Thursday, September 9, 2004

Tablet PCs: Usability in Product Design

Please join us for a special look into the world of usable product design. Susan Dray and David Siegel, from Dray & Associates, will be sharing their work on the usable design of Tablet PCs. Check back next week for more detailed information.

Meeting Details:

Date/Time:
September 9, 2004, 6:00 PM
Place:
Cargill - Clearwater Campus
Address:
6000 Clearwater Dr., Minnetonka, MN 55343
Host:
Lyle Kantrovich - User Experience Director, Cargill
Phone:
952.984.5330 (before mtg)
Speakers:
Susan Dray & David Seigel of Dray & Associates
Topic:
Tablet PCs: Usability in Product Design

Agenda:

About Our Speakers

Susan M. Dray, Ph.D., CHFP
Susan has worked in the field of human factors since 1979. She has worked as both an internal and external consultant, and has expertise in interface evaluation, usability evaluation, and contextual and ethnographic research with a cross-cultural and organizational perspective. She consults internationally on interface design and usability. She has evaluated and helped redesign UIs of websites, desktop and Web applications, consumer products, and technical equipment. She specializes in international user studies, and has conducted user research in 17 countries, including one of the largest international usability evaluations ever done - studying 120 users in 8 countries in Europe and Asia.

A pioneer in HCI, she developed one of the first corporate usability labs outside the computer industry at IDS [now American Express Financial Advisors] in 1988. She has given over 80 talks at conferences and symposia in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. She delivered the Keynote address at the South African Conference on HCI, in South Africa in 2001, and, most recently, was the Plenary Speaker at the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT) Conference in September, 2002. She has also published numerous papers and book chapters. She was elected a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and has chaired Technical Groups of HFES, as well as Committees of the International Ergonomics Association. She was the North American editor of the international journal Behaviour and Information Technology, and she currently edits the Business column of the Association for Computing Machinery's magazine interactions.

Dr. Dray received her doctorate in Psychology from UCLA and is a Board Certified Human Factors Professional (CHFP).

Dr. David Siegel has worked as Vice President of Dray & Associates, Inc. since 1993. He has been involved in all aspects of consultation on usability, user interface design, and user-centered design processes, including project planning and study design, expert evaluation of interface designs, formal usability testing, user-studies, and interface design consultation. He has conducted extensive field trials of new technology, and has experience carrying out studies in the US and overseas. He has evaluated or tested numerous software designs, including web designs and designs for innovative technologies, and helped product teams make pivotal improvements in their designs. He played a key role in the team that designed the interface for Hewlett-Packard's first digital camera and for its desktop software. In awarding the resulting product "Best Buy" status, PC Magazine specifically praised it for its ease of use.

Dr. Siegel brings to the field of Usability and Human Factors his strong background in psychology, including neuropsychology, assessment and measurement of cognitive processes, and research methodology. His education includes a B.A. in psychology from Princeton University (1974), and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA (1982). His experience in using behavioral data, observation, formal assessment, and interviewing to assess cognitive processes directly contribute to his skills in evaluating designs, identifying and analyzing usability problems, and recommending targeted solutions.

He also has a background in organizational consulting, which he has applied when consulting to companies on the organizational factors involved in the shift to user-centered design approaches, and when helping development teams deal with organizational issues that affect the design and development process.

RSVP & Dues

Please RSVP if you wish to attend. Just send the names of the people in your group who'll be attending to LBennett@LifeTimeFitness.com.

Non-member visitors are welcome, but are asked to pay five dollars to attend each meeting.

Haven't joined our chapter yet? It's only $20 for the calendar year, and you can sign up at our monthly meetings. More information is found at: http://www.upamn.org/join.shtml

Directions & Map:

map to Cargill Clearwater
(Click map for directions from your location.)

 

Driving Directions:

    From the West / Downtown Minneapolis (394):
  1. Take 394 West to 494
  2. Take 494 South to Hwy 62
  3. Take the MN-62/CR-62 exit- exit number 13.
  4. LEFT onto MN-62 E.
  5. LEFT onto Clearwater Dr. (the first road)
  6. LEFT onto Whitewater Dr. (the first turn)
  7. LEFT into the parking lot. (the first driveway).
    From the North / East (35W):
  1. Take 35W South to Hwy 62 West.
  2. Stay on MN-62 West, past the Hwy 212/Hwy 62 split.
  3. RIGHT onto Clearwater Drive (the stop lights just before Hwy 494 exits.)
  4. LEFT onto Whitewater Drive (the first left turn.)
  5. LEFT into the parking lot (the first driveway.)

    From the South / East (494 Bloomington Strip):
  1. Take 494 West/North to Hwy 62
  2. Take the MN-62/CR-62 exit
  3. RIGHT onto MN-62 E.
  4. LEFT onto Clearwater Dr. (the first road)
  5. LEFT onto Whitewater Dr. (the first turn)
  6. LEFT into the parking lot. (the first driveway).
More directions available via MapQuest.

Parking:
Lots of FREE parking is available near the front door.

Help Spread the Word:

Know someone interested in usability? Feel free to invite them to an upcoming meeting. Visitors are always welcome. Please forward this announcement to other area professionals who might have an interest in UPA-MN meetings or activities.

Upcoming Meetings & Events:

Do you have an idea for a future meeting or know someone you think would be a good speaker? Contact Laurie Bennett (LBennett@LifeTimeFitness.com) with your suggestions.

Last update: August 24, 2004