Usability Week 2009 Conference in Berlin Nov 15-20

A great opportunity to learn more about usability and user-centered design, or to get inspired for your current project.

It's too late for the Sydney one but there's still:

Edinburgh
Sep 14-18

Las Vegas
Oct 11-17

Berlin
Nov 15-20

I'm going to try to aim for the one in Berlin. I can't believe it's been 20 years since the fall of the wall, I remember that day so clearly!

http://www.nngroup.com/events/

Waterfall vs. Agile Development

As a user experience architect, I'm nervous about going into my next project using Scrum. I've done it before and unfortunately came out of it feeling like Agile development was an excuse for the programmers to get to skip the design and research phase of a project and jump straight into development. It makes my job harder as a user experience architect because I can't do wireframes and I have to work with user stories when the conceptual framework doesn't feel stable yet. Like deciding how many wheels your vehicle is going to have before you've even decided if it's a car, train, or bike. Or maybe you'll just walk.

As someone who designs interfaces for a living, I am not sure I like the idea of programmers getting started without having a wireframe to work off of. Still, I'm willing to try. At least I'm being involved early in writing the user stories for this particular project, so I feel like I have some control over the experience...perhaps i'll write some that are like, "as a user experience designer, I am consulted throughout the process so that the website doesn't launch until I think the design makes sense and works well" !! Just kidding.

Anyway, I found a presentation by Maria Giudice of Hot Studio that I really enjoyed. It shows a diagram of what I think is a happy compromise: using the waterfall method first and then agile closer to the development phase.

Human-centered design meets Agile Development

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: user-centered ucd)

Magnetic Web Widgets!!

Magnetic checkboxes, dropdowns, generic logos, etc-- great for prototyping
...or just sticking on the fridge. OK, maybe not sticking on the fridge.

Too bad it comes with a book and all that, because the $200 price tag for the whole Usability Kit it comes with is a bit heavy if you just want the magnets.

I just think having website elements in magnet form so you can move them around and draw around them on a whiteboard is brilliant!

check them out (they are mace by sitepoint)

Good websites to find jobs on

Anyone have a favorite place to find UI design / IA jobs?

Here's what I have so far:

krop.com
IA institute job board
boxes & arrows job board
jobster

I'd like to know about international ones too. So far I've only seen this one:
http://www.recruit.net/search-information+Architect-jobs

Thanks for your input!

User Experience Consulting Firm: Hydrant

I think it's a great sign that User Experience consulting firms are popping up all over the place; it seems like businesses are finally realizing that the experience they create for their customers determines whether they buy their products or not.

Hydrant SF is a customer experience consulting firm I just came into contact with. They sound great, very professional, and have a great client list as well as years of experience.

check them out at hydrantsf.com >

I think they describe very well the problem we User Experience Designers are trying to solve:
"Customers are constantly interacting with your company. On the Web, through catalogs and call centers, via automated phone systems, with your physical products, through your services, or in your stores.

Each of these interactions is a piece of the customer experience that IS your company.

Who owns that overall customer experience in your organization? Is it any good? Where can it be improved? Most companies have no idea. "

Vote on your Favorite Architecture on the AIA150's America's Favorite Architecture Website

A few months ago, I had the great experience of working on a kiosk and website with C&G Partners, which you can still see online at www.favoritearchitecture.org. The American Institute of Architects was celebrating its 150th anniversary and commissioned C&G Partners to design a "green" exhibit (which you can see here), a website, and an interactive kiosk for the exhibit.

The AIA had already whittled America's Favorites down to 150 buildings through a series of polls they conducted with professional architects as well as the general public. The kiosk and website allow additional voting by the greater "online" public -- needless to say a lot of controversy and discussion emerged from it!! In case you are curious, the Empire State Building, which was the original #1, has nothing to do with the online #1 favorite!

Which ones are your favorites? You can still vote and find out what other people think on the website. For best results select "FULL SCREEN VERSION"

The last time I checked it out, these were the results (you only see them after you have voted, but here is a sneak peek!):

Free InDesign Library - Wireframe Elements

Here are some useful wireframe elements I put together to share. Feel free to grab this file and add your own stuff to it. If you have any great items you want to share, please send them to me so I can add them!

This library works on Adobe InDesign CS2 for Mac and Windows.

I hope Interaction Designers who haven't tried InDesign will do so now....I prefer it to Visio any day.

Feel free to leave comments/suggestions.

download the file here >

you will also need the Vector Safari from oddlaa.com.

Here is a sample document that shows them all: download the indd >

thanks,
maya