Location: Auckland

Innovation & Control - Thomas Sutton - Frog Design

Managing Director of Frog Design in Milan, Thomas Sutton is currently in New Zealand and we thought it would be a great opportunity to get him to talk about his design career in the EU. Tom graduated from Victoria University in the mid 90's and after a brief stint at Te Papa during the building he emigrated to Italy to try his luck in the EU.

He worked at Design Continuum before moving on to Flextronics establishing their industrial design department in Milan. After Flex bought Frog Tom started the Frog Design office in Milan. He has built this into a team of more than 20 designers over the last four years.

Throughout Tom’s career he has worked on numerous Medical R&D projects and is the chair of Frogs Medical Devices group globally. Tom will be talking about his fascinating whitepaper "Innovation and Control" which navigates the complexities of designing in the high regulated medical domain.

More information at http://www.locusresearch.com/events.html#14Aug09

Auckland UX Book Club

The next Auckland UX Book Club is tentatively scheduled for Thursday 6th August. We will be discussing Design is the Problem – The Future of Design must be Sustainable by Nathan Shedroff. Sign up on the Auckland UX Book Club wiki so that you can receive confirmation of the date and other updates.

Auckland Pecha Kucha

The next Auckland Pecha Kucha will be held at Galatos, on Wednesday 5th August.

Designers Speak Plurals

DINZ are running a series of talks - Designers Speak Plurals. The next one is in Auckland on Wednesday 29th July. Looks like a great line-up of speakers.

UPA Auckland - Learnings from the UPA conference

We'll talk about learnings from the UPA conference in Austin, Texas this month including skills, trends and predictions for the future.

Miriam will also bring along the CD proceedings and a copy of the schedule to help you decide if you want to order a copy.

The UPA meetings cover a wide range of topics and we try to have something for those who are new and those with experience in usability. For a list of previous topics see http://www.upa.org.nz/category/auckland/

* RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland [at] upa.org.nz by 5pm Monday 25th June
* Time: 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles.
* Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm
* Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
* Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street, Auckland
* Late entry: Call Don Gibbons on 029 241 3804 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm

UPA Auckland - A Report on Tog's Interaction Design Tutorial

Catherine Bercher will report on the "Interaction Design" tutorial given by Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini (the ex-Apple user interface guru, designer, and writer) that she recently attended in Sydney.

This tutorial distills thirty years’ of his experience with human-computer interaction (HCI) into straightforward principles, processes, and techniques that covered the entire product life cycle. The talk will be a a brief summary of this 3-day tutorial. It may not contain anything new for experienced interaction designers, or those who have read Tog's articles and books, but will definitely be of interest to those less familiar with the field. It has an emphasis on practical use of techniques within commercial development, rather than on theory.

* RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland@upa.org.nz by 5pm Monday 31st April
* Time: 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles.
* Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm
* Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
* Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street, Auckland
* Late entry: Call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm

UPA Auckland - The Human Brain 101

Ever wondered why so many usability professionals have studied psychology?

Dr Vanessa Lim from the University of Auckland’s Psychology Department is going to provide you with a Psychology 101 level toolkit of knowledge about human memory, cognition and attention. During her talk we’re going to discuss how human vision, attention and memory work and how this knowledge can be applied to design of software and websites. Vanessa will also talk about experimental methods briefly, while recognising that few people in our industries conduct rigorous, tightly controlled experiments.

Dr Vanessa Lim completed her PhD (2003) in Psychology from The University of Melbourne. Her main research interests are in movement disorders (Parkinson’s disease and Focal Dystonia) and music processing. Currently working at the Psychology Department as the Neuroimaging manager and Researcher. The main techniques used in the lab are Electroencephalography (EEG), functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and behavioural techniques.

Registration details at the UPA NZ website

Auckland UPA - User testing extravaganza

After the success of our Interactionary last session (thanks Peter), here is another session where you get to be part of the fun and learning.

We're going to be testing a New Zealand e-commerce website and YOU (our lovely attendees) get to define tasks, watch the testing and identify usability issues.

Miriam Walker and Stephanie Creasy are going to be running the evening. Miriam is a usability consultant with Shift and Steph is a very talented designer who's returned to the NZ job market after leading a team of designers in London and freelancing in New Zealand.

We hope to have a guest speaker to top things off so keep tuned for updates.

* RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland@upa.org.nz by 5pm Monday 26th March

* Time: 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles.
* Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm
* Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
* Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street, Auckland
* Late entry: Call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm

Intergen Twilight: UX + Usability

The Intergen Twilight Seminars are free informal late afternoon sessions designed to inform you about current trends, technologies and initiatives in the space where business and information technology overlap.

March is all about Usability and User Experience : Why it is important to businesses online.

People lined up to speak so far are:

  • Natasha Hall – Trademe User Experience : Speaking on the importance of creating a good user experience
  • Shailesh Manga – Optimal Usability : What is Usability and why should it be employed in projects
  • Henry Poppelwell : AMP: How AMP engaged usability in their last project, and perspectives on the benefits of doing so.

And the kicker – Free drinks for everyone attending.

Time : 16:30 till 17:30

Where?

Update: Please note that the venue has changed due to the high number of registrations:

Crowne Plaza Auckland
Ballroom 1, Mezzanine Level
128 Albert St
Auckland City

Map

Register here.

MakingLifeEasy.Org & Red Balloons in the Streets of Auckland

One of the great initiatives of this year’s World Usability Day is the little big project called MakingLifeEasy.org

Here’s the idea:

Confusing cash machines, parking meters, unclear signs, frustrating websites - poor usability is everywhere and it gets in the way of life. Sometimes it is just annoying. At other times it stops us doing what we need to do. Sometimes it can even be dangerous.

On World Usability Day (and in the lead up), we will be going out on the streets of Auckland to document some of the worst offenders and the best examples of usability and user experience.

As we come across examples of good and bad design, we will tie our balloons to them, photograph them and post them to the Making Life Easy website to ensure that the statements continue to be made long after the balloons disappear.

World Usability Day and Making Life Easy are initiatives to let people know that they shouldn’t be putting up with average or bad design and poor usability. If they’ve ever asked themselves “Why doesn’t this work right? What am I supposed to do with this now?””, they should know that they are not alone. Come and join us in this initiative!

We’d LOVE you to get involved.

Here’s how:

1. Join us! We’ll be heading out from Vulcan Lane at 12pm on Tuesday 14th November for a lunchtime ‘urban safari’. You won’t miss us: we’ll be the ones with the red balloons. Contact justine[at]userfaction.com to register your interest.

This is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness about usability in our everyday lives – AND a great team exercise for any development team – highlighting that poor design is all around us, but that good design principles are easy to apply... Check out Flow’s (the initiators of this project) experience…

2. Help get more people involved! If you have a blog, point them to the MakingLifeEasy.org website. If you have a Flickr account, come join our group and invite all your friends!

3. If you can’t join us on the day, feel free to share your examples of the best and the worst of usability where you live (or visit or holiday!). Add photos to the Flickr group or drop us an email and we’ll add your submission to the website and potentially to the Hall of Fame or Shame.

4. Cast your vote! Take a look at the MakingLifeEasy.org website and have your say in what *really* drives you crazy and what you really love.

Usability at the Bank of New Zealand and Trade Me

Come and learn how the Bank of New Zealand and Trade Me have introduced usability into their organisations!

As part of World Usability Day, we would like to encourage you to bring your boss, colleagues and friends along to our next UPA meeting and celebration on Tuesday 14th November.

This will be a great networking opportunity and experts will be on hand to answer any questions you and your guests may have about usability and user-centred design. We are thrilled to have the following special speakers.

Shona Bishop – Bank of New Zealand

Shona is the GM of Marketing & Business Development at BNZ and has been instrumental in introducing user-centred design processes to the BNZ. Shona has recently returned from Creative Good’s Customer Experience Council in San Francisco. She will talk about developing a comprehensive customer experience discipline and the importance of a robust usability methodology within this wider context.

The Customer Experience Council, organised by Mark Hurst of Creative Good, is a leadership organization of executives at non-competing players across a range of industries, including retail, media and entertainment, financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, travel, automotive, and professional services.

Natasha Hall – Trade Me. Natasha will be talking about Usability – Trade Me Style.

With over 2.5 million unique visitors each month, Trade Me has a large number of users to cater for. Natasha spends her days conducting usability sessions with a wide range of Trade Me users, identifying common problems and behavioural oddities. She will share some of what she’s learnt along the way.

Natasha has had her hand in the web pie for over 6 years: a dollop of design + development, a handful of content editing and usability and accessibility analysis, and a pinch of training and project management thrown in. She’s also one of the key instigators behind Webstock.

When & Where:

  • RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland[at]upa.org.nz so that we can order enough food & drinks

  • Time: 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles. Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm
  • Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
  • Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street. If you arrive after 6.30 pm, please phone Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 to get access to the elevators.

We will also have a 3D photo exhibit of good and poor usability experiences from our MakingLifeEasy.org adventures. Read on....

IVR Usability Workshops

Learn how to compose successful touch-tone and speech IVR applications in these workshops brought to you by Optimal Usability. Participants can expect to not only learn the fundamentals of IVR analysis and design but also the usability skills needed to create world-class customer experiences.

More information and registration at the Optimal Usability website.

The Auckland 2-day workshop is on Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th of October.

The Wellington 1-day workshop is on Wednesday the 1st of November.

UPA Auckland: Information Architecture

In our September meeting, David Pomeroy will teach us about Information Architecture. He'll cover all facets of this topic:
understanding the need for good site structure, an explanation of the various processes used to gather and then analyse information, and an audience-participation exercise showing how to produce a site structure that works (and is future proofed). David will also explain the following: sitemaps, prototypes, wireframes, and he'll explain how Information Architecture works alongside Usability and Accessibility to create websites that work.

David is an independent Information Architect, and a Usability and Accessibility Consultant. Now living in Auckland, David (a Kiwi) spent the last 8 years in the UK, working with corporate websites, intranets, and applications, for large organisations. As an Information Architect, David has dealt with site structures of up to 52 individual websites and containing up to 15,000 separate pages of information. David has a passion for User Centred Design, and for meeting the needs of end users. David can be contacted at:
davidpom@iconz.co.nz

* RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland[at]upa.org.nz
* Time: 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles. Talks start at 6.30pm.
Finishes at approximately 8pm
* Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
* Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street

UPA Auckland - Interviewing 101 with Shane Hastie from Software Education

Shane Hastie from Software Education will be talking about using interviewing effectively for user centred design - whether you're interviewing current or prospective site users or other stakeholders - these are important skills.

Shane's talk will cover the basics of planning and conducting a structured interview – identifying who to talk to, planning the time and sequence of interviews and then actually conducting an interview.
The talk will concentrate primarily on the people factors which are crucial to successfully gathering requirements for a new or changed product or service, irrespective of the problem domain or business context.

Bio

Shane is Chief Knowledge Engineer at Software Education Associates Ltd (www.softed.com), Shane has over 25 years experience in software development and implementation around the world, using a variety of development methodologies. Shane is an advocate of Agile methods based on his experience building real systems, including a back office & revenue accounting software for small to medium size Airlines which has been implemented in 12 airlines around Africa and is still in use today, reservations & despatch management for shuttle services, pharmaceutical and facilities management systems. Shane has lived and worked in New Zealand, South Africa, USA, UK, Australia and Hong Kong.

Shane's areas of expertise cover Software Testing, Requirements Analysis, Agile Methodologies, Business Analysis and Project Management.

* RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland at upa dot org dot nz by 5pm Monday 28th August
* Time: 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles. Talks start at 6.30pm.
Finishes at approximately 8pm
* Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
* Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street (Map showing location of building - but we are on the 3rd floor).
* Late entry: Call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm

Auckland UPA - Holiday Season Party

Celebrate the holiday season with the UPA community. This meeting will be a casual get together at a local wine bar.


Location: Wine Loft, 67 Shortland St, CBD
Time: Tuesday 29th November, 6 pm onwards
Cost: Drinks & nibbles can be purchased at Wine Loft

Auckland World Usability Day Celebration

Logo in wide format - preferred.jpg

As part of World Usability Day, the Auckland UPA invites you to Open Your Eyes to Usability:

Ever felt frustated, confused or lost when surfing the web? Ever wondered how your visitors really 'see' and experience your website?

If so, join us for an evening of activities designed to increase awareness of usability and user-centred design.

Presentations will include "Internet Usability", and a live usability evaluation of a popular website. You will also be able to view examples of eye-tracking research, and experience how blind people 'see' your website using screen readers.

A number of usability experts will be on hand to give advice on any aspect of usability.

Plus: Remote Control Shootout! How many buttons are there on your remote control? Do you know what they all do? How many do you actually *use*? Bring your remote control along and help us find the worst offending example of poor design and usability. We have spot prizes for the best (the worst?) examples.

This event is being organised as part of the first World usability Day, with more than 70 events planned in 35 countries around the globe, starting (naturally) in New Zealand. Visit www.worldusabilityday.org and be amazed by how many people, places and groups are taking part. Come along and be part of the celebration.


Date: Thursday 3rd November

Time: 6.00pm to 8.0pm

Venue: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street (Map showing location of building - but we are on the 3rd floor)

Cost: Free - Drinks & nibbles will be provided so please register so that we can order enough wine! And don't forget your remote!

Please RVSP to auckland@upa.org.nz

UPA Auckland - Games User Research with Tracey Sellar

GripShift : A Case Study

* How do game developers know if they are making the right design decisions prior to shipping a title?
* What parts of a game frustrate players instead of challenge them?
* How can developers answer the fundamental question: will gamers think our game is good?

Games user research provides developers with valuable feedback on how a target audience will perceive and interact with their game before it gets to market. It helps to take some of the guesswork out of designing enjoyable game experiences.

In this talk, Tracey will present a user research case study on GripShift, a recently released game developed by Sidhe Interactive for the new PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game console. Tracey will describe how the design of GripShift changed as a result of iterative user testing, and how those changes impacted on the game user experience. She will also discuss some of the benefits and challenges of games user research.

Speaker Bio:

Tracey Sellar is a games user research consultant and is currently Director of the User Experience (UX) Lab in Auckland. In her spare time, Tracey is exploring new research strategies and methods for evaluating game user experience as part of her PhD.

Tracey has been involved with the New Zealand games industry for several years as a user research advocate and consultant. Recent game projects she has worked on include Rugby League 2, Melbourne Cup Challenge and GripShift for New Zealand's largest game development company, Sidhe Interactive. In addition to games, she has conducted user research on a range of products including websites, software, videoconferencing systems, and large interactive display technologies.

Tracey has recently accepted a User Research Engineer position with the Games User Research team at Microsoft Game Studios, and will be relocating to the U.S. at the end of October.


Register at auckland@upa.org.nz by Monday 10th October please.

$10 cash at the door. Location details below.

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.
Call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm

UPA Auckland - Usable and Findable: Optimising Search Rankings and User Experience with Stephan Spencer

The marriage of search engine optimisation and usability can be a happy one. Granted, just creating a successful user experience can be a challenge. But to also cater to the search engine's algorithms concomitantly - this can seem downright daunting. Many companies, often inadvertently, choose one approach over the other. The goal, elusive as it may seem, is improved search engine rankings ALONG WITH greater accessibility and better overall usability. Get ready for a dose of insight, strategy, process, and well-considered opinion to cure what ails your site.

Join Stephan for an information-packed session covering:

* Wordsmithing approaches
* Benchmarking criteria
* Contextual linking
* Role of keyword analysis
* Optimal site structure
* Wielding the full power of CSS
* Measuring Return On Investment
* Best practices & worst practices

Speaker Bio:

Stephan Spencer, M.Sc. is founder and managing director of Netconcepts (http://www.netconcepts.com), a 10 year-old web agency specialising in search engine optimisation, e-commerce, and website design, as well as email marketing through its gravityMail (http://www.gravitymail.com) division. Netconcepts' clients include such large U.S. corporates as AOL, HSN (Home Shopping Network), Verizon, REI, PETsMART, Kohl's, Sara Lee Direct, The Sharper Image, and WellPoint.

Stephan is a Senior Contributor to MarketingProfs.com, and he has served as a columnist for Unlimited here in N.Z. and for Building Online Business in the U.S. He has contributed to publications such as DM News, Multichannel Merchant, Catalog Age, Marketing Magazine, and Management Magazine. He is co-author of the analyst report "The State of Search Engine Marketing 1.0" published by Catalog Age. Stephan is a sought-after speaker at Internet conferences around the globe - Berlin, London, Toronto, Santiago, Boston, New York, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco, and places in between. He blogs at www.stephanspencer.com.

Register at auckland@upa.org.nz by Sunday 25th September please.

$10 cash at the door. Location details below.

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.
Call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm

TUANZ (e)-vision forum - It's all about the USER!

User Centered Design — what is it, why is it important and how can it have an impact on your business?

This interactive session will cover your website, intranet, mobile applications, and product development. If you are a designer, website or intranet manager, developer or product manager involved in IT or telecommunications, this forum is one for you.

Website: The Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand

Auckland UPA Meeting - Institutionalising Usability

Institutionalising Usability at the Bank of New Zealand with Mark McLay

Mark McLay manages all usability work within Bank of New Zealand.
Recent projects include ATM, IVR, Website, Intranet, as well as other internal
and customer-facing fat-client applications.

Bank of New Zealand has benefited directly through User Centred Design
across a number of key metrics. These include reduction in training
time; reduction in process waste; lowered technology rework costs, customer
usage & absorption has increased in self-service channels and there has been a
reduction in telco costs. All of these business benefits have been
supported by more confident & satisfied staff and a customer-focussed
approach to the way in which any interface is designed and implemented.

Mark will discuss the first 18 months of usability implementation in a
large organisation. He will outline the underlying methodology and some
of the key milestones he has reached to bring Usability to one of New
Zealand's major businesses. This will include; change management,
company culture, management values, redefining the process for interface design,
and providing support and training for those involved in software
design.

Mark's broad-ranging career spans roles including documentation manger
at Telecom NZ, Mediator and Educator at the Race Relations Office and a breadth of teaching experience in adult, secondary and primary education. Mark has lived in South-East Asia and taught Arabic and Indonesian. He is an accomplished musician and has written on New Zealand social history. This ability to bridge different cultures is at the heart of effective user centred design.

$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

TCANZ Auckland - Dorenda Britten of Design Industry

Dorenda Britten of Design Industry will talk about the writer's contribution to the product development chain.

Tuesday 19th July
5.30pm for a 6pm start
at the StarDome observatory at Cornwall Park off Manuaku Road

$5 tcanz members, $10 non tcanz members.

RSVP and questions to: vicfitz[at]woosh.co.nz

CHINZ 2005 - Making CHI Natural

6th International Conference of the NZ chapter of the ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI-NZ)

University of Auckland
Computer Science Building
Corner Princes St and Wellesley St
Auckland

Website: CHINZ 2005

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

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

UPA Auckland - Medley Night

Meddley night - Six 8-Minute Talks

Who else is attending UPA? What do they do? How did they get involved in usability?

We invite YOU to speak about:

  • Your job
  • A topic of interest to UPA
  • How your work incorporates or relates to usability, user centred design
  • Ask the audience a question - Got a burning question? you can stand up and ask us all to answer it.

Interested in talking? Got an idea for a future UPA topic? Please contact miriamwalker[at]acm[dot]org

Auckland UPA - Design and Innovation

Pradeep Sharma from Unitec will talk about developing a systems view of innovation and the role of design.

Pradeep Sharma is senior lecturer at Unitec School of Design and Director of the Centre for Strategic Design. His interest areas are in product design and development and he lectures and consults on design, management and innovation.

Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street $10 cash at the door.

Map showing location of building (but we are on the 3rd floor): http://www.wises.co.nz/map/?id=3805|1&svctype=1&zoomin=true&move=true

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

Please RSVP to miriamwalker[at]acm[dot]org

Auckland UPA - Testing with users, using the results

This month we continue our occassional series on usability skills with a focus on testing.

Last session we covered Paper Prototyping. If you weren't able to attend the last session don't worry, you will be fine this session. For those interested in learning more about paper prototyping we recommend Carolyn Snyder's Paper Prototyping book.

This session we look more at how to run usability testing.

We will be:


  • Defining the audience for our website

  • Designing usability testing tasks

  • Running a task-based usability testing session using a sample website (provided)

  • Talking about how to use the results

Bring:

  • Lined paper
  • A pair of scissors
  • Pencils and an eraser
  • An open mind

Location: Bank of New Zealand, 125 Queen Street
$10 cash at the door
RSVPs and questions: miriamwalker[at]acm[dot]org

UPA Auckland - Prototyping

Paper Prototypes, basic usability testing and iterative design

UPA promotes the design of successful products, software, documentation, services, and branding...but how do you know if your products, software, documentation etc are going to be successful?

Don't just build it and hope!

Paper prototyping and testing with users can help evaluate design. With these low cost techniques you can be more sure of the reception your designs will get from your users.

Bring:


  • A3 paper

  • A pair of scissors

  • Pencils and an eraser

  • Post-It notes

  • An open mind

Location: Bank of New Zealand, 125 Queen Street
$10 cash at the door

RSVPs and questions: miriamwalker[at]acm[dot]

Auckland UPA Holiday Celebration

In the spirit of the season, the last UPA meeting of the year will be a social get-together at the Wine Loft. Everyone is welcome.

RSVP by 10th December to miriamwalker[at]acm[dot]org.

Date: Tuesday, 14th December - 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Location: Wine Loft, 67 Shortland Street, Auckland, (09) 379 5070