History
2007
In 2007 UXnet formally launched the Organizations Network with nine participating organizations:
- CM Pros - Content Management Professionals
- HFES - Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- IAI - Information Architecture Institute
- IxDA - Interaction Design Association
- IIID - International Institute for Information Design
- STC - Society for Technical Communication
- SIGCHI (ACM) - Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (Association for Computing Machinery)
- SIGHCI (AIS) - Special Interest Group on Human-Computer Interaction (Association for Information Systems)
- UPA - Usability Professionals’ Association
Additionally, UXnet held its first face-to-face leadership meetings with the Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, Local Ambassadors and Participating Organizations in conjunction with the DUX 2007 conference in Chicago, Illinois, USA on November 3 and 4.
2006
UXnet formalized our organizational structure, incorporating as a 501c(6) not-for-profit. This effort was spearheaded by our founders:
Board of Directors
- President Dirk Knemeyer
- Secretary Keith Instone
- Treasurer Whitney Quesebery
- Director David Malouf
- Director Nick Finck
- Director Richard Anderson
Board of Advisors
- Aaron Marcus
- Donald Norman
- Ginny Redish
- Lou Rosenfeld
- Kun-Pyo Lee
- Marc Rettig
- Patrick Whitney
The Boards also held their first Leadership Summit, leading to a realignment that featured a narrowing of organizational priorities. UXnet also raised our first major sponsor dollars from Partners Apogee and Shopzilla, and Benefactors Involution Studios, Redish & Associates, and Rosenfeld Media.
Meanwhile, the Local Ambassadors continued to grow, approaching almost 100 participants from around the world.
2005
UXnet gained momentum in 2005, highlighted by their leadership role at the CHI 2005 Development Consortium, bringing together more than 20 leaders from myriad UX-related associations. The organization also played an important role in the success of the first-ever World Usability Day, with a variety of Local Ambassadors providing leadership and coordination in locales around the world.
By the end of 2005 UXnet had 68 Local Ambassadors spanning 55 locales in 21 countries across six continents.
2004
UXnet launched on June 21 as an unincorporated volunteer group with three initiatives: Local Ambassadors to serve as hubs of local UX organizations and social events; Events Calendar & Groups Directory to provide informational resources for people interested in user experience; Organization Collaboration to create connections between industry associations related to user experience. UXnet was quickly recognized by a variety of industry organizations, events and thought leaders, and helped to facilitate a handful of events and connections during the year.
Toward the end of 2004, UXnet had 25 participating Local Ambassadors in 18 regions spanning nine countries and on four continents.
2003
While UXnet as an idea lay largely dormant during this period, some of the early participants and new contributors began envisioning how to practically manifest the organization.
2002
Extensions of the original discussion group organized two Interfaith Council Meetings: at the IA Summit and the CHI/AIGA Experience Design Forum. These meetings and subsequent conversations articulated the initial goals and strategy that ultimately launched UXnet. The name User Experience Network also originated during this process.
2001
The idea for UXnet began when Lou Rosenfeld invited a multi-disciplinary group of people to participate in a discussion of how to create an organization for information architects. The group included people with a variety of practices, and members or leaders of SIGCHI, UPA, STC (Usability and Information Design SIGs), ASIS&T and AIGA-ED. This conversation eventually spawned both UXnet and what would later become the IA Institute.
