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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

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

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.

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

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.

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)

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

At our final event of 2007, Janey Barnes and I (Jackson Fox) presented on "Tools of the Trade:"

• TechSmith's Morae
• TechSmith's UserVue
• Bolt|Peter's Ethnio

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]

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.

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 .