Conferences

World Usability Day announces 2007 healthcare focus

The Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) has announced World Usability Day 2007 will take place on November 8, 2007. This year’s focus will be on healthcare.

World Usability Day was founded in 2005 with a mission to increase the public’s awareness of the need to make the services and products important to human life easier to access and simpler to use. Global issues such as healthcare, education and government are addressed through expert forums, exhibits, events and initiatives in numerous locations throughout the world.

“The importance of user-centered design in healthcare is truly about life and death” noted Elizabeth Rosenzweig, Founder and Director of World Usability Day. “Whether it’s new medical devices or technologies; drug research, approval or delivery; patient forms or medical record sharing; emergency disaster planning or increasing the functionality of hospitals and everyday healthcare delivery, everyone is effected in some way by the intersection of usability and healthcare. There are many commonalities, yet each region of the world faces its own set of unique challenges. We believe that focusing World Usability Day 2007 on healthcare will create a stronger awareness of these issues and lead to initiatives that have long term impact on the quality of everyone’s life.

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Posted in Conferences | News | UPA
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European designers to meet in World Design Capital to promote usability and design

(Bloomingdale, IL: July 6, 2007) – The first European regional conference of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) will take place in Torino, Italy, named the 2008 World Design Capital. Hundreds of designers and usability specialists are expected to attend.

“The UPA Europe 2008 conference provides a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of usability and user-centered design. These are essential design concepts that European UPA chapters promote in industry, education and government.” said Michele Visciola, UPA European regional conference co-chair and President of the UPA Italy Chapter.

Visciola will co-chair the conference along with Silvia Zimmermann, the International UPA Director of Organizational Outreach and UPA Switzerland board member.

The conference will be held in Torino, Italy, in 2008, when the city will host a large variety of activities as the first-ever World Design Capital – a title it was awarded by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID).

The UPA Europe 2008 conference will focus on usability and design and is expected to take place in October or December 2008. Designers, researchers and usability specialists from around the world will be invited to share and learn about innovative ways to design better products and experiences.

“This conference will demonstrate the design expertise and leadership within the various UPA chapters and usability practitioners throughout Europe,” said Zimmermann.

UPA chapter leaders will soon be invited to nominate UPA Europe 2008 conference committee members to help organize the conference.

(press release)

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DUX 2005, a product of professional association collaboration

A great example of the benefits of professional association collaboration is the Designing for User eXperience conference, the second of which (DUX 2005) will be taking place 3-5 November at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA USA. AIGA, ACM SIGGRAPH, and ACM SIGCHI have joined forces again to develop what many consider to be the premier conference for user experience practitioners.

Supporting AIGA, SIGGRAPH, SIGCHI, and DUX 2005 are several cooperating societies: IxDG, IIID, UPA, STC, AIS SIGHCI, HFES, IDSA, and IAI. Plus, BayDUX, the local presence of UXnet in the San Francisco Bay Area, is sponsoring the conference’s opening plenary reception, in part in honor of World Usability Day which was scheduled to coincide with the opening day of the conference.

Congratulations to all involved in helping make this event reflect a cross-section of the user experience professional community.

Posted in ACM SIGCHI | ACM SIGGRAPH | AIGA | AIS SIGHCI | Conferences | HFES | IDSA | IIID | IxDA | News | STC | UPA
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Experiencing Technical Communication

You have until August 12 to submit a proposal to STC’s 52nd Annual Conference (Seattle, May 8-11, 2005): see the call for proposals. The theme this year is very appropriate for UXnet fans: “Experiencing Technical Communication.” Part of STC’s vision is:

…an increasing focus on user experience as part of the design and development process. Communication is a critical element of this work, whether the focus is on technical documentation, Web sites, software interfaces, or wireless applications, to name just a few. As we look outwards, STC members have much to share with — and to learn from — those whose skills overlap with ours.

The stem for Usability and Information Design (UID) invites people to propose topics that intersect technical communication and information design, usability, accessibility, visual communication, information architecture and user-centered design.

The other stems might also build upon the user experience network theme by addressing topics such as:

• Management: How does managing a technical communication team/project differ from a user experience team/project? How are they similar?
• Professional development: What career options are there for technical communication professionals in other UX fields? What are the core technical communication skills that all UX professionals should have?
• Theory, research, education and training: What technical communication research methods can be applied to other UX fields? How do you adapt methods from other UX fields to technical communication?
• Tools and technology: What impact do technical communication tools have on the total user experience?
• Writing and editing: How do writing guidelines fit in with UX guidelines?

The focus on user experience may have made it into the official theme for STC 2005, but the topic is certainly not new to STC’s premier event. Usabillity at the STC annual conference lists UX-related sessions going back to 1998. For example, the list for 2004 includes sessions on brand experience, usability testing, information architecture, accessibility and visual design.

UXnet executive council members Beth Mazur and Whitney Quesenbery are both involved in STC 2005. Beth is the conference chair and Whitney is the UID stem manager.

Posted in Conferences | News | STC
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CHI 2005 Development Consortium

Postcards have recently gone out to remind people of CHI 2005 (April 2-7 in Portland, Oregon, USA). Check out the call for participation, but pay special attention to the Development Consortium:

• Meeting the Needs of the Multidisciplinary Professional and of the Multiple Professional Associations and Events of Importance to Them

Organized by UXnet executive council member Richard Anderson, this event will be a key milestone in addressing items from the UXnet agenda. Richard, as a long-time SIGCHI officer, is acting as UXnet’s liaison with SIGCHI. The development consortium is an example of how UXnet can leverage the infrastructure of interested associations to further its cause.

If you are interested in UXnet, please consider participating in the development consortium. Submission deadline is January 3.

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