(June 2009) From Concept to Production: Prototyping with Expression Blend 3

Thursday June 25, 2009
5:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo
[Map]

See SketchFlow in Action

So, you’ve got a great design idea for your project. But how do you quickly turn conceptual design ideas into rich prototypes that are ready for production? Additionally, how do you share your design ideas with others effectively at each stage of the design process?

Come hear Qixing Zheng from Microsoft introduce a new component in Expression Blend 3, called SketchFlow. It’s a fun, flexible, and powerful way to sketch and prototype rich and dynamic interactivity in your applications. Learn how SketchFlow allows you to quickly iterate on your designs and share them with your colleagues for feedback. Previous knowledge in Expression Blend is not necessary.

About Qixing Zheng

Qixing joined Microsoft Canada as its first User Experience Advisor. In this role, she talks to schools, design communities and companies about Microsoft’s investment in UX, and finds design heroes and design stories from the community. More importantly, she works with many outstanding IT professionals to consider how user experience can impact the technology we deliver today. She graduated from UBC at the end of 2005 with a Masters degree specializing in Human-Computer Interaction.

Registration is required for this event

This event is being hosted by the Infusion Angels Innovation Centre. If you plan to attend, please visit their website and submit your registration. It’s free. Thanks, Infusion Angels!

What's the state of UX in Waterloo Region today?

Is it in its infancy? Is it maturing into a well-practiced and well-respected discipline? Is it all grown up? Is it all these things at once? Where is it going?

Come on out and talk with fellow UXers about your take on the state of UX in Waterloo Region. Bring some stories that shine light on your experience and that can help others better understand where UX stands.

This month we’ll be meeting on Thursday May 21 from 5:30pm–7:00pm in the comfortable upstairs lounge at Whole Lotta Gelata in Uptown Waterloo (120 King St S, Waterloo).

If you’re hoping to join us, please send an RSVP to Wanda Eby at Communitech, so we know how many couches and chairs to commandeer.

Hope to see you there!

UX Flicks Mix

UX Movie Night, from the back of the room

The UX movie night was a blast. We had popcorn, peanuts, and soft drinks, just like at a real movie theatre (thanks Wanda and Communitech!). The movies were all found online and provided laughs, insights, and even nostalgia. This lists below are almost certainly out of order, but provide a record of our evening of enlightenment.

Here are the videos that we watched:

• Paul Bennett: Design is in the details
• James Howard Kunstler: The tragedy of suburbia
• Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo
• Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles
• The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version)
• Information R/evolution
• Pattie Maes & Pranav Mistry: Unveiling the “Sixth Sense,” game-changing wearable tech
• Knowledge navigator
• The Future of The Web Part 1 of 4 Mozilla Labs Aurora Concept Browser Video by Adaptive Path
• Microsoft Surface Parody
• Microsoft iPod

And here’s a bonus list of movies that we didn’t get to:

• 10 Minute Mock Prototyping
• BumpTop Feature Walkthrough
• AT&T 1993 “You Will” Ads
• Talks  David Merrill: Siftables, the toy blocks that think

(April 2009) UX Movie Night

Wednesday April 22, 2009
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
Meeting Room #2
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo
[Map]

Movie night!

The famous "Minority Report" gestural user interface

At this month’s event, we’re turning down the lights and rolling out some munchies. Join us for an informal screening of a variety of movies about our relationship with the tools and technologies that surround us — either as designers, or as end users. We’ll view clips from commercial films as well as a good variety of online videos from sources such as YouTube.

Suggest a movie

Seen something that inspired you professionally? That got you thinking? That had you Rolling On The Floor Laughing? Bring your suggestions and we’ll get them on the playlist. If you can’t make it but have something great to share, please let us know by leaving a comment to this post.

RSVPs requested

If you’re hoping to join us, please send an RSVP to Wanda Eby at Communitech, so we know how much popcorn to pop.

Hope to see you there!

(March 2009) Books and Brewskies

Thursday March 19, 2009
5:30 to ~7:00 pm
The Duke of Wellington
(back room near the dartboards)
33 Erb Street West, Waterloo (Near King & Erb)
[Find the Duke on Google Maps]

Event description

Time for a laid-back, social get-together! Join us after work on March 19 for drinks, food, and lots of talk about user experience and product design. Have you read a UX-related book lately? Been to a conference? Help grease the wheels of conversation by sharing some of the ideas that have stuck with you.

Note: As you know, we’re a volunteer-run group that offers free events. In other words, please come prepared to cover your own expenses for food & drink.

RSVPs requested

If you’re planning to join us, please send an RSVP to Wanda Eby at Communitech. We have a reservation at the Duke of Wellington, so let’s do our best to get the numbers reasonably accurate.

(February 2009) The Myths of Innovation with Scott Berkun

Wednesday February 25, 2009
5:00 to 5:30 pm: refreshments and networking
5:30 to 7:00 pm: Scott’s presentation
Research in Motion
RIM Theatre #4
Corner of Columbia and Phillip Streets in Waterloo
[View the RIM 4 entrance on Google Maps]

We’re shifting this month’s meeting to a different date to accommodate a special guest. Our thanks to Scott Berkun for adjusting his travel plans to pay us this visit. Thanks too to Communitech and Infusion Angels for covering the cost of this event, and to RIM for their generous donation of the RIM 4 Theatre due to a scheduling conflict at the Accelerator Centre.

You won’t want to miss this! Hope to see you there.

Event description

Much of what we know about innovation is wrong. Scott Berkun takes us through the history of innovation, dispelling the mythologies we’ve constructed about how we got here. This talk will help you to recognize the myths, understand their popularity, and how to use the truth of innovations past to help you in your work today.

About Scott Berkun

Scott is an author and public speaker for hire. He worked as a manager at Microsoft from 1994-2003, on projects including (v1-5 of) Internet Explorer, Windows and MSN. His work as a writer and public speaker has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired magazine and on National Public Radio. He has taught at the University of Washington, blogs for Harvard Business, and has appeared as an innovation expert on CNBC and MSNBC.

He is the author of two bestselling books, Making Things Happen (formerly titled The Art of Project Management) and The Myths of Innovation, a book about the true lessons we can learn from the masters on creativity and managing innovation. He’s an excellent speaker for hire, and frequently performs interactive talks, workshops, and courses for organizations, conferences and the occasional living room couch.

Scott grew up in Queens NYC, studied design, philosophy and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, graduating with a B.S. in Logic and Computation (’94). He currently lives somewhere deep in the woods outside of Seattle, Washington.

RSVPs required

If you’re planning to join us, please send an RSVP to Wanda Eby at Communitech.

Find out what you missed at last month's Product Potluck

Qixing Zheng has just posted a summary of last month’s Product Potluck over on the UX Connection Blog. Gordon Varney penned the summary and photos were provided by the people whose products were mentioned. Thanks, everyone! Here are a few snippets from the summary:

Books have been around for so many years that the kinks have universally been worked out. Attempts to “improve” the classic norms are generally disastrous: we expect page numbers to be on the outside edge, for example…

These frames are made from spring steel and are incredibly flexible and apparently virtually indestructible. They have no hinge per se and can be easily twisted apart and restored (with a practiced flick of the wrist.)…

The design’s affordances communicated well what you should do to fasten or unfasten it. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was that the clasp itself is very small…

Talk then moved on to a sushi knife, side tracked to Apple and Steve Jobs, and somehow ended up with a demonstration of the latest RIM Blackberry…

Want to learn more about Agile Development and User Experience? Head to Toronto…

Last November, we had a full house for Declan Whelan’s talk on the intersection of Agile and UX. If you’re hungry for more, check out these two upcoming events in Toronto. Thanks to @meredi, coordinator of the Toronto IxDA group, for bringing these to our attention!

January 19: IxDA Toronto Discussion Panel on Agile & UX

For the latest information, monitor IxDA Toronto’s Google Groups forum.

January 20: Agile Methods and User Centered Design: The Common Denominators

8.00am – 9.30am
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Park Hyatt Toronto Hotel
4 Avenue Road
Cost: FREE
Learn more and register

ThoughtWorks’ User Experience Expert, Dave Robertson, and senior business analyst, John Johnston, will discuss the subject of marrying Agile and User Centered Design best practices.

One of the most important ways to create valuable software is to empower people. Agile practices empower development teams and their customers to create software that delivers real value for the business. User centered design (UCD) practices empower designers to create useful, usable and compelling experiences for people who use software. Agile and UCD are highly complimentary, yet many practitioners still struggle with integrating these practices and there is a common impression that agile and UCD donít work well together. Too many agile projects produce poor user interface and too many user experience projects run over time and budget.

There is a better way. Agile methods and UCD share goals and values — a commitment to iteration, value and quality are examples of common denominators that form a foundation on which designers and developers can integrate these practices successfully. But they must be willing to challenge preconceptions about their methods, deliverables and roles to succeed.

(January 2009) Product Potluck Reloaded

Thursday January 22, 2009
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
Meeting Room #2
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo
[Map]

Event description

Last month, just before Christmas, a few brave souls ventured out to the Accelerator Centre despite the beginnings of a major snowstorm. We swapped stories and got hands-on with some fun and frustrating products — and had such a good time that everyone agreed we should repeat the event in January.

So if you missed December’s get-together, please join us on January 22 for a potluck with a twist: instead of food, we’re asking you to bring a product. Make it a product that you either love or hate, because we’ll be sharing stories with each other about these products. And the juicier the story, the better!

Some guidelines and tips:

• You’ll have a few moments to introduce your product to everyone and describe what you love or hate about it.
• Be prepared to provide a few words or short phrases that describe your experience in using the product. We’ll collect these words throughout the evening and produce a Wordle tag cloud to illustrate the themes that emerged in our potluck.
• If the product you want to share isn’t something you can physically bring to the event (like an airplane, or a printing press, or a website), then bring something that illustrates the product. If you’d like to share software or a website, consider printing a screenshot. Alternatively, a laptop, projector, and Internet connection will be available.

RSVPs requested

If you’re hoping to join us, please send an RSVP to Wanda Eby at Communitech. This helps us to better anticipate turnout and plan accordingly.

Hope to see you there!