UXnet provides coordination and leadership on a local level, thanks to the hard work of our Local Ambassadors: a passionate group dedicated to facilitating collaboration between people, organizations, and resources. Below are the most recent postings from our Local Ambassadors. If your locale is not listed (on the right), then check out the local chapter directories of various UX-related professional organizations to find UX professionals near you.
I am organizing a local get-together where you can hang out with others who are interested in user experience. We chose a truly-Toledo location: a Mud Hens ball game.
What: User Experience Day with the Mud Hens
When: Saturday, July 11 (first game of the double header starts at 5:30pm)
Where: Fifth Third Field, downtown Toledo, Ohio
Would you like to enjoy the company of fellow interaction designers, information architects, usability engineers, developers and others interested in enabling quality user experiences for their customers? And enjoy the world-famous Toledo Mud Hens in a double-header, with fireworks after the games? Bring your family, too, if they are willing to put up with us talking about user experience in between pitches.
40 tickets have been reserved for this group outing. Tickets will cost $9. The ticket order will be placed in mid June, so if you are interested, please contact me.
Tickets are still available! If you are interested, you can send me an email (keith2009 at this site) or leave a comment below. Help spread the word: I am hoping I can meet new people from Refresh Toledo and re-connect with colleagues from AIGA Toledo who I have not seen recently. And I will be happy to welcome anyone else who is crazy enough to come to a baseball game to share their passion about user experience.
We already have families coming from out of town (Detroit, Cleveland and Columbus areas) so we may also meet at the Toledo Zoo in the morning. Join the fun!
Great to see a local Refresh group:
Refresh Toledo is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of New Media endeavors in the Toledo, Ohio area. Promoting design, technology, usability, and web standards, Refresh Toledo is a part of the Refresh movement.
Looking forward to collaborating with them on user experience topics.
See refreshtoledo.org for more information about this group - and refreshingcities.org for groups in other areas.
Lowcountry UPA is partnering with My Sister’s House, a local nonprofit to test,
validate, and use our recommendations for improvement to redesign their site.
Phase I: Usability Testing will conclude before June 30th. Contact
shannon(at)lowcountryupa.org if you are in the Charleston area and would like
to be involved in this or upcoming Phases of this project.
Nous venons de créer un Chapitre UXNet pour la Wallonie (Belgique). Cette région, située au cœur de l’Europe de l’Ouest, obtient des scores moyens dans la quasi-totalité des domaines de l’informatique et d’Internet : nous ne sommes jamais les derniers, mais non plus jamais les premiers.
Nous pensons que la création d’un chapitre UXNet permettra de tirer la Région vers le haut du classement en créant les liens nécessaires entre les utilisateurs, les sociétés informatiques et les fournisseurs d’information, pour améliorer notre efficacité et notre efficicence.
Des invitations à participer sont envoyées aux organisations officielles, aux universités, aux étudiants et aux associations professionnelles pour les inviter à participer aux travaux et définir précisément avec eux les buts et objectifs propres du Chapitre “Wallonie”
Membre de l’UPA, je travaille en utilisabilité du Web, sous tous ses aspects.
Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, vous pouvez me contacter: dominique.renard@afdsoft.be
We are excited to announce the first steps to create a UXnet chapter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio de Janeiro has the leading UX computer science and design research universities in Brazil, has a strong participation in the HCI and human factors scene, but few integration research & local industry. We think the UX network in Rio can bring together research and local industry, and promote collaboration, knowledge-sharing, innovation, in creative ways. We have invited researcher centers, schools, professionals, students and organizations to join the UX network and help to define its goals and actions. They have share much enthusiasm about the idea.
We are planning to have our first meeting soon. Please check out UXrio on Facebook to download the draft proposal presentation “Por que criar a rede UXnet no Rio?” (Why do create a UXnet in Rio?). We invite you to get involved and stay tuned with the first steps of the network at: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UXrio/73719854742?ref=nf
Twitter: @uxrio
Email: uxrio.br@gmail.com
I am Monica M Fernandes, an independent User Experience Consultant in Rio de Janeiro, and have worked in the field for about 10 years, after getting a master degree in UC Berkeley. Feel free to contact me directly at monicamcf at gmail dot com
Announcement from the Arizona UPA Chapter
http://www.arizonaupa.blogspot.com/
Hello everyone,
Well as you may have noticed, we missed our March meeting date. For that I apologize. Despite our challenges, the “transition team” has had meetings and made great strides in formalizing our local chapter of the UPA. Thanks to everyone for their effort.
So where does that leave us now? Well, now we are at the point when I ask that you “save the date” - April 30th, 2009 because that is when we will have our first full chapter meeting.
Although we are currently working to finalize the meeting location and topic of discussion, we do know that this meeting will be free to all who want to attend. So, please feel free to invite your friends and colleagues. Stay tuned for more details.
Thanks,
Miguel
Contact us via e-mail at:
info@arizonaupa.org
The Charlotte UX group meets for lunch on the first Wednesday of each month. Our locations change each month, so please check our site info or Facebook group for more details on locations.
AIGA Cleveland is excited to announce our biennial Cleveland Design Competition. This juried show awards the best of design in Northeast Ohio. Three esteemed judges will come to Cleveland for two days to select the best pieces in all design categories. Any art director, designer, photographer, illustrator, printer, etc. may submit work created between March 2007 and February 2009. Students are encouraged to enter and will be judged in a separate category. The collection will be displayed in May 2009.
Entries Deadline: March 12
Download Entry form
Slides and photos are now available from this presentation given to CHI*Atlanta on January 29 by Jim Nieters, Director of User Experience, Yahoo!
Hello, my name is Alexis Antonelli. I am an independent User Experience Consultant and I will be partnering with Kenny Chen as an ambassador for the Los Angeles area User Experience Network. I’ve lived in LA for four years and during that time have seen the UX community expand rapidly with enthusiasm and dedication to networking, knowledge-sharing, and fun. I look forward to sharing information about local UX events and happenings, as well as those pertaining to our related disciplines.
I’ve worked in the field of user interface design for ten years now and am orginally from Boston, MA. I may be contacted at alexis_antonelli at yahoo dot com.
I´m starting a chapter in Curitiba (Brazil). I´m founder and teacher-researcher at Faber-Ludens Institute for Interaction Design - first brazilian IxD institute that offer a post-graduate programme. Still work as user experience specialist in CESAR (equal to the Filipe Levi) however in another city.
I wait to be able to change many information and when to come to Brazil, are felt invited.
Regards
Érico Fileno
www.faberludens.com.br
The Arizona chapter of the UPA (www.upassoc.org) is almost ready to start regular meetings. Go to the official chapter website for more info (http://www.arizonaupa.blogspot.com/). Don’t forget to sign up for the the email list to get regular updates. See you at a chapter meeting soon!!!
Welcome to the Phoenix UX scene! The Valley of the Sun is a market of over 3.5 million people (http://phoenix.about.com/cs/living/a/PhxFastfacts01.htm). It has a growing and diverse tech industry with an emerging user experience community. Active participants in the community include representatives from Intel, IBM, PayPal, Choice Hotels, Wells Fago, General Dynamics, Sage Software and others. Numerous trade associations are active in the metro area and the local industry is supported by a strong regional educational community, including Arizona State University, the Art Institute of Phoenix, and the University of Phoenix.
Stay tuned for occasional information about the locale. Better yet, get involved. And, feel free to contact me anytime at deanzilla at mac dot com.
Fortaleza, located in the northeastern corner of Brazil, is the capital city of the State of Ceará and one of the five biggest cities of the country. Inside and outside Brazil, Fortaleza is mostly recognized by the combination of its natural beauties (sun, beaches, wind), great nightlife, delicious culinary, rich culture and the very peaceful and friendly people.
Regarding UX, Fortaleza researchers and professionals have good interest and participation in the Brazilian HCI/UX scene. In 2002, we hosted the 5th Symposium on Human Factors in Computer Systems (IHC2002), the leading Brazilian forum for the exchange of ideas and information about human-computer interaction. And recently, in late 2008, we’ve got together to create an on-line community called IHCeara, with broad participation of local researchers, students, professionals and other interested people. Our first result as community was the organization of WUD 2008, which had good acceptance.
More about us (both in portuguese):
Our group page: http://groups.google.com/group/ihceara
Our group blog: http://www.ihceara.org
Make us a visit!
2008 proved to be a great year for User Experience in Los Angeles and it is sure to grow in the new year. If you are looking to get involved, here are 3 great places to start in the Southern California area:
On Monday, September 29th, 2008, a few user-centered pioneers at Blackbaud will be holding a constituting meeting to begin a charter Chapter of UPA. For more information, please contact Shannon at shannon.graf@blackbaud.com .
Hi folks! As World Usability Day 2008 in Recife is coming soon, we made a list of all events organized - or somehow supported - by UXrecife during 2007 and 2008. Here they are!
2007
- Inaugural meeting of UXrecife (January 25th at Paco Alfandega Shopping)
- Meeting: “What’s User Experience?” (March 21th at Softex)
- Videoconference with Amyris Fernandez: “Interaction Design, Going Beyond Usability” (April 2nd at C.E.S.A.R)
- Exhibition of GEL Conference 2006 videos (April 24th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Video exhibition about Paper Prototyping (May 30th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting: “Introducing Canola” (June 27th at Nokia INdT)
- Meeting with professor Robson Santos (July 11th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting: “What’s User Research?” (July 25th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting with professor Amanda Meincke (August 24th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting: “Revisiting INTERACT 2007″ (September 26th at Softex)
- Event: “World Usability Day 2007 in Recife” (November 8th at Livraria Cultura)
- Meeting: “Form Usability” (November 28th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting with Acesso Digital (December 6th at Softex)
2008
- Meeting with professor Maria de Fatima Vieira: “Product Usability, a competitive differential” (March 19th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting: “Regional and national UX industry” (April 30th at Marista College)
- Event: “1st Exhibition of Interaction Design Projects in Recife” (June 26th at Marista College)
- Meeting with Gustavo Morais: “Anthropology, Ethnography and Design” (August 20th at C.E.S.A.R)
- Meeting with professor Cristian Rusu: “HCI in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile” (August 25th at C.E.S.A.R)
And get ready for WUD 2008 in Recife! UXrecife core team is organizing the last details for our second edition of World Usability Day in Recife :) From
If you’re a full time student then you can now attend the Oz-IA 2008 conference for the very affordable rate of $198.
Additionally, Oz-IA are offering full time students workshops for just $77. Workshop places are limited however and this offer is only on a stand-by basis .. but not to worry most of the workshops have plenty of spaces left at this time.
If you are a full-time student just register as normal using discount code: “student”
hello, from the Great State of Maine™ ~
Okay…the ™ may be tongue in cheek, but Maine is a fantastic state, with a whole lot of UX going on! For example…
INTEREST SURVEY
MaineUX administered an interest survey to MaineUX discussion group subscribers–hauling in a 50% response rate! Respondents indicated interest in the following event types:
No surprise, but the majority of MaineUX respondents are “likely” or “very likely” to attend events in Maine closest to where they live and/or work (i.e., within a 1-hour drive). The top 3 locations cited as “most likely” or “likely” to draw attendees include:
A critical mass of UX professionals is located in or around Portland. Yet it’s agreed that Maine is a great state, not only in terms of talent and creativity, but in terms of sheer size. As such, 2008 MaineUX summer events were divided between the Southern Maine and Midcoast regions. Future events may be further downeast to Bangor, as well as in the Capital region around Augusta.
MAINEUX SUMMER EVENTS
MaineUX threw 2 statewide events in June–one in Portland, and one in Camden. In August TechMaine staged a UX event.
The June 4th MaineUX happy hour in Camden was–to steal a phrase from Boston AIGA–an awesome “agenda-less, free-form gathering of area creative folk.”
Amidst the rush of the waterfalls of Knox Mill, over which the schwanky Brevetto Kitchen & Wine Bar is perched, 25+ people turned up for drinks, snacks, and stimulating conversation on design, user experience, sticky conundrums, interesting projects, doing business in Maine, the thriving creative economy, aspirations for MaineUX…not to mention topics capturing the essence of summertime in Maine: lobster bakes, sailing, kayaking, climbing Mt Katahdin, Popham Beach, surfing, island treks, bands playing on the pier, farmer’s markets, drive-in movies. The group decided to meet at least 2x a year, most likely partnering with local groups like the Midcoast Magnet, University of Maine School of New Media, Maine Entrepreneurs, AIGA Maine, and the most exciting agencies and design/dev firms in the region.
The Portland MaineUX event on June 11 was a kick-out-the-jams evening with interactive installation artist Amy Stacy Curtis, whose mantra is: “Without your participation, my work is incomplete,” believing her art can come into being fully only when the audience–whom she prefers to engage with as “participants”–interacts with the pieces themselves.
Overlooking Portland Harbor, as evening ferries and yachts glided into pier, a cream-of-the-crop MaineUX crew gathered for this extremely interesting event. Using interactive art as a metaphor for design in general–and user-focused interaction design in particular–Curtis’ talk and slideshow provided a retrospective of her collaborative artworks and evolving philosophy. Together we explored the meaning and experiences around her recent lauded “emerging artist” exhibition at Colby College–a series of colored circles (sorted and arranged according to a series of algorithms) which museum participants rearranged and re-sorted in other patterns. With masters’ both in art and psychology Amy sites preoccupations with “the balance of order, chaos, and repetition” and learning when to cede control with [perhaps ocassionally reluctant] grace.
Additionally August found Maine UXNET Ambassador Susan Doran (yours truly) presenting to a packed house at TechMaine’s monthly Web Developer’s Users Group meetiing on Information Architecture 101: The Facets of IA™ (this ™ isn’t a joke, tho the author feels a tiny bit silly using it).
FALL 2008
So, how to follow up this stellar summer? with a cavalcade of amazing Fall events!
Here’s a sneak peak at what’s in store for MaineUXers and fans of MaineUX–details forthcoming!
________________________________________________________
MON • SEP 15
Social Media 101: Do I Really Need a Facebook Page?
6:00-8:00pm
TechMaine Web Developers Users Group
Westbrook ME
________________________________________________________
WED • SEP 24
Adriane Herman: Checking It Twice: Tracing the Trajectory from Intention to Action
6:00-8:00pm
MaineUX Presents!
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
TUE • SEP 30
Design Challenge
6:00-8:00pm
TechMaine Usability & User Experience Users Group
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
TUE • OCT 7
Setting Up Image Portfolios and Photo Galleries in Drupal - with Todd Woofenden
6:00-8:00pm
TechMaine Drupal Users Group
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
SAT • OCT 18
MaineUX Roadtrip - Amy Stacey Curtis in(ter)Action
3:00-5:00pm
MaineUX Presents!
Sanford ME
________________________________________________________
WED • OCT 21
Mark Schraad: An Evening of Design Thinking
6:00-8:00pm
MaineUX Presents!
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
WED • NOV 11
Aileen Cahill: 10 Marketing Myths UXperts Need to Know
6:00-8:00pm
MaineUX Presents!
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
WED • DEC 10
15th Annual Maine Technology Conference
8:00am-5:00pm
TechMaine
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
WED • DEC 10
2nd Annual MaineUX Fall Dinner
6:00am-8:00pm
Walter’s Cafe
Portland ME
________________________________________________________
Details TBA
The WSG meeting last week was a great night with over 150 people in attendance.
There were three excellent presentations - and slides are now online for two (the third had a lot of video):
Search engine optimisation is usually the first subject that comes to mind when thinking about ways to improve the visibility of your organisation online. But it’s only a piece of the puzzle. In order to help the intended audience find, use and reuse your information, we need to look beyond SEO. Findability could help complete the puzzle. It’s a much broader concept, touching on almost every aspect of the web design and development process, where specialist fields intersect and overlap. We need to try and identify these elements of findability and “plug” them into the user-centred design workflow. It’s a big challenge… Can we connect the dots and bridge the gaps?”
http://www.slideshare.net/RRaeves/findability-going-beyond-seo-presentation/
With the improvements in mobile browsers and in the overall mobile user experience, what do we expect will change for mobile web users? Will we see a ‘one web’ approach? Oliver will talk about why the mobile and PC web experiences will increase in similarity, but still remain very different.
http://www.slideshare.net/oliverweidlich/wsg-august-2008-one-web-presentatio
n/
Where to start when making a website targetted at iPhone users, including “Should you be?”. Frameworks…Javascript…Dev environments… and more. Tim Lucas & Pete Ottery share some experiences about creating iphone.news.com.au.
Slides: Coming, as soon as the 300mb file can be reduced
