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Events UPA Europe 2008: December 04-06 2008

UPA Europe 2008: December 04-06 2008

The first European regional conference of the UPA will take place on December 4th - 6th 2008 in Turin. Details can be found on the UPA Europe website.

Events Getting it Wrong - Qualitative Research in the Usability Community: Thursday 18th September 2008

Getting it Wrong - Qualitative Research in the Usability Community: Thursday 18th September 2008

The September event will be taking place on Thursday 18th September at LBi's offices on Brick Lane.

Getting it Wrong - Qualitative Research in the Usability Community

Catriona Campbell, Director at Foviance, a ground-breaking customer experience consultancy, believes it's time for usability companies to wake up to the strategic risks in our market place.

"The User Experience Community has long believed that it is a specialist field - some of us see ourselves as an important addition to the Design Community, however some in the design community believe that designers can fulfil the role with sufficient training. Some in our field see us as specialist Researchers, or as Consultants, and the list goes on.

However, there are others practicing in the field now, and I will outline where the threats are coming from, here in Europe and in the USA. It's an interesting insight into the Market Research community amongst others, where they have been conducting research for over 60 years!"

Catriona will be giving a talk on the risks to the user experiences community and suggesting ways in which we can be better prepared for the future of our market.

Events The BBC Experience: Thursday 7th August 2008

The BBC Experience: Thursday 7th August 2008

The August event will be taking place on Thursday 7th August at LBi's new offices on Brick Lane.

The BBC Experience: Jonathan Hassell

Jonathan Hassell, the BBC's Head of Audience Experience & Usability, will be talking about the BBC's approach to user experience and accessibility. He will be sharing insights on some of the BBC's latest projects, such as the BBC Homepage, and will be exploring the types of challenges faced while developing a successful and accessible user experience. Jonathan will be joined by other members of the BBC's Audience Experience and Usability team discussing recent research into media consumption and the refresh of their Mobile service.

About Jonathan:
• Over 6 years experience working with the UK's leading usability and accessibility experts
• PhD in Human-Computer Interaction
• Won 2006 BIMA for best achievement in accessibility for his first commission: the BBC accessibility site My Web, My Way

Events UPA Careers Event: Thursday 3rd July 2008

UPA Careers Event: Thursday 3rd July 2008

This year's UK UPA Careers Event will be held on Thursday 3rd July at LBi's new offices on Brick Lane.

Event Sponsors: LBi, Aquent, Avenue A | Razorfish, Conchango, CX Partners, Flow Interactive, Foolproof, Fortune Cookie, Webcredible.

The event aims to bring together User Experience companies, practitioners and students. It is suited to anyone looking for good people or a good role, or anyone just looking for the opportunity to network with peers.

The evening will begin with a short panel discussion which will be followed by a couple of hours of networking. Each Sponsor will have a dedicated area where they will display some of their work and be available to chat. Drinks will be provided.

If you are interested in your company being a sponsor of the event please let us know by emailing Claire: president [at] ukupa.org.uk

Events UPA Conference: June 16-20 2008

UPA Conference: June 16-20 2008

UPA Conference is being held this year in Baltimore on June 16th-20th. The theme is 'The Many Faces of User Experience: Usability through holistic practice'. Details can be found on the main UPA site.

Events May Event

May Event

There is no event planned for May.

Events Designing for the social: Avoiding anti-social networks: Miles Rochford - Thursday 24th April 2008

Designing for the social: Avoiding anti-social networks: Miles Rochford - Thursday 24th April 2008

Designing for the social: Avoiding anti-social networks

This presentation considers the role of traditional social networks and the role of IAs in addressing the challenges that arise when designing and using online social networks.

The presentation discusses philosophical approaches to sharing the self, how this relates to offline social networks and human interactions in different contexts, and provides guidance on how online social networking tools can be designed to support these relationships.

It also covers ethical issues, including privacy, and how these can conflict with business needs. A range of examples illustrate the impact of these drivers and how design decisions can lead to the creation of anti-social networks.

Finally, it considers the design role which IAs play, and how recognising the impact of business needs, philosophy and ethics can help deliver better social networks. It also considers how the IA community generally could influence and improve social network design.

The presentation is aimed at IAs who are designing, building or using social networks, who also recognise that their design choices, philosophy and ethical background have a fundamental impact on user experience.

Participants will learn about different approaches to social network design, and how online social networks relate to traditional ways of viewing human interactions. They will also gain some practical advice on the different issues which should be considered when designing and using social networks.

This is a version of the presentation that will be made at IA Summit

Miles Rochford is a Design Specialist at Nokia Design, based in London, England.

He has been an information architect and user experience specialist for more than six years, working on a range of projects for government, non-profit, corporate and startup clients based in the United States, Europe and Australia.

He has experience in a range of different areas, including interaction design, spatial data, health informatics, social networking, media sharing, mobile devices, and service delivery.

Events William Hudson: Advanced Topics in Card Sorting - Thursday 20th March 2008

William Hudson: Advanced Topics in Card Sorting - Thursday 20th March 2008

Sub-groups, Deviants and Navigational Alignment: Advanced topics in card sorting

Have you ever wondered

• When and why to use sub-groups in a card sort?


• How to maximize the quality of sorting analysis?


• Where to find the main differences between sorting results and current information architecture?

Register for the event here

Events Personas: Archetype not Stereoype: Martina Schell & Simon Johnson - Thursday 21st February 2008

Personas: Archetype not Stereoype: Martina Schell & Simon Johnson - Thursday 21st February 2008

Personas: Archetype not Stereotype

There are some common misconceptions about what personas are and what role they play in the User Centred Design process. Martina Schell and Simon Johnson from Flow Interactive will be covering the basics of what personas are, where they originated, how to develop them and what their benefits are. They will be giving practical advice as well as providing examples of successful persona-based projects, anecdotes, as well as tips on how to embed them in your clients’ design and development processes.

Events Event: Beyond ‘Usable Security’ - M. Angela Sasse

Event: Beyond ‘Usable Security’ - M. Angela Sasse

Beyond "usable security": how to manage the human element in security – M. Angela Sasse, Professor of Human-Centred Technology, University College London

Research in usable security commenced 10 years ago, when it was found that many users make mistakes using security tools, or shortcut difficult and cumbersome security procedures. But is "making it easy for users to do the right thing" sufficient to ensure that users comply with security policies? I will argue that it is not. To design effective security design and operation, we must look at a bigger picture of managing human behaviour in organisations. The loss of 7 million UK citizens' data has reminded us that human error needs to be seen in the context of latent failures in the systems and procedures. Traditional security models do not fit the requirements of modern, global data-dependent organisations. Usability professionals will have a key role in improving this: we need better understanding of security requirements, more stakeholder involvement, better security awareness, education and training programs, and to include security goals in psychological contracts and reward schemes.

Events Event: Product Usability: Thursday 22nd November

Event: Product Usability: Thursday 22nd November

Product Usability: Chris Rourke & Mark Westwater - User Vision

Chris and Mark will cover the scope of product usability and focus on the primary differences between product and web usability. They will provide case studies and examples from a variety of projects to highlight the role of the usability / human factors professional in the product development process, how this has evolved over the years, and how certain companies have used their user-centred design process and products as a marketing USP. They will also outline the key tools and methods in user-centred product design and the various factors e.g. stake holders, manufacturing costs and accessibility requirements, that have an impact on both the physical design, user interface and aesthetics.

Chris Rourke is Managing Director of User Vision, a leading UK user experience consultancy, and president of the Scottish Chapter of the UPA. In addition to experience in many leading web and software related projects, Chris has performed and managed usability and human factors efforts on products ranging from airplane navigation systems, large format printers, thermostat controls, keyboards and cashpoint machines.

Mark Westwater is the lead User Vision consultant for product design, and has over 11 years experience applying user centred design methodologies to product developments. Mark was the lead human factors engineer worked at NCR, the world leader in Automated Teller Machines (ATM) Research and Development. His primary focus was to plan and support both hardware and software developments as well as conducting research is future technologies. This included mobile based application design and Voice Recognition system evaluation. Mark has also been a representative on various accessibility committees in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, developing standards that meet both the consumers' needs and current technology trends.

Events World Usability Day: Thursday 8th November 2007

World Usability Day: Thursday 8th November 2007

World Usability Day is taking place on Thursday 8th November 2007, with a focus this year on Healthcare.

The UK UPA is supporting an all-day event at LBi in London that will showcase some case studies of healthcare user experience design and provide the opportunity to debate issues in the areas of experience and service design.

Details for the event, and how to get involved, can be found on the World Usability Day website events page

Events Scott Weiss: UPA Event - Thursday 25th October 2007

Scott Weiss: UPA Event - Thursday 25th October 2007

Slides from Scott's talk can be found here

Scott Weiss on Mobile Widgets and Mobile Search: UX Findings from New York.

Scott Weiss leads Usable Products Company, a usability agency in New York focused on two things: quantitative usability benchmarks and the design of mobile phone user interfaces. The two become delightfully intertwined in most of Usable Products' work, which includes the Vodafone Simply (available in Spain), and the Samsung YP-K5 and K3 players, sold world-wide.

Scott has been called to London this week for business and would like to share his team's latest findings at a special meeting of the UPA about mobile widgets and search, based on insights from quantitative user experience benchmarks for each.

Scott will show video excerpts from the study, as well as demonstrations of each of the six products he studied this Spring and Summer. A brief subset of the presentation will be available via the web following Scott's talk.

Events UPA Event - Thursday 18th October 2007

UPA Event - Thursday 18th October 2007

Accessibility & the challenges of Web 2.0, user generated content and the social networking revolution. Speaker: Kath Moonan, AbilityNet

Web 2.0 is the name commonly given to the latest generation of web sites where users themselves generate the content. For example MySpace, FaceBook, Flickr and YouTube allow users to upload material and create networks.

While there are technical challenges associated with the use of these websites, there are also enormous opportunities for disabled people to engage in social networking where otherwise they might have been excluded.

Web 2.0 presents many accessibility challenges such as how to encourage users to generate accessible content. How can website owners and developers to build accessible web applications rather than taking the easy option of not considering disabled users?

We’re going to look at what Web 2.0 is, how the web is evolving and what impact it is going to have on the lives of disabled users. We’ll look at examples of the good, the bad and the ugly and make suggestions on what website owners can do to help steer the web in an accessible direction.

Please note that Kath will also be giving a version of this presentation at the RNIB's Techshare event

Events UK UPA Salary Survey 2007

UK UPA Salary Survey 2007

The 2007 UK UPA Salary Survey is now complete

Results will be published here shortly.

***************

Participate in the UK UPA Salary Survey 2007
We are currently running the UK UPA Salary Survey 2007 for those working in any area related to usability. If you would like to participate please follow this link to the survey. Results will be published on this site as well as on various discussion lists. If you have any problems accessing the survey please contact us.

[NB: The results from the 2006 Salary Survey have not yet been published but will be shortly.]

Events UPA Event & Summer Party - Thursday 23rd August

UPA Event & Summer Party - Thursday 23rd August

Web 2.0 and What It Means For User Experience Practitioners
Speaker: Gerred Blyth

What is Web 2.0 and why is everyone so excited about it? In this hour talk, Gerred will unpack this recent development and explain why "Web 2.0" doesn't really exist, but the concepts that underpin the buzzword such as social media, semantic data, and rich web applications are very real and very important.

The concept of Web 2.0 has been bandied about for around two years, but only now are we concluding how user experience practitioners have to amend their working practices, deliverables and design thinking.

With lots of real world examples and best practice, Gerred will arm you for battle in this new phase of understanding and developing user experiences.

About the speaker
Gerred has a history at the forefront of interactive experience consultancy in the UK and internationally, with a reputation as an innovative practitioner, across domains such as consumer web, mobile, worksystem software, and gaming.

Formerly a director of Amberlight Partners, Gerred defined and led new user experience approaches for clients such as Sony Playstation, AOL, Microsoft, O2, T-Mobile, Samsung, Mars, and 118118. Now, as an independent consultant, he is currently working with Sony BMG, Channel 4, Camelot and Credit Suisse to design new interactive experiences.

As our summer party this event is free of charge.

Events UPA CAREERS Event: 28th June 2007

UPA CAREERS Event: 28th June 2007

The next UPA event will be a forum and exhibition to promote careers in usability and related fields. It should be of interest both to new graduates and to those wanting a change of career and move into the usability field. The event will be at LBi's Big Space on Thursday 28th June 2007.

Events UK UPA June event

UK UPA June event

Rob Stevens of Bunnyfoot will talk about Tobii who are releasing a new hardware and software solution and a price plan that allows smaller agencies to use Tobii eye trackers.

Events Cambridge (14th May): Information Visualization

Cambridge (14th May): Information Visualization

The speaker at the Cambridge Usability Group event in May will be Bob Spence, author of the textbook "Information Visualization: Design for Interaction" and Emeritus Professor of Information Engineering at Imperial College London.

Events UPA AGM and April event

UPA AGM and April event

Using eye tracking to optimize Persuasion Centered Design / AGM Rob Stevens, Bunnyfoot

Persuasion Centered Design (PCD) utilizes behavioral segmentation to plan different user journeys for different personality types. For example, competitive consumers receive less detailed information than methodical consumers. PCD facilitates consumers in self selecting their behavioral type by utilizing descriptive in line links. By eyetracking consumers we can see if they engage with a link and choose not to select it. With PCD this outcome is often a planned for event, one that would be impossible to reliably measure without eyetracking.

Events 29 March: Usability in industry: what goes wrong and how to put it right

29 March: Usability in industry: what goes wrong and how to put it right

Nigel Bevan will discuss whether and why usability matters to industry currently and some of the main challenges to the uptake of usability methods. He will discuss which usability evaluation methods work best in industry, and what can go wrong. Nigel will also summarise recent work on a US National Academy of Sciences Committee to show how usability methods can be selected to reduce project risk.

Click here to download the presentation slides

Events iPTV (February 22)

iPTV (February 22)

Chris Averill of CAD interactive explores interactive TV in the form of iPTV - the system adopted by BT to deliver its TV services.

What do people want, how are they using it and what the future holds from the consumer point of view? What are the main issues that face organizations involved with iPTV? What does the future hold for mobile, web and TV?

Events CREATE 2007: Deadline for abstracts

CREATE 2007: Deadline for abstracts

CREATE is a 2-day conference (13-14 June 2007) about creating innovative interactions, whether digital consumer products, interactive services or interaction paradigms. The emphasis for the conference is to share the wealth of creative ideas we have developed to resolve problems, to create new capabilities, or new functions. The aim is to spawn further creative designs that can make a difference to people. Abstracts of 500 words should be submitted by 31 January.

Events Advances in mobile UI (Wednesday 6 December 2006)

Advances in mobile UI (Wednesday 6 December 2006)

Admit it: you'd like a change from designing websites. And WAP is a bit one-dimensional. Scott Weiss, author of 'Handheld Usability' and mobile phones expert will be riding in to town to discuss the latest in mobile UI design. And we'll be opening a few bottles of wine (it's nearly Christmas, after all).

Events UKUPA to run second annual awards - soon

UKUPA to run second annual awards - soon

We know you want it - but you'll have to wait a little longer.

Events World Usability Day: 14 November 2006

World Usability Day: 14 November 2006

To celebrate the second World Usability Day on 14 November 2006, we will be holding a special event and reception.

We'll be inviting a panel of usability experts from other countries to share their experience - how does usability practice differ overseas? What are the cultural differences that make usability harder or easier in other countries? Where do they think the strengths and weaknesses of the UK usability community lie.

We'll be celebrating World Usability Day afterwards with a drinks reception.

Where:
Prudential plc, Governor's House, Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0HH

When:
Start 1830 for 1845
Finish 1945 - followed by drinks

Free to UK UPA members, £10 for non-members, £5 for students

(Those of you expecting the UPA Awards, don't fret - they have been postponed until the new year.)

Events Cambridge: The Four Pleasures: Usability and Beyond (Monday 9th October)

Cambridge: The Four Pleasures: Usability and Beyond (Monday 9th October)

Professor Patrick Jordan will be the speaker at the next Cambridge Usability Group event. Patrick will give a presentation on the subject of

"The Four Pleasures: Usability and Beyond"

Events London: Don’t Make Me Think Aloud! (21st September 2006)

London: Don’t Make Me Think Aloud! (21st September 2006)

Steve Krug’s first law of usability is ‘Don’t Make Me Think’.

So why is it that most usability professionals use the think aloud protocol to test websites?

Events HCI 2006 - Engage! (11-15 September 2006)

HCI 2006 - Engage! (11-15 September 2006)

20th BCS HCI Group conference in co-operation with ACM and UPA

Events London: What’s behind the red button? (Thursday 20th July)

London: What’s behind the red button? (Thursday 20th July)

Mark Howell and Vicky Spengler from the User Experience Design team at BBC New Media and Technology discuss design for television interfaces.

Events London: Your career in usability (Thursday 22 June)

London: Your career in usability (Thursday 22 June)

Whether you're looking for your first job in usability, an experienced practitioner looking to plan a career or go freelance, or a manager looking for tips and advice, this event has something for you.

Events London: Taking Evaluation into the Field: Some Opportunities and Challenges (Thursday 25 May)

London: Taking Evaluation into the Field: Some Opportunities and Challenges (Thursday 25 May)

Conducting field studies of systems in use can yield rewarding insights but poses many challenges for the practitioner, especially when the setting is as critical, dynamic and sensitive as most healthcare settings.

Events Cambridge: Ethnography and how it can inform design (Monday 8th May)

Cambridge: Ethnography and how it can inform design (Monday 8th May)

Our speaker at this meeting will be Louise Ferguson who will look at the nature of ethnography and what it can offer the user experience and design community and their clients. She will briefly discuss what’s involved in 'doing ethnography’ and its relationship to other methods.

Events London: What does PAS 78 mean for accessibility? (Friday 28 April)

London: What does PAS 78 mean for accessibility? (Friday 28 April)

Last month, the Disability Rights Commission and the British Standards Institute launched PAS-78: Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible web sites. The guide puts user-centred design at the heart of accessibility and will change the way site owners think about accessibility.

Events London: Panel discussion: The knowledge gap (Thursday 16 March)

London: Panel discussion: The knowledge gap (Thursday 16 March)

This month's event brings together a panel of trainers and educators to discuss what students should expect from their courses. Is it time to re-write the book on training?

Events Cambridge: A user-centred approach to creating new mobile phone services (Monday 27th February)

Cambridge: A user-centred approach to creating new mobile phone services (Monday 27th February)

The speaker at this meeting will be Matt Davies, Product Manager & User Experience Designer at QUALCOMM Europe Ltd.

Events London: Commercializing Usability Results & Mobile Media Download Challenges (Tuesday 21 February)

London: Commercializing Usability Results & Mobile Media Download Challenges (Tuesday 21 February)

Scott Weiss presents on the challenges of quantitative usability studies and selling commercial research.

Events London: Ethnography and how it can inform design (Thursday 19 January)

London: Ethnography and how it can inform design (Thursday 19 January)

Louise Ferguson will look at the nature of ethnography and what it can offer the user experience and design community and their clients. She will briefly discuss what’s involved in 'doing ethnography’ and its relationship to other methods.

Events Cambridge: Usability vs Accessibility? No contest (Monday 28th November)

Cambridge: Usability vs Accessibility? No contest (Monday 28th November)

Our speaker for this meeting will be Donna Smillie, Senior Web Accessibility
Consultant at RNIB.

Events London: IT failure and the public sector / AGM (Thursday, 17 November)

London: IT failure and the public sector / AGM (Thursday, 17 November)

IT Failure and the public sector. Presented by Anthony Finkelstein. Followed by the AGM: UK UPA Vision for 2006 and beyond.

Events World Usability Day (Thursday 3 November)

World Usability Day (Thursday 3 November)

On November 3,2005, people in more than 70 locations, and 30 countries around the world will celebrate World Usability Day. The theme is "Making It Easy!".
Find out details of events happening in the UK to celebrate World Usability Day.

Events London: Head to head - Usability testing software (Thursday, 20 October)

London: Head to head - Usability testing software (Thursday, 20 October)

Speakers: Ben Whattam and Annemarie van Egmond from Foolproof, and Bill Budenberg from Tracksys.

Events Information Architecture Summit

Information Architecture Summit

Europe's first Information Architecture Summit
October Sat 15th - Sun 16th 2005
Brussels

Events Cambridge: Making usability pay (Monday, 26 September)

Cambridge: Making usability pay (Monday, 26 September)

Making usability pay: effects of applying UCD principles at an online mortgage broker

Events London: Rapid Prototyping Workshop (Thursday, 15 September)

London: Rapid Prototyping Workshop (Thursday, 15 September)

Rapid Prototyping Workshop with Ben Luff of System Concepts.
Presentation available on-line:
Rapid Prototyping (PDF 1.1 MB)

Events London: Design of mobile devices for police forces (Thursday, 11 August)

London: Design of mobile devices for police forces (Thursday, 11 August)

Speakers: Paul Hampton and Julia Higgins of Conspicuity Innovate Ltd.

Police officers have numerous demands on their time, demands which often require them to work in the police station using desktop based IT solutions. This requirement has for many years negatively impacted on officers’ abilities to meet the public demand for visible policing.

Events Cambridge: How can Human-Computer Interaction Research help the User Experience Professional (Monday 25th July)

Cambridge: How can Human-Computer Interaction Research help the User Experience Professional (Monday 25th July)

William Newman will give a talk on "How can Human-Computer Interaction Research help the User Experience Professional?

Events London: Ethnography and how it can inform design (CANCELLED)

London: Ethnography and how it can inform design (CANCELLED)

Due to events in London today this event has been cancelled. A rescheduled date will be announced in due course.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope that everyone is safe and well.

Ethnography Without Tears - What exactly is ethnography? What can ethnography offer the design and user experience communities? And how do we do it?

Speaker: Louise Ferguson

Events London: Your Career in Usability (Wednesday, 22 June)

London: Your Career in Usability (Wednesday, 22 June)

Your Career in Usability - A chance to meet employers and get advice from experts.

This event will provide you with an opportunity to meet employers, independent consultants, in-house practitioners and recent graduates.

Events London: Creating Usable and Accessible Web Content (Wednesday, 25 May)

London: Creating Usable and Accessible Web Content (Wednesday, 25 May)

Creating Usable and Accessible Web Content:
What Research From Several Fields Tells Us

Speaker: Janice (Ginny) Redish
Presentation available on-line:
Creating Usable and Accessible Web Content (PDF 1.4 MB)

People come to web sites for the content. So why is so much content on the web poorly organized, poorly written, poorly designed?

Events Industry day at HCI 2005 - call for participation

Industry day at HCI 2005 - call for participation

One full day of the BCS HCI conference will have a special focus on industry.

Events London: How to be a better usability consultant (Monday 18 April)

London: How to be a better usability consultant (Monday 18 April)

It's a competitive world out there, with more and more qualified usability experts graduating every year from more and more universities.

But the most successful usability consultants are the ones who clients like and trust most. So what standards do clients expect from consultants? And what should we expect from ourselves?

Events Scottish UPA: Child centred design and games (Tuesday 21 June)

Scottish UPA: Child centred design and games (Tuesday 21 June)

Speakers: Suzanne Waugh and Lucy Joyner

Events Scottish UPA: Insights into Information Architecture for the web (Tuesday 24 May)

Scottish UPA: Insights into Information Architecture for the web (Tuesday 24 May)

Information Architect Peter Van Dijck will present an overview of some of the procedures and deliverables that an information architect (IA) contributes to a typical web project.

Peter will also be presenting a day long IA masterclass with 10% discount for UPA members.

Events Scottish UPA: Interactive TV usability and accessibility (Tuesday 19 April)

Scottish UPA: Interactive TV usability and accessibility (Tuesday 19 April)

Speakers: Jonathan Marshall and Alex Carmichael

Events UPA North: Studying the users - Ethnography for design (Tues 29 March)

UPA North: Studying the users - Ethnography for design (Tues 29 March)

Location: Manchester

The main event tonight is a talk from Louise Ferguson, who is the Vice President of the UK chapter of the UPA and an expert in ethnography and how it can inform design.

Events London: Beyond the User Requirement (Wednesday 23 March)

London: Beyond the User Requirement (Wednesday 23 March)

Speaker: Ian F Alexander

Beyond the User Requirement - how to use scenarios to get beyond the functional requirements to what really needs to be developed, using the example of a tube train’s Auto-Driver Box.

Events Scottish UPA: Thinking Big - Creating usable enterprise portals (Tuesday 22 March)

Scottish UPA: Thinking Big - Creating usable enterprise portals (Tuesday 22 March)

Speakers: Mark Wetton and Anne-Marie Scott

Large institutional portals have a particular information architecture challenge of being a 'one stop shop' for several applications for a widely divergent audience. Additional challenges include the devolved content contribution, meeting accessibility standards, and the inevitable organisational issues.

Events Cambridge: The Future of User-Centred Technology Design (Wednesday 16 March)

Cambridge: The Future of User-Centred Technology Design (Wednesday 16 March)

The first ever Cambridge Usability Group meeting will take place on the 16th March 2005! The main event of the evening will be a talk by Rachel Jones of Instrata on 'The Future of User-Centred Technology Design'.

Events Bristol: Never Mind the Buzzwords: Intranets for Real Users by Kate Watson, Nationwide Building Society (Tuesday 8 March)

Bristol: Never Mind the Buzzwords: Intranets for Real Users by Kate Watson, Nationwide Building Society (Tuesday 8 March)

Company intranets can be complicated affairs. A curious mix of
business-critical information and page after page of irrelevant nonsense
that someone used to maintain until they left/moved departments/got
bored way back in 2001, they can become vast, poorly structured and
difficult to manage.

Events London: Everything you've always wanted to know about card sorting, William Hudson, Syntagm (Thursday 17 February)

London: Everything you've always wanted to know about card sorting, William Hudson, Syntagm (Thursday 17 February)

Card sorting is a powerful technique in eliciting users' understanding of a problem domain. It is particularly helpful in navigation design and information architecture. William Hudson describes the basic principles of card sorting and cluster analysis, including more advanced interpretation of results and an innovative approach combining the best features of paper sorting with computer processing.

A live card sort will be performed!

Events Cardiff: User satisfaction vs. user efficiency: dealing with conflicting demands (Tuesday 15 Feb. 2005)

Cardiff: User satisfaction vs. user efficiency: dealing with conflicting demands (Tuesday 15 Feb. 2005)

Effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction are the three elements that ISO9241 defines as essential to usability. But what can the designer/developer do if a usability study shows the most effective solution is wholly disliked by users?

Events Bristol: Sleeping with the users: Ethnography in the 21st Century (8 February 2005)

Bristol: Sleeping with the users: Ethnography in the 21st Century (8 February 2005)

Sleeping with the users: Ethnography in the 21st Century by Louise Ferguson

Ethnography is on a roll, with increasing numbers of articles in mainstream media extolling its merits from the corporate perspective, while companies such as Intel have in recent years been busy hiring anthropologists to inform the design process.

Events Usability comes to Manchester!: UPA-North Meeting (Wed 2nd Feb 2005)

Usability comes to Manchester!: UPA-North Meeting (Wed 2nd Feb 2005)

Interested in usability and user experience?

Please join us for the first meeting of Usability Professionals Association (UPA) North in Manchester.

Events UKUPA London: Marketing yourself in 2005 (Thursday 20 January 2005)

UKUPA London: Marketing yourself in 2005 (Thursday 20 January 2005)

Don't fall for the maxim "build it and they will come". If you have spent money on a professional Web presence then it makes sense to invest in your website being visited. This talk will discuss various strategies for internet marketing, how to use your website as a marketing tool and just as importantly, how to measure the return on investment.

Events UXnet social (Wednesday 12 January 2005)

UXnet social (Wednesday 12 January 2005)

You’re invited to the monthly social meeting in London for the User Experience Design community.

Time: 6:30pm
Place: Lab, 12 Old Compton Street, near Tottenham Court Road Station
Find it with Multimap.com:
http://tinyurl.com/5myrq

This is a UXnet (http://uxnet.org) event and was organized through the coordinated efforts and resources of AIfIA, ASIS&T, AIGA, IxDG, STC UK, UK UPA and BCS-HCI, LondonIA, London Usability, UCLIC and BIMA.

Events Scottish UPA: The power of hindsight (Monday 24th January 2005)

Scottish UPA: The power of hindsight (Monday 24th January 2005)

When application prototyping through simulation and usability analysis combine. Jonathan Kerr, VeriSIM

Events SWUG Bristol: How To Make Brilliant Stuff That People Love (11 January 2005)

SWUG Bristol: How To Make Brilliant Stuff That People Love (11 January 2005)

Tools And Techniques For Great User Experience: Patrick W. Jordan

In order to create compelling products and services which users will really love we have to do three things. These are: understand the user, know what they want, give it to them.

Events UPA LONDON EVENT: Games and the EyeToy

UPA LONDON EVENT: Games and the EyeToy

Thursday 16 December 2004

Where does usability stop and fun begin?
To get us in the festive mood, GiGi Deming and Gerred Blyth from Amberlight Partners will be presenting their work with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which has employed UCD techniques in game design.

Events Usability and the Organisation - South West Usability Group (SWUG), Bristol

Usability and the Organisation - South West Usability Group (SWUG), Bristol

14 December 2004

This session will stand back and take a more strategic view of usability, specifically in the context of web site development.

Events Your UPA

Your UPA

Our next meeting will be a chance for you to decide what the UK UPA should do for you.

Date: Thursday 18 November
Time: 7pm
Venue: Microsoft House, Great Pulteney Street, London W1
Cost: free to all

Events Public Sector Accessibility - South West Usability Group (SWUG)

Public Sector Accessibility - South West Usability Group (SWUG)

Date: 12 October 2004
Venue: NESTA Futurelab, 1 Canons Road, Harbourside, Bristol BS1 5UH

Gordon Plant from User Analytics will be sharing some experiences
gained from recent accessibility work on public sector websites.

He will be showing video of various kinds of assistive technologies in
use and looking at the differences between the theory and practice of
making a site accessible.

For further information, visit the SWUG site at
http://usability.typepad.com/swug/

Events Web design for usability workshop

Web design for usability workshop

Syntagm is running a one-day Web Design for Usability workshop
Date: Wednesday 3 November
Venue: British Library, London

Events Website accessibility intensive briefing (slides available)

Website accessibility intensive briefing (slides available)

Monday 20th September 2004

Thanks to everyone who attended this event and made it a great evening.

Copies of all presentations are available here.

Helen Petrie, The DRC strategy for website accessibility 34kb PDF
Léonie Watson, Effective Screen Reader Use 32kb PDF
Bhiru Shelat, Hints and tips for testing with users 35kb PDF
Kath Moonan, Skip to content(ment) 170kb PDF

Events UPA summer event

UPA summer event

Monday 16th August 2004

Open debate: The future of usability... plus drinks and social!

• Where is usability going? Is it making the impact it should?


• What changes will we see over the next few years?


• Will the mainstream status of usability turn our expertise into a cheap commodity?


• What opportunities and challenges will new technologies and techniques present?


• Will the increasingly standard user interfaces lead to stagnation?

Events Usability at the Science Museum (slides available)

Usability at the Science Museum (slides available)

Monday 14 June 2004

Over the past 10 years, there has been a revolution in museum design. The Science Museum's application of user centred design to its exhibitions has typified the new, interactive approach.

Usability for the Science Museum, Ben Gamon June 2004 (1.3Mb PDF)

Events THE NUMBER ONE USABILITY CAREERS EVENT

THE NUMBER ONE USABILITY CAREERS EVENT

Thursday 20th May 2004, 6.30pm

Is it time to advance your career? Find a new job? Develop your team's skills? Recruit a team member who fits perfectly?

The UK Usability Professionals' Association's annual careers event gives you a chance to put your questions to a panel of experts and network with fellow professionals. Whether you're wondering how to develop your career, or how to manage the careers of your team members, the event offers valuable advice and support.

Events Internationalisation & localisation: why it matters and how to do it right

Internationalisation & localisation: why it matters and how to do it right

Thursday 22nd April, 6.30pm

Cultural and language differences can have a major impact on the success of a product in different countries. But ensuring usability in international projects is not easy. Nor is justifying and organising effective international usability research.

Events User-centred design with children - are you up to the challenge?

User-centred design with children - are you up to the challenge?

MONDAY 15th March 2004 18:30 for a 18:45 start

• Government e-learning initiatives are driving more software than ever into classrooms
• Children make up an important market for the entertainment industry
• Mobile telephony use starts with teenagers

Performing UCD activities with children requires new skills and strategies. This month's UPA event will provide you with knowledge, tips and tactics you'll need.

Events Eyetracking briefing & live demo

Eyetracking briefing & live demo

Thursday 19 February 2004 18:30 for a 18:45 start

Eye tracking is a hot topic for usability professionals. But what new insights can it give? How easy is it to work with the technology - and interpret the results?

Events Driving Innovation in Windows - Moving towards Longhorn and Building Trust in the Brave New World

Driving Innovation in Windows - Moving towards Longhorn and Building Trust in the Brave New World

Thursday 22nd January 2004, 18:30

The next public meeting of the UK Chapter of the UPA will include two presentations, one covering the next generation Windows Operating System by Jarnail Chudge, from Microsoft, and the other addressing issues of trust, privacy and security in e-commerce, by Angela Sasse and Jens Riegelsberger from the University College London.

The meeting will be held at Microsoft premises in London.

Events Handheld usability and Christmas drinks

Handheld usability and Christmas drinks

Tuesday 9th December 2003, 18:30

Scott Weiss wrote the book on handheld usability - literally. He'll be over from New York and speaking at the UPA's December 9 meeting at Sapient's offices in London.

Thanks to all who came to see Scott speak. Scott's presentation is now available for download:

Handheld Usability (3.8MB .ZIP file)

Events AGM and Presentation on Information Design

AGM and Presentation on Information Design

Wednesday 26th November, 18:30

The meeting will review the progress, events and status of the UK UPA over the past year. It will also discuss plans for next year and invite comments and suggestions from the audience. Come along and have your say. During the evening there will also be a presentation on Information Design by Professor David Sless.

Events Meeting supra-functional needs in product design

Meeting supra-functional needs in product design

Tuesday 14th October 2003, 17:45 - 19:45

We are pleased to announce that the next public meeting of the UK-UPA will be a presentation by Deana McDonagh from Loughborough University. The meeting will be held at Microsoft premises in London.

Please note that this meeting is being held on the second Tuesday in the month and at an earlier start time than usual.