Usability NJ

Presented by:

Alice Preston

Program:
6:00 PM – Social Hour, hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks served

7:00 PM – Presentation

8:00 PM – Question period followed by more socializing

Special:

• Rider University’s College of Business Administration is sponsoring the food and location for this meeting.
• Come early to participate in the Employment Exchange. This is an opportunity for the audience to announce job openings in their companies. Any one who is looking for positions are welcome announce themselves.

Location:

Rider University College of Business Administration

Anne Brossman Sweigart Hall

2083 Lawrenceville Road

Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

Phone: 609-895-5042 or 800-257-9026

Driving directions: http://www.rider.edu/174_487.htm

Campus Map: http://www.rider.edu/139_16024.htm
(The campus map shows where to park and where the College of Business Administration is located)

Abstract

Being the lone usability practitioner on a small team with a big mandate can be a real challenge. Add in some international goals and the realities on the ground in the largest continent in the world, as well as some project politics, and it becomes an even more interesting challenge. Over nearly four years, Alice Preston worked with a project that was charged with creating a digital library of materials from and about Africa, in a number of subject areas, from botany through cultural heritage to political history. This talk summarizes some of the usability and other lessons she learned from that assignment.

Speaker Biography

Alice Preston has been involved with usability and user experience since 1997, when she made a career switch from technical communications while working at Telcordia. Her experience in a variety of industries has ensured the survival of both her avid curiosity about what people will do with an interface and her sense of humor. Alice has been involved with UPA nearly since its founding, and in 2001, with Whitney Quesenbery, founded the UsabilityNJ organization, which later became the New Jersey chapter of UPA.

Presented by:

Tobias Komischke, Director of User Experience (UX), will talk about the journey of integrating a user experience practice into Infragistics. Why we did it, how we did it, where we are and where we want to be.

Joel Eden, UX consultant, will also talk about our UX consulting business that is closely tied into other Infragistics services and therefore is unique in the market place. He will explain what our offerings are and what typical consulting gigs look like.

Peter Meany, UX Trainer, will talk about what we do in terms of training. What our offering is content-wise, what audiences we address, what delivery channels we support, and how we integrate the training with the rest of our company.

Ken Li, Visual Designer, will talk about what we do in terms of visual design and how visual design ties into user experience.

Ambrose Little, UX Designer, will talk about Patterns and Quince, our UX patterns explorer that we released a couple of months ago.

Tobias Komischke, Director of User Experience (UX), will talk about the journey of where we are and where we want to be.

Program:
6:00 PM – social hour – GREAT FOOD AND DRINKS
7:00 PM – presentation
8:00 PM – question period followed by more socializing

Registration Required:
Please go to http://UsabilityNJ-June-Meeting@eventbrite.com to register for the event

Where:
Rutgers University Core Building
CoRE Building, Room 701
Piscataway, NJ 08854

Phone: 609-933-0270

Directions:
http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/(Click on Maps and Directions)

Important: Do not use your GPS system for the final leg of your journey. Instead,
follow the directions above. The GPS system will take you to the delivery dock of the
building. You want to go to the parking lot in front of the building shown in the
picture above.

You can park in all campus parking lots without worrying about ticketing after 5:00
PM. Do not park at the meters or in places that say reserved.

Presenters Short Bio:

Tobias Komischke has been working in the area of user experience for over 10 years. During that time, he has lead projects and teams to create user interfaces of superior usability and compelling appeal in various industries. At Siemens he had senior R&D positions at Corporate Technology, Corporate Research and Medical Solutions in Germany and the US. While he is deeply familiar with most aspects of user experience, his specialty is Human Factors Engineering which is rooted in his academic background in cognitive psychology. An acknowledged evangelist for user-centered design strategy, methods and processes, Tobias is a frequent speaker at conferences and author for technical journals, magazines and blogs. He is a reviewer for international journals and conferences and is a member of ACM, HFES and ACM.

Joel Eden has been working in the area of user experience and advanced design methods for over 10 years. At Lockheed Martin he held Human Factors Engineering and R&D positions at Lockheed’s Advanced Technology Labs and Human Systems Integration group. At Electronic Ink, he held the position of Human Factors Analyst. At Infragistics he is responsible for the impact of user experience on the inside (development) and outside (consulting). He has published in the academic area of Human-Computer Interaction.

Peter Meany has been working in the area of user experience for over 20 years. He’s had senior R&D positions at Siemens Medical Solutions, Telcordia Technologies, and AT & T Bell Labs. At Infragistics, he is responsible for user experience training for external customers and analysis/design for internal projects. He’s developed and delivered a variety of technical training courses and taught classes at Rutgers University.

Ken Li has a Bachelor of Science in multimedia and web design and has been working at Infragistics for three years, creating visual design as part of product engineering. His deep knowledge about technology and visual design enabled him to move over to Infragistics’ consulting group where he assists customers in creating cutting-edge visual experiences for their products. He is also a freelance web designer, providing visual design solutions for clients in various vertical markets.
Ambrose Little, UX Designer, will talk about Patterns and Quince, our UX patterns
explorer that we released a couple of months ago.

Ambrose has been making professional software since 1997. As a developer and architect, he worked on many projects for financial institutions, e-commerce, telecom, and enterprise resource planning. He has distinguished himself as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for six consecutive years in ASP.NET, Solutions Architecture, and Client Application Development. He’s a member of the highly-selective International .NET Association (INETA) speakers bureau, co-author of four industry books ranging from ADO.NET to Silverlight, and author of many articles online and in print. In his time at Infragistics, he’s made a transition from a focus on the technical aspects of software to the human aspects and is now working full time as a UX designer on internal products.

Our goal is not to lecture people about how great we are, but rather to provide a case study on how we started the UX practice at Infragistics, where we are today and what our lessons learned are. We’d really like to discuss with the audience.

Downloads and Additional Information

Flyer for the June 29 UsabilityNJ Meeting (Adobe PDF Format, 74 KB)

Presented by: Jared Spool

Program:
6:00 PM – Social Hour
7:00 PM – Presentation
8:00 PM – Question period followed by more socializing

RSVP: phillychi@gmail.com

Where:
Bossone Center Auditorium, Drexel University
31st & Market Streets Philadelphia, PA 19104

Driving directions, public transportation, and parking:
http://www.drexel.edu/em/directions/directions_uc.html

About the Presentation

Everyone wants an “intuitive” interface: the users, the designers, and the content publishers. But building them is hard. User Interface Engineering’s recent research has given insight into why it’s hard and how to get past major obstacles.

To build an “intuitive” interface, a designer has to do two things: (1) Take complete advantage of what the user already knows, so what they see is completely familiar to them and (2) make the act of learning anything new completely imperceptible to the user. It turns out, if the interface requires the user to realize they are learning something, the “intuitive” label disappears instantly.

In this talk, Jared will show:

• How users need both tool knowledge and domain knowledge to complete their tasks
• How simple problems with designs can cause big problems for users
• What successful teams are doing to create experiences that delight

Jared will show examples from Microsoft Word, MSN, Google Talk, Flickr, Avis, and many more.

About the Presenter

If you’ve ever seen Jared speak about usability, you know that he’s probably the most effective, knowledgeable communicator on the subject today. What you probably don’t know is that he has guided the research agenda and built User Interface Engineering into the largest research organization of its kind in the world. He’s been working in the field of usability and design since 1978, before the term “usability” was ever associated with computers.

Jared spends his time working with the research teams at the company, helps clients understand how to solve their design problems, explains to reporters and industry analysts what the current state of design is all about, and is a top-rated speaker at more than 20 conferences every year. He is also the conference chair and keynote speaker at the annual User Interface Conference, is on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute, and manages to squeeze in a fair amount of writing time.

About Our Sponsors

Digitas Health
Counting as clients many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, bioscience, and medical device companies, Digitas Health is a next-generation marketing agency that helps build healthcare brands that patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals feel confident turning to and recommending when they are sick, in need, or helping others. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is a 2009 Webby Award winner and the MM&M Agency of the Year, and has been recognized as having some of the best work perks in the country by CNN.com. Visit www.digitashealth.com or follow us on Twitter @Digitas_Health.

Happy Cog
Founded by visionary Jeffrey Zeldman and staffed by creative superstars, Happy Cog delivers beautiful websites that never lose sight of the human being using them. From site structure to interface design, from branding to content development, Happy Cog’s people are the authorities. Visit us at www.happycog.com.

The iSchool at Drexel
Founded in 1892, The iSchool at Drexel educates students in information science and technology at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels and features Drexel University’s Cooperative Education program. The College’s mission is to empower society by uniting people, technology, and knowledge through innovative education and research. The iSchool is home to three bachelor of science degrees, in information systems, information technology, and software engineering; three master’s degrees in library and information science, information systems, and software engineering; and a PhD in information studies. The college’s Master of Science in Library and Information Science is ranked 9th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. TheiSchool at Drexel is a founding member of the iSchools Caucus of 21 prominent colleges dedicated to preparing students for careers in the iField — connecting people, information and technology. For more information visit: www.ischool.drexel.edu.

Presented by: Sukeshini Grandhi, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Program:

6:00 PM – social hour – hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks
7:00 PM – presentation
8:00 PM – question period followed by more socializing

Where:

Logical Design Solutions
131 Madison Avenue Morristown, NJ 07960
Phone: 973-971-0100

Directions: http://www.lds.com/location.asp

Abstract:
The abundance of technology-mediated communication tools such as the now ubiquitous cell phone has not only increased our ability to communicate but also the possibility of being interrupted. As a result, we need to understand how to design communication tools so that productivity gains can be realized from desired interruptions while the losses from unwanted communication can be minimized. Prior research exploring interpersonal technology-mediated interruptions has focused on identifying the costs of cognitive and social intrusions, partly in the hope that sensor technology can be utilized to improve the timing of interruption requests. However, this approach has had limited real world success because it fails to take into account either who the interruption is from or what the interruption is about with respect to the value it may bring along. This talk will address this short coming and present a theoretical framework and associated research program. Findings from two user studies on cell phone call handling practices that validate key constructs will be presented. They highlight how people desire and use information about the interrupter’s context, interruption content and historic interrupter-interruptee interaction history in their decisions to answer or ignore a call. The talk will also demonstrate CellPhone IMT – an interruption management tool for cell phones, whose design and instantiation is inspired by the findings of these studies.

Biography: Sukeshini A. Grandhi is a member of the SmartCampus Group and a final year doctoral student at the Department of Information Systems, NJIT. Her research interests are at the confluence of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), ubiquitous/pervasive and social computing. Her work revolves around understanding the social and organizational work processes using technology and how this understanding can inform the design of innovative applications and user interfaces. She has published and presented in many conferences including CHI, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) and Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS). Her other publications include IEEE Internet Computing and a book chapter on Supporting Proximate Communities with P3-Systems: Technology for Connecting People-To-People-To-Geographical-Places. She is an active member of the HCI community and has reviewed several peer publications and worked at many ACM conferences as a volunteer. Ms. Grandhi holds a masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Western Australia Perth, Australia. She also has a Masters and a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Madras Christian College, University of Madras, India.

Presented by: BILL BUXTON
Microsoft Research, USA

Program:
6:30 PM – social hour – hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks
7:00 PM – presentation
8:30 PM – book signing – We will be handing out flyers from the publisher that will give people 20 percent off on Bill Buxton’s new book. Bill will sign a bookplate that can be affixed to the book

Where: Computer Science Large Auditorium
Princeton University
35 Olden Street, Room 105
Princeton, New Jersey 08542

Directions: http://www.cs.princeton.edu/general/visit.php

Abstract:
A Personal Mantra: Ultimately, we are deluding ourselves if we think that the products that we design are the “things” that we sell, rather than the individual, social and cultural experience that they engender, and the value and impact that they have. Design that ignores this is not worthy of the name.
I will be talking about how we are in the midst of a transition from where we view design as primarily concerned with the material object (the device, dress, home, service, etc.) to a new state where our focus is on the experience that result from those same objects and services. One of the consequences is that great design (which equates to great experience) cannot be confined to, or the sole prevue of, any one department . be it design, marketing, or engineering, for example. Rather, in this perspective, design has to be viewed in a holistic manner, and executing great design must involve every person in the food chain that produces the product. This not only has deep implications on what designers do. It also compels us to rethink who or what is a designer, and who is not. In order to do great design in the future . whatever that may mean . implies that the most important thing that we need to design is design itself. And yet, the paradox is, this is the only way to save design as a distinct and critical profession.

Biography:

Bill Buxton is a relentless advocate for innovation, design, and – especially – the appropriate consideration of human values, capacity, and culture in the conception, implementation, and use of new products and technologies. This is reflected in his research, teaching, talks, and writing – including his column on design and innovation for BusinessWeek.com, and his 2007 book, Sketching User Experiences.
In December 2005, he was appointed Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research. Prior to that, he was Principal of his own Toronto-based boutique design and consulting firm, Buxton Design.
Buxton began his career as a composer and performer, having done a Bachelor of Music degree at Queen’s University. He then studied and taught for two years at the Institute of Sonology, Utrecht, Holland.
In 1975 Bill started designing his own digital musical instruments. This is what led him to the University of Toronto, where he completed an MSc in Computer Science, and subsequently jointed the faculty. It is also the path that brought him into the field of human-computer interaction, which is his technical area of specialty.
From 1987-89, Buxton was in Cambridge England, helping establish a new satellite of Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (EuroPARC). From 1989-94 he split his time between Toronto, where he was Scientific Director of the Ontario Telepresence Project, and Palo Alto, California, where he was a consulting researcher at Xerox PARC.
From 1994 until December 2002, he was Chief Scientist of Alias|Wavefront, (now part of Autodesk) and from 1995, its parent company SGI Inc. In the fall of 2004, he became a part-time instructor in the Department of Industrial Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design. In 2004/05 he was also Visiting Professor at the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) at the University of Toronto. He currently splits his time between Redmond and Toronto.
In 1995, Buxton became the third recipient of the Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society Award for contributions to research in computer graphics and human-computer interaction. In 2000 he was given the New Media Visionary of the Year Award at the Canadian New Media Awards. In 2001, The Hollywood Reporter named him one of the 10 most influential innovators in Hollywood. In 2002, Time Magazine named him one of the top 5 designers in Canada. Also in 2002, he was elected to the CHI Academy. In October, 2005, he and Gord Kurtenbach received the “Lasting Impact Award”, from ACM UIST 2005, which was awarded for their 1991 paper, Issues in Combining Marking and Direct Manipulation Techniques. In June, 2007, he was named Doctor of Design, Honoris Causa by the Ontario College of Art and Design, in 2008 he became the 10th recipient of the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Achievement Award, “for fundamental contributions to the field of Computer Human Interaction,” and in January 2009 he was elected Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), for his contributions to the field of human-computer interaction.
From 1998-2004, Buxton was on the board of the Canadian Film Centre, and in 1998-99 chaired a panel to advise the premier of Ontario on developing long term policy to foster innovation, through the Ontario Jobs and Investment Board. He is on a number of academic advisory boards, the Department of Industrial Design of the Technical University in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Buxton is a member of the Association of Computing Machinery and the Industrial Designers Society of America.
Outside of work, Buxton loves the outdoors. He is especially passionate about mountains, including skiing, climbing, and touring, both in summer and winter. This interest extends to the written word. He has contributed to the literature on mountain history and exploration, is an avid bibliophile, and was one of the three jury members of the 2005 Banff Mountain Book Festival. In addition, he is an avid cyclist, and active in kayaking, SCUBA diving and windsurfing. He is an accomplished equestrian, and in 1996 was awarded the Veteran Rider of the Year award from the Ontario Horse Trials Association, and in 2000 was named to the Talent Squad of the National Eventing Team. Finally, he has a life-long fascination with both art and his wife, Elizabeth – who owns and operates a contemporary art gallery, Gallery 888, in Toronto, Canada.
For more information, visit www.billbuxton.com

Downloads and Additional Information

• Click to download the PDf version of this event and Bill Buxton’s biography (Adobe PDF, 48 KB)
• Click to view the video of Bill BUxton’s Presentation.

We have representatives from three universities to tell you about courses or degree programs that you can take part time to round out your User Experience education.

Participating Universities:

• Drexel University
• New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Rutgers University

Come prepared with questions, e.g., what are your future plans for these programs and advice, e.g., here is what we would like you people to be teaching.

Directions:

Go to http://www.caip.rutgers.edu and click on Map/Directions

Title:The Psychology of User Interface Design Rules

Presented by: Jeff Johnson

Program:

6:00 PM – social hour – hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks
7:00 PM – presentation 8:00 PM – question period followed by more socializing Please

Note: This event is free and open to the public. As a courtesy to our speaker and host, please RSVP to rsvp [at] usabilitynj [dot] org if you plan to attend the meeting.

Where:Princeton University Computer Science Small Auditorium

35 Olden St, Room 105
Princeton, New Jersey 08542

Directions: Please click for directions
Yahoo Maps: Please click for Yahoo Maps

Abstract:
UI design rules are not simple recipes to be applied mindlessly. Applying them effectively requires determining their applicability (and precedence) in specific situations. It also requires balancing the trade-offs that inevitably arise in situations when design rules appear to contradict each other. By understanding the underlying psychology for the design rules, designers and evaluators enhance their ability to interpret and apply them. Explaining that psychology is the focus of this talk. It is intended mainly for software designers and developers who did not take Cognitive Psychology as part of their university education.

Book Signing:
Jeff has agreed to sign any of his books that you have purchased. Please bring them to the meeting and he will sign them after his talk.

Speaker Bio:
Jeff Johnson
UI Wizards, Inc.
Jeff is Principal Consultant at UI Wizards, Inc., a product usability consultancy. After earning B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale and Stanford Universities, he worked as a UI designer and implementer, engineer manager, usability tester, and researcher at Cromemco, Xerox, US West, Hewlett-Packard Labs, and Sun Microsystems. He has taught at Stanford University, Mills College, and the University of Canterbury. He has authored articles and chapters on a variety of topics in Human-Computer Interaction, as well as the books GUI Bloopers, Web Bloopers, and GUI Bloopers 2.0.or Software Developers and Web Designers.

Presented by: Mark DiSciullo

Program:

6:30 PM – social hour – hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks
7:00 PM – presentation

Where:
Rutgers University Busch Campus

CoRE Building – First Floor Auditorium
Piscataway, NJ (click for directions)

Talk Summary:
What is the most effective way to try out innovative functionality with users and not require a lengthy and costly build cycle? What is the most rapid way to explore new ideas, and then easily iterate upon those ideas, based on user feedback? What needs to be taken into account when planning to use a prototype as part of your user research project?

Prototyping tools, such as Axure 5.0, are making it easier to develop innovative and useful UI designs. Because of the choices and flexibility built into many prototyping tools on the market today, it has never been easier to get new ideas in front of users, gather feedback, and apply those insights to your design. A prototype helps facilitate an iterative design approach, quickly validate ideas and can be an essential tool for gaining client approvals and communicating design requirements to your project team.

This overview will discuss the prototyping process for usability testing, compare various prototyping tools such as Axure, iRise, Dreamweaver, and Visio. You will also be walked through the creation of a prototype, and provided some useful tips and techniques for prototyping regardless of the tools you currently use or plan to work with.

Speaker Bio:

Mark DiSciullo
MISI Company

Mark has been working as a user-centered design professional for over 15 years. He joined MISI Company in 2005 as an Experience Architect, specializing in user centered research and design. Through the use of prototyping, his research and design methods have generated innovative ideas and actionable insights for clients such as Merck, Pfizer, Nike, Kodak, IBM, Microsoft, TD Waterhouse, Merrill Lynch, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. More info about Mark can be found at www.disciullo.net.

Downloads and Additional Information

Please click to download a PDF version of Mark’s talk.(1943 KB)

Speaker: Laura Keller

Where: MISI Company
Woodbridge, NJ 07095

Talk Summary:
A study on the hospital’s current wayfinding system was conducted over two days in August 2008. Information was gathered from patients/visitors, as well as volunteers and user experience analysts. The results show that a significant portion of visitors have trouble finding their way to appointments & offices and rely heavily on asking hospital staff for directions.

World Usability Day 2008 topic: Usability in Transportation for New Jersey: Which exit?

Hosted by: Rutgers University

Center For Advanced Information Processing
Dr. Richard Mammone – Director

Where: Rutgers University Busch Campus
CoRE Building – First Floor Auditorium
96 Frelinghuysend Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854
www.caip.rutgers.edu