June 2005

Designers Speak

Thursday 2 June 5.30 for 6
Victoria University of Wellington School of Design

Joanne Oliver, IDEO
STORIES FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PACIFIC
Designing in the USA

Joanne will discuss her passion for creating stimulating, humanizing experiences around the products she designs, where responsibility, mindfulness for the environment and de-mystifying the design process are at the heart of everything she does.


Thomas Gerlach, via 4 Design
CULT AND DESIGN
From eye candy and heart flutters, from musts and victims
Thomas will discuss how he positions himself as a designer, bridging the gap between brands, products and target groups. He will deliver examples that he has experienced as to how cult status develops, how he maintains contact to trends and the coherence between trends, slow-down and long life.

There is no charge for this event.
Info: Designers Institute of New Zealand 09 303 1356 or designer@dinz.org.nz

Wellington UPA Meeting - Content Modelling

5:15pm to 7pm, Tuesday 7th June

VENUE:
Level 4
25A Marion Street
Wellington

RSVP (by 7th June): Email nikki.bristol@optimalusability.com
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UPA Wellington | June Meeting

SPEAKER:

Lynsey Blacklock, Business Analysis and Information Architect, Shift Ltd

TOPIC:

Content Modelling

Locally our industry and clients are just getting to grips with the need for Information Architecture (or Information
Architects for that matter) and the structure of content within their online developments. Taking Information
Architecture to the next level, Lynsey will present a discussion on 'Content Modelling' - the structure and organisation of content within the page.

In effect, exploring deeper levels of Information Architecture. How to identify content chunks and flow within the page, where the content sits within the organisation and the context of the page.

AGENDA:

5.15pm – Drinks and catching up
5.45pm – UPA update and speaker introductions
6.00pm – Speaker’s presentation
6.45pm – Discussion

Designers Speak - An Evening Salute to the Passion of Design

Joanne Oliver (Product Design) and Thomas Gerlach (Design Strategist) talk about their work.

Wednesday 8th June at 6pm for 6.30pm start
Coast Lounge Bar, "Black Bar"
Level 7, Hewlett Packard Building
Princes Wharf
Auckland

Website: DINZ

Download PDF Invite

Wellington Web Standards Group Meeting

NZ web guidelines
A representative from the State Services Commission will be talking about the NZ web guidelines and the implications of them becoming mandatory. There'll be lots of opportunity for participation and discussion.

Weta Workshops website
Dave Turnbull and Dan Smith from Chrometoaster will present a case study on the development of the Weta Workshops website which has recently launched. It's a great example of a visually stunning, standards-compliant website and the case study looks to be very interesting.

There will be a $10 cover charge per person for the meeting. This is to cover venue hire plus provision of drinks and nibbles for everyone. Can you please pay this at the door on the night.

Can you also please RSVP to wellington@webstandardsgroup.org before the meeting so we know how many to cater for.

Date: Thursday 16th June
Time: 4:00pm - 6:30pm
Venue: National Library Auditorium theatre

Website: Web Standards Group

Auckland UPA Meeting - Design Ethnography

Design Ethnography with Suzanne Currie

Understanding and representing people and their environments is a skill
that is important for designers and usability engineers to master.
Design Ethnography is an approach to design that is based on methods
borne from Anthropology and Ethnography, and takes into account the
people, their social relationships, physical environments, technologies
they use, and the artefacts they produce.
In the product design world, Design Ethnography yields information that
is invaluable in influencing design strategy and design approach.

In this talk, we'll look at the important aspects from Anthropology and
Ethnography that work well in high tech, and we'll explore what it means
to "situate" the user within their culture, and options for placing the
"locus of control" between the researcher and the user such that
valuable behaviors are able to be witnessed and recorded. References to
the social sciences will be used to help us dissociate from our own
culture(s), and a Who's Who of pertinent Anthropologists and
Ethnographers, as well as Design Ethnographers in high tech will be
presented.

Suzanne Currie is a Usability Engineer and Design Researcher currently
working for Navman Ltd. Suzanne earned a Master's in Cultural
Anthropology in the US, during which she conducted an ethnography with
graffiti writers in Denver, Colorado, and constructed a photographic
exhibition on her findings. Suzanne has been using her understanding of
the dynamics of cultural change as well as participant observation and
interviewing skills in the high tech world for more than 10 years.

$10 cash at the door to cover food and drinks

Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street

Map
showing location of building (but we are on the 3rd floor)

Time: 6 pm for drinks and nibbles, 6.30pm talk starts, finishes approx 8pm.

If you arrive after 6.30 pm, please phone Mark McLay on 021 222 00 16 to get access to the elevators.



Please RSVP to Miriam Walker: miriamwalker[at]acm[dot]org