Perficient is pleased to be hosting two presentations on User Experience methods and skills. This event will be a preview of the presentations that DeeDee DeMulling and Debbie McConnell (from Perficient) will be giving at the 2007 Usability Professionals Association International Conference in June.
Contextual Inquiry: Get out of Your Cube!Collecting information while observing in a manufacturing facility, distribution center, operating room, retail store, or in a person’s home requires planning, execution and analysis techniques for the contextual environment. This presentation will provide examples and share artifacts that have been used and collected while performing observations in a variety of industries and environments.
Designing for Small Screens: Crossing from Web to Product DesignYou’ve been designing excellent web sites and client/server applications for years. Now, you are asked to help evaluate and design products that go far beyond a PC monitor. Where do you start? This presentation describes UCD techniques you can take with you and provides a starting point for you to learn about unique aspects of designing for small screens.
There is surface parking across the street, next to Gluek's Restaurant, but try City Ramp B - entrance from 394 or from 5th St. There is a skyway connection from Ramp B into the back of Butler Square.
Our meeting will be on the bottom level (1st floor). (Street level is level 2.) The conference room is right off the open atrium area by the Kokapelli Cafe.
Here are two links that provide directions to Butler Square:
http://www.butlersquare.net/directions.htm (textual instructions)
http://www.butlersquare.net/map.htm (map)
Delight ‘DeeDee’ DeMulling – Director, User Experience
DeeDee has been a practicing Usability professional for 12 years with a wide variety of industry experience. She worked for a consulting firm in her early years where she focused on UI Design and Usability in the insurance and financial industry. She then joined a corporation and built a Usability team that provided user experience influence on a whole line of design and manufacturing tools used in the automotive, consumer goods and space industry. I later began my own company that focused using user centered design philosophies and techniques in product research and design with a focus on Hardware and Software integrated products. The types of products include companies in the manufacturing, medical device, government, and retail industries. In January of 2007, DeeDee joined Perficient as the Director of User Experience for the Minneapolis office.
Debbie McConnell – Sr. User Experience DesignerDebbie has 15 years of experience designing products. She developed her user centered design skills through participating in mentorship and certification programs, attending conferences and seminars, and engaging in on-the-job training. Initially, she designed and evaluated client/server applications and web sites. Debbie founded the usability practice for a consulting firm that services customers in a variety of industries. More recently, she decided to focus on designing manufacturing and medical devices with small screens. This fascinating work combines traditional UCD techniques with the practices required to unite hardware and software as an integrated product. In January of 2007, Debbie joined Perficient as Sr User Experience Designer in the Minneapolis office.
About the UPA ConferenceUPA 2007 International Conference Patterns: Blueprints for Usability June 11-15, 2007
The International Conference presents current professional methods and technological advances in usability and user-centered design. The conference will offer approximately 50 sessions with topics covering all aspects of usability evaluation, user research, user-centered design, accessibility, and organizational issues facing usability professionals.
As usability professionals, our ability to observe users and to discover their patterns of interaction is integral to our work. By defining these patterns we can leverage that knowledge to create usable interfaces that are familiar and useful to our users.
If you or someone you know would like to attend, please register by emailing rsvp@upamn.org that you will attend.
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.
Do you have an idea for a future meeting or know someone you think would be a good speaker? Contact our Program Directors (ProgramDirector@upamn.org) with your suggestions.