December 2012 event: UX product potluck

For our December meetings we’ve featured a product potluck event in past years, and we’re resurrecting the beloved format for this month.

Our meeting on Tuesday December 18 will extend the potluck tradition with a relaxing and, almost certainly, enriching evening of conversation and bonhommie. Please join us 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.

Here’s what to expect:

• You’ll have a few minutes to introduce your product and describe what you love or hate about it. If the product you want to share isn’t something you can physically demonstrate at the event (like a particle accelerator, a Wankel rotary engine, or a table saw), then bring something that helps you talk about the product.
• If you’d like to share software or a website, a laptop would be best, but a printed screenshot will do the job if technology is scarce.

If you’re hoping to attend, please register for the event. This will help us make an appropriate reservation, as we’ll be meeting at a local pub or restaurant. Thanks! Everyone’s invited, so spread the word.

Tuesday Dec 18, 2010
5:30 to 7:00 pm
McMullans On King
56 King Street North, Waterloo

November 2012 event: UX on agile teams

Our November event is special, in that we’re teaming up with Waterloo Agile Lean to explore how UX works in an agile environment. Working together, we’ll share our collective experiences and insights in wide-ranging discussion. Amongst the questions we hope to address:

• Are their alternatives to UX designers working an iteration ahead of developers?
• How can Agile cross-functional teams think more about user experience using tools like personas?
• How can can designers, developers and technical writer/content designer work as an integrated team?

We’re sure that you’ll have many of your own questions, and bring your own answers to the discussion. Don’t miss this great opportunity for UX stakeholders and development stakeholders to share ideas, stories from the trenches, and useful tips and strategies.

Note that once again we’re meeting on a Tuesday this month, rather than a Thursday.

Where and when

Tuesday November 27, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo

Sign up now to join the fun!

October 2012 event: Pub chat

Our uxWaterloo pub nights are very popular, as there’s plenty of opportunity to meet people, talk about UX, and generally relax in good company. Our October event plays to that popularity, and is a gathering at the Firkin at the Tannery. As usual,  there’s a shared love of user experience on tap, alongside the beer. Come on out and enjoy the fun!

Note that we’re meeting on a Tuesday this month, rather than a Thursday.

Where and when

Tuesday October 23, 2012
5:30 to 7:30 pm
Firkin at the Tannery
151 Charles St. W.
Kitchener, ON N2G 1H6

Sign up now to join the fun!

September 2012 event: Fluxible preview

As exciting as a monthly uxWaterloo event can be, the big user experience event in Waterloo Region in September is going to be Fluxible, which is happening on September 22 & 23. This very first Fluxible event features a great lineup of talks and workshops by UX experts from four continents! You may recognize speakers James Wu, Dan Szuc, and Whitney Quesenbery from uxWaterloo events. There are many more joining them for what organizers Bob Barlow-Busch and Mark Connolly describe as a UX party disguised as a conference. Plus, Fluxible has a theme song — how cool is that?

For this uxWaterloo meeting we’ll have a bit of a preview of Fluxible, with some special Fluxible guests joining us for a discussion around various UX topics. Hope you can make it out, and that you also consider registering for Fluxible.

Register for the uxWaterloo September meeting. Hope to see you there!

Where and when

Thursday September 20, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, P2P Room
151 Charles St. W.
Kitchener, ON N2G 1H6

Sign up now to join the fun!

One more thing. As a special offer to uxWaterloo folks, you can register for Fluxible and receive a big $200 discount over the regular price. What a bargain! Register now!

August 2012 event: More casual chat in a pub

It’s still summertime and, as I wrote last month, the living is easy. The wireframes are jumping and the prototypes are high. Or something like that.

It’s still the perfect time to enjoy the more relaxed pace of uxWaterloo in the summer! Our August event is, once again, a gathering in a pub, where good conversation and a shared love of user experience are on tap. Come on out and enjoy the fun!

Where and when

Thursday August 16, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Firkin at the Tannery
151 Charles St. W.
Kitchener, ON N2G 1H6

Sign up now to join the fun!

July 2012 Event: Casual chat in a pub

Yes, it’s summertime and, as the song goes, the living is easy. The wireframes are jumping and the prototypes are high. Or something like that.

It’s time to enjoy the more relaxed pace of uxWaterloo in the summer! Our July event is a gathering in a pub, where good conversation and a shared love of user experience are on tap. Come on out and enjoy the fun!

Where and when

Thursday July 19, 2012
5:30 to 7:30 pm
Firkin at the Tannery
151 Charles St. W.
Kitchener, ON N2G 1H6

Sign up now to join the fun!

June 2012 bonus event: REAP project demos and design feedback

June has turned into a rare, but not unheard of, a two-event month for uxWaterloo. In addition to our previously-announced design workshop with Tula Foundation as our regular event, we have this second bouns event to look forward to!

Back in March we visited the Felt lab to see what REAP students were creating and provide them with feedback on their work. The session worked so well that REAP has asked uxWaterloo for a return visit.

Come out and share your insights and design expertise with the next generation of UX practitioners and researchers, while learning more about exciting new technologies. The discussions are sure to be enlightening all around.

Wednesday June 13, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
FELT Lab at Quarry Integrated Communications
1440 King Street North, St. Jacobs, Ontario
[Map]
Sign up now, as space is limited!

June 2012 event: Design workshop with Tula Foundation

Last October we ran a successful design workshop event with REEP, a Waterloo Region not-for-profit devoted to improving the energy efficiency of homes.

For our June event we have another design workshop, this time in conjunction with Tula Foundation, a Canadian not-for-profit, and an organization it supports named TulaSalud. TulaSalud is a Guatemalan non-governmental organization that assists the Ministry of Health and partner institutions with improving the health of the country’s rural population through e-health initiatives.

Our goal for this workshop will be to brainstorm designs for a software tool that supports rural healthcare workers. This will be a chance to dig into a real world problem and make a difference through design.

Details

Thursday June 21, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub
151 Charles Street West, Suite 100, Kitchener

Sign up now, as space is limited!

May 2012 event: A UX Q&A

Wow, could we have gotten fewer actual words into the theme for this month’s event? I think not!

This month’s Q&A session is, surprisingly, a format that we haven’t explicitly done before.

Do you have questions about some aspect of UX, but haven’t had a chance to find answers? Now’s your chance. Whether you’re wondering how to quantify the usability of a product, or curious about what card-sorting is, there’s bound to be someone in our extended family of UX practitioners and researchers who can shed some light.

Why use a pencil and paper to create prototypes? How does multi-variate testing work? What’s the difference between a wireframe and a prototype? What is it you want to know?

Bring your questions, your answers, and your willingness to engage in a group discussion with the uxWaterloo crew.

Details

Thursday May 17, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub
151 Charles Street West, Suite 100, Kitchener

Sign up now, as space is limited!

April 2012 event: UX at the movies

It’s been three years to the month since our last movie night, and that just feels far too long!

For our April gathering we’re turning down the lights, popping the corn, and firing up the projector. 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 and Vimeo.

Suggest a movie

Of course, making an event like this successful requires participation and input from all of the attendees! Have you seen something that inspired you professionally? That got you thinking about your approach to user experience? That made you smile? Bring your suggestions and we’ll get them on the movie playlist. And, as always, be prepared for plenty of discussion, both serious and playful.

Details

Thursday April 19, 2012
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub
151 Charles Street West, Suite 100, Kitchener

Sign up now, as space is limited!