeoff between simplicity and functionality on these devices, and finding innovative ways to support exploration and purchasing, will provide many challenges for mobile designers.

-- Abe Crystal

Recap/commentary: Selling user experience work

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 21:00:00 GMT

The last Triangle IA/UX meeting (Tuesday 6/21, hosted by Hesketh.com) focused on the challenge of selling user experience work to colleagues and clients. Kim Ashley (Dialog) and Stephanie Perun (BlueCross BlueShield) led a lively discussion on this perennially interesting topic.

Selling UX work is much like selling any service: one has to persuade customers of the service's value. That means making the benefits of the service clear, compelling and relevant to customers. So what's the problem? The customers of UX work--particularly executives and other decision-makers in organizations--may not see things quite the way usability professionals do. As Kim put it, we often face resistance from people familiar with older media. Maria, an IA with Lenovo (formerly IBM's PC division) described the challenges of having a visually intense and somewhat user-hostile color scheme imposed by marketing, regardless of its implications for usability.

Marketing and communications (marcom) specialists are often particularly skeptical of "user-centered" design approaches and user research. Stephanie pointed out that attempting to introduce user-centered approaches can be viewed as insulting by marcom folks, who see it as their job to know and communicate with the customer. The problem is that marketing research rarely provides a good foundation for design: that's why user experience work often involves fieldwork, contextual inquiry, usability tests, and other research methods that provide different insights than focus groups and surveys. (Peter Merholz has an excellent example of the problems with trying to apply survey research to design).

How can UX folk overcome this divide? A key idea that emerged from our discussion is emphasizing collaboration and problem-solving when working with marcom (or other non-usability professionals). One can complement existing marketing research, for example, then begin to introduce the idea of using other research methods as well. Here, salesmanship becomes critical. It can be valuable to humanize usability work, by emphasizing techniques such as personas (see this excellent case study of persona use at Microsoft, which integrates market research and user research) and scenarios. Just making usability methods concrete and visible can make a huge difference--Kim reported that executives thought card sorting was "so cool," and user tests are often eye-opening experiences for executives and developers alike. Finally, Stephanie argued that UX professionals must "overeducate" others in the organization on the value of user-centered research and design. For example, one effective tactic is to regularly distribute case studies, articles from the trade press, and other readable, compelling examples of UX work in practice throughout the organization (via listservs, bulletin boards, blogs, etc.).

Perhaps the most controversial issue in selling UX work is measuring its value. Stephanie argued that "we're getting better at metrics" by emphasizing before-and-after studies of user-centered designs, and combining quantitative and qualitative data. Many authors (like Eric Schaffer of HFI) argue that we should cost-justify usability by making explicit return on investment (ROI) calculations. But at a panel at CHI'05, senior usability managers (from SAP, Microsoft, and IBM) argued forcefully that quantitative measures of ROI are misleading and harmful. Instead, they claimed, usability professionals should focus on partnering with management and selling "strategic" rather than "tactical" improvements. As one person pointed out, since when do advertising executives justify their work with ROI
calculations?

To dig deeper into the challenges of selling, measuring, and justifying UX work, I recommend the following:

Eric Schaffer's book Institutionalization of Usability, which covers as well the larger problem of integrating usability into business practices
Rashmi Sinha's collection of links on the ROI of usability
Adaptive Path's report, 'Leveraging Business Value: How ROI Changes User Experience'

--Abe Crystal