Designing a multimodal application is not just adding speech to a website or adding a GUI to an automated phone system. When creating a multimodal interaction, several multimodal-specific aspects of design need to be considered. These include user modality preference, conflicting mental models, variable usage environments, and technology limitations.  Julie Underdahl and Catherine Zhu will explore the challenges even an experienced GUI or VUI designer faces when attempting to design an effective, user-friendly multimodal application.

When?

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 6:00pm

Where?

Cohabitat

2517 Thomas Street
Dallas, TX 75201

Who?

Julie Underdahl is a Senior User Interface Design Engineer at Convergys. She has over 6 years of experience implementing and usability testing voice user interfaces. Her experience includes a wide range of speech applications across many different industries. She works closely with clients and their customers to deliver custom, user-centered applications, including recent design and testing of multimodal interfaces. Julie has a BA in both Spanish and Biology and MA in Linguistics from the University of North Texas.

Catherine Zhu is currently a Senior Consultant with Avaya Professional Services. As a member of the Global Speech Engineering team, she has worked closely with clients and their customers to create a number of custom speech applications leading clients through the entire design process including requirements gathering, data analysis, call flow design, prompt writing, grammar development, voice talent coaching, usability testing, and tuning. She holds an MS in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience with a specialization in Speech Technology from the University of Texas at Dallas and a BS in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Linguistics from Rice University. Catherine continually strives to be an advocate for the user leveraging her education and experience in user-centered design.

Cost?

$5 unless your 2010 dues are paid ($20 for professionals, $10 for students)

http://martinfowler.com/

http://martinfowler.com/articles/continuousIntegration.html

http://www.thoughtworks.com/

http://agilemanifesto.org/

http://dfwscrum.wordpress.com/

As we move forward throughout the year, DFW UPA will be populating its Picasa and YouTube sites for those of you who are unable to make it to the meetings.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dfwupa

http://www.youtube.com/user/dfwupa

If you have media that you would like to share, please email dfwupa [at] gmail [dot] com.

As you already know, Flash is an extremely powerful graphics tool.  You can create dynamic, interactive animated content for everything from basic animations to entire web sites.  Flash provides developers and designers with greater control over the display of their works than would otherwise be possible.

When you design Web pages without Flash, you are at the mercy of the browser used by your customers.   Using Flash allows you to determine exactly how the site will function and appear, regardless of the browser used.

This workshop is for beginners.  Bring your laptop to get some hands-on experience with Flash.  You can download Flash before the workshop or you can do it at the first break.  You are guaranteed to walk away with a good foundation on Flash with real examples, tips and tricks, and hand-on exercises.

Your instructor is Dave Gillem, Interactive Creative Director at Travelocity.  Dave will give you an overview of Flash, IDE, and Action Script, and then he will run you through a series of hands-on exercises using Flash.

What will you learn?

In this workshop, you will:

• Obtain an overview of the Flash Platform
• Learn how to use the Flash IDE
• Get a basic understanding of ActionScript
• See real-world examples of Flash projects (from simple instances to complex solutions)
• Perform hands-on exercises to learn how to make your ideas come to life

Who should attend?

This workshop is primarily for beginner and intermediate users of Flash. This workshop is ideal for students, teachers, designers, and developers who want to learn more about Flash.  Dave will be sharing tips and tricks on Flash throughout the workshop  This workshop will dispell many of the myths that are commonly associated with Flash.

Cost of the Workshop?

The workshop price is $50 (plus EventBrite fees), which is a great bargain.  The price includes a pizza lunch, drinks, trial versions of software, and additional swag.  Similar Flash workshops cost between $175-300.

To register click the following link:

http://bigdworkshop03.eventbrite.com/

NOTE: All of the money collected for this workshop will benefit the Vipers basketball team, which Dave coaches.

DFW-UPA and LV Graphics Studios will be sponsoring the pizza lunch and drinks.  The Vipers team will be on hand to serve you lunch.  Coach Dave will be teaching the class.

Workshop Details

The location of Flash Boot Camp will be at Sabre Holdings (3150 Sabre Drive Southlake, TX 76092) in Building A (Room A1-157), which is the building on the right.  Your day basically looks like this:

About Dave Gillem

Dave Gillem is the Interactive Creative Director for Travelocity and operates his own studio under the name Crucial Limit. He is a graduate of the Art Institute of Dallas and now sits on the Advisory Board for the school. He was one of the technical reviewers for the Flash CS3 test offered by Brainbench. Dave has been doing interactive design for over 12 years, using Flash since version 3, and drawing on walls since age 2. He has received numerous awards for his client work using Flash and is very passionate about the Flash Platform.

What? An Evening with Martin Fowler

DFW UPA and DFW Scrum team up to bring you Martin Fowler from ThoughtWorks. Martin is an accomplished writer on using agile software development methodology in enterprise software development.

Level 10 Interactive and Improving Enterprises are sponsors of this event!

For more information about the topic and speaker, visit the following link. Since the event is free to DFW UPA, you will need to RSVP by emailing dfwupa@gmail.com and NOT through the SCRUM website:
http://dfwscrum.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/martin-fowler-re-scheduled-for-february-23-630pm/

When?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010.
Registration starts at 6:30 PM.
The program is from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.

Note: The gates to the Sabre campus will be open until 7:00 PM, therefore, be sure to arrive before 7:00; otherwise, you will not be able to enter.

Where?

Sabre Holdings, 3150 Sabre Dr., Southlake, Texas 76092
Building B, Room B1-157

General Directions: Take Highway 114 West and exit Kirkwood Blvd. Turn right at the traffic light onto Kirkwood Blvd. Proceed through the gates, and then up the hill. Follow signs for parking and to the meeting location.

Links to maps: Sabre Holdings

Cost:

This meeting is free to DFW UPA members.

RSVP immediately to get a seat!

Seating is limited to 100. You can RSVP by sending an email to dfwupa@gmail.com to assure that your name is on the list.

Pizza and beverages will be provided.

Chair positions have been filled by the following people:

• President:  Brian Sullivan
• Vice President:  Ryan Plesko
• Program Chairs:  Julie Jacobs / Lorie Whitaker
• Membership: B.J. Allen
• Secretaries: Joshua Bright / Cynthia Isley
• Treasurers: Lara Becker / Seda Maurer / Ada Nelson

Check out the links below to view our new and bare Picasa and YouTube accounts:

• http://picasaweb.google.com/dfwupa

• http://www.youtube.com/user/dfwupa

Registration for Big (D)esign Conference 2010 opens soon.  We expect to have the website launched before Valentine’s Day.

Not only will this be a great opportunity to catch up with your fellow peers, but we will also be releasing a few exciting hints as to what we have in store for the upcoming Big (D)esign Conference in May.

Please do plan (RSVP appreciated) on joining us at the Londoner on the 26^th to kick off 2010.  See details below:

What

January Social and Officer Elections

When

January 26^th 2010

6:30 PM will be socializing

8:00PM will be Officer Elections

Where

The Londoner

14930 Midway Rd.

Addison, TX 75001

..Behind The Olive Garden

Cost

$5 unless your 2010 dues are paid ($20 for professionals, $10 for students)

RSVP

to dfwupa@gmail.com

Nominations

You can nominate yourself or anyone else.  Please send your nominations to dfwupa@gmail.com.  All officer positions run for one calendar year from January until December.

–
Do you want to speak at a meeting, or do you know  someone who does? Drop us a line at dfwupa@gmail.com.

Sent on behalf of the DFW Usability Professionals’ Association.

Website:
http://www.dfw-upa.org

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/dfwupa

Facebook:
DFW Usability Professionals’ Association

You probably already know that the single best thing you can do for your projects is to perform usability testing.  This full-day workshop gives you the nuts and bolts about how to be successful in your usability testing endeavors.  You will learn how to organize usability work into your projects in the Usability Boot Camp, which includes some hands-on practice in a real usability lab using state-of-the-art technology. 

Seating is limited.  Register at http://bigdworkshop02.eventbrite.com.  We will be giving away free trial versions of the Morae software suite.  All money collected goes to a local youth sports team, too.

Brian Sullivan, DFW-UPA President and Usability Principal at Sabre, will teach you how to do your own low-cost usability testing, which will include many no cost solutions, too.

The day will include…

• A complete explanation of how to perform usability testing (from planning, through execution, and reporting your results)
• An understanding of the roles and responsibilities of your product teams, the participants, and the usability engineer
• Live usability tests on real sites, so you can go through the entire process (playing various roles).  Some people will even practice facilitating a test.
• Tips and tricks on how to successfully moderate usability sessions to get more user information (includes tips on remote moderation).
• Advise on how to interpret your findings, how to determine the best recommendations, and how to present results to your teams.

Who should attend?

This workshop is really meant for anyone involved in building web and software solutions for customers.  All key stakeholders are welcome, including marketers, web designers, developers, technical writers, content managers, project managers, product managers, QA professionals, and C-level executives.  Anyone can benefit from this workshop.

This workshop is valuable to you!  You can be a beginner or advanced person (who wants to learn more). 

Some of the topics covered

• Why usability testing works (with real-world examples)? 
• How to get buy-in from bosses, stakeholders, and customers.
• Recruiting: Do’s and Don’ts
• What to test, and when to test it
• Picking the usability method
• How to order and structure your test scenarios
• How to facilitate–when to listen and how to probe
• The importance of exit and entrance questions
• How to decide what to fix
• How to present your findings and recommendations
• Remote testing methods and tools

Cost of the Workshop?

The cost is $100 (plus EventBrite fees), which is a great bargain.

The price includes a pizza lunch, workshop notebook, and live practice sessions.  Similar workshops cost over $1,100. 

NOTE: All of the money collected for this workshop will be given to the Keller Select             Panthers Basketball team, which formed less than one year ago. 

Coach Scott Cortinas and his U-10 boys will be serving us a pizza lunch, too!

Workshop Details

The location of Usability Boot Camp will be at Sabre in the Human Factors Center, which has two state-of-the art usability labs, using Morae technology.  Your day basically looks like this:

Bio of Your Workshop Teacher

Brian Sullivan is the President of DFW-UPA, Usability Principal at the Sabre Human Factors Center, one of the organizers of the Big (D)esign Conference, and World Usability Day Theme Chair (2008, 2009).  Brian has been involved on panels at UPA 2008 and UPA 2009, presented at the Big (D)esign Conference 2009, reviewed book for Rosenfeld Media, and presented at the Poster Revolution at UPA 2007.

Brian has been involved in the IT industry for over 20 years.  Brian has held numerous positions including Content Management, Training Development, QA, Customer Support, and Usability.  Brian has worked in the retail, banking, medical, financial, and travel industries.  Brian holds an MA in English Literature, MBA in Management Information Systems, and CUA from Human Factors International.

]]> http://dfw-upa.org/2009/11/dec-5th-usability-boot-camp-workshop/feed/ 0 http://dfw-upa.org/2009/11/world-usability-day-giveaway/ http://dfw-upa.org/2009/11/world-usability-day-giveaway/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:08:28 +0000 Ryan Plesko http://dfw-upa.org/?p=188 Back in August we hosted a very successful workshop (Led by Brian Sullivan) that focused on User Experience sketching and collaboration. It was a great workshop and generated great ideas on how to illustrate the savings that could be had by changing your traditional filament light bulbs to LED light bulbs.

I (Ryan Plesko) then went a step forward and mashed up the top five sketches into a high-fidelity mockup. Seen below:

Well, not leaving well enough alone, Brian (and Joshua Bright) went and started a conversation with some LED manufacturers and distributors to get a slew of bulbs to give away in support of “Designing for a Sustainable World.” And since that was underway, that meant this was moving from concept to reality.

Brian wrote a great post on “eating our own dog food” that featured a chalkmark test of the initial mockup. This resulted in some slight changes and, since there were no free bulbs to give away when we started this, we now had to design a call to action for the final product.

After weeks of negotiation and conference calls, we managed to get 1,000 free bulbs from Next Generation Lighting and Seoul Semiconductor to give away. So the final design was hacked into HTML/CSS and jQuery and deployed to the World Usability Day website. Here’s a screen shot of the final product:

You can get your free bulb (you still have to pay shipping and handling) by entering WUD2009 in the comments section of the shopping cart after you click “Get a Free Bulb” on the World Usability Day website. Unfortunately, we had no control over the usability and experience of the shopping cart, but rest assured, you will only be charged for the shipping and handling. And not until the bulb is shipped. I promise.

(I’m also working on a better solution for fulfillment, stay tuned)

• 9-10 AM: Keynote Speech from Nathan Shedroff (author of Making Meaning)
• 10AM-2PM: World Usability Day Trade Show (Room A1-157) with 22 interactive booths
• 10AM-2PM: Campu Tours by the eco-Team and Usability Lab Open House

Prizes and giveaways will be in the World Usability Day Trade Show.  Expect to learn something, get something, and network with friends.  DFW-UPA will have its own booth (we do need some volunteers to help us, too).  We look forward to seeing you!!!

If you have anyquestions, send an email to brian.sullivan@sabre.com.