Usability NJ

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.