UPA Minnesota

September 14, 2000

Hosted by Dee Dee DeMulling and Caryn Zange-Josephson at Renaissance Worldwide -- thanks ladies!!

Topics covered:

1. National UPA Conference

-- share your favorite stories. A number of Mpls. UPA'ers attended the National Conference in Asheville, NC last month. Some of the memorable (good and bad) sessions include:

a. ImageWorks -- a flashy presentation that was a bit shallow for usability content. Clearly, this presenter could have benefitted from UCD --attendees patiently awaited the punch-line that should have shown how the Hollywood types used UCD to speed up their process but, alas, it never came. Rather, it sounded as though they continued to iterate their design without learning from their mistakes.

b. Creative Good/Customer Experience -- Mark Hurst gave a very interesting presentation on the importance of the customer experience in the online world. Thanks to our own Royce Shin, Mr. Hurst learned the evening before his presentation what the UPA was about and how his message related to our professional focus. Thanks Royce!

c. Participatory Card Games -- A terrific tutorial for anyone who uses (or wants to use) card-sorting techniques in their work. Profiles of 3 card-sorting techniques that can be modified for individual use.

d. Computer-Based Training -- This interesting session offered a review of how CBT was used effectively in the produce-merchandizing world and how UCD contributed to the CBT's success.

e. Modifying the UCD Process for Your Needs -- this isn't the official title but it was the 1/2 day session taught by our own Dean Barker and Susan Weinschenk. An extremely worth-while session for those of us who can't always (ever?) follow the full, flawless process due to time, people or financial constraints.

f. Local Chapters -- President Lucy Suits and others from our local chapter helped UPA'ers in other locations understand the benefits of setting up a local chapter and how it can be done. A great venue to tout our status as the 1st chapter ever!! Way to go guys!!

2. UPA Book Group

-- attendees were asked to bring their favorite usability books. Following is a list (perhaps inaccurate or incomplete) of the books shared:

• User & Task Analysis -- Joanne Hakos and Ginny Redish
• Handbook of Usability Testing -- Jeff Rubin
• The Inmates are Running the Assylum -- Alan Cooper
• A Practical Guide to Usability Testing -- Joe Dumas & Ginny Redish
• Software User Interface Design -- Deborah Mayhew
• Cost-Justifying Usability -- Randolph Bias and Deborah Mayhew
• Usability Engineering -- 1. Deborah Mayhew, 2. Jakob Nielsen
• Analyzing Performance Problems -- Mager and Pipe
• Why We Buy -- Pago Underhill
• Humane Interface -- Jeff Raskin
• Website Usability -- Jared Spool
• Web Style Guide -- Harvard
• Edward Tufte books -- Envisioning Information, Display of Quantitative Information, Visual Explanations
• GUI Bloopers Do's and Don'ts -- author unknown
• Almost anything by Jakob Nielsen
• GUI Design Essentials -- Susan Weinschenk
• Resource -- Certification for Ergonomy & Human Factors

3. Next Meeting

-- lots of information about our October meeting:

• Location -- IBM Rochester, hosted by Richard Sit (thanks Richard!!)
• Time -- Since many people will be driving from the Twin Cities, we'll be starting a little early next month. Plan to be there by 5:00.
• Date -- Oct. 12, 2000
• Carpooling -- Those interested in sharing/providing a ride to IBM should meet at 3:00 PM (for a 3:15 PM departure) at the following location:
  Chili's Grill & Bar
  14161 Aldrich Avenue South
  Burnsville, MN 55337
  (952) 898-3101
  Burnsville off of 35W and 42 (Crystal Lake exit from 35W southbound)
• RSVP -- Please RSVP your intent to attend this meeting by Oct. 10, 2000. Send a note to Richard (Richsit@us.ibm.com) and to Lucy (l.suits@att.net) letting them know you're planning to attend. This is a new practice and will be carried over to future meetings so hosts can plan appropriately for food and beverages.
• Facilitation -- David Prigge will plan to facilitate next month's meeting if Lucy can't make it.
• Scribe -- Dee Dee DeMulling has offered to take notes at next month's meeting if Carla can't make it.
• Agenda -- the agenda may fluctuate a bit but will generally include:
  1. Process overview from Richard -- how did they get UCD
  integrated into the software/hardware development process?
  2. Tour of Usability Lab
  3. Overview of Board positions and nominations for 2001
  (voting in November)
  4. Miscellaneous business

4. November Meeting

-- Deborah Friese from Leede Research will host the November meeting at their newly redesigned/remodeled lab in Plymouth.

5. Treasury Update

-- We now have $400 and change in our account. This money will be used for our upcoming holiday party and for future speakers, if desired. The fund will continue to grow as we collect dues from new members and as each new year's dues collection dawns.

6. Link to Mpls. UPA Website

-- a reminder about where to find our Mpls. UPA web site -- a link from the National UPA home page is in our near future. For now, go to http://www.mouseworksmedia.com/UPA/