2012 usability conference

UPA 2012 Overview

Henderson, Nevada

June 6-8

Andrew Wirtanen

User Experience Specialist, Atlantic BT

Strip = A M Resort = B

Goodbye, "UPA"

Do you have "usability" in your job title?

Dan Saffer

• UX Evangelism

• @xvangelist

• aka Ronnie Battista

but shh...

The Reverend

• "The best leaders are also

the best followers"

• Transformative leadership o Challenge

o Connect & communicate

o Be a role model

o Inspire

• Not all effective leaders

are great leaders

Keynote [Ron Riggio]

5 Second Test [Jeff Sauro]

• 5 second tests do

not predict site

usability

• But, they may be

useful for other

things (e.g. first

impressions)

Desire Paths of Design [Rosenberg]

• Strategies when

working with desire

paths:

o Make unofficial path

official

o Pave by desire (don't

pave!)

o Prevention (e.g.

fence)

o Improve the

designed path (e.g.

lights)

Quick Check Testing [Walser,

Rubin]

• Move beyond the usability lab o Print out screenshots

o Use Google Forms, Flickr, Feedback Army, etc.

• Explain purpose to participants and ask

good questions

• More: Howto.gov/firstfridays

On Being Agile [Panel]

• "There is no right process"

• Iteration 0/Discovery/Sprint 0/Spike is

necessary

• "Design studio exercise" = everyone sketch!

• Teach developers about personas and the

basics of design (e.g. CRAP)

Web Analytics [Mike Beasley]

• What can you

measure? o Funnels

o Short Action

o Engagement

• Conversion rate

only shows

attempt... not long-

term dedication

• Ask your client: o Why does your site

exist?

o Where does the

website fit into the

overall experience?

o What things do users

want to do?

o Do users want to do

them?

Promoting UX [Cory Lebson]

• You have to get

buy in; you can't

just say "I do UX"

• How to spread UX

o Start small

o Lunch & learns

o Don't try to say

everything

• Problems get fixed

if stakeholders are

involved in the

process o Involve your client in

usability testing,

expert reviews, etc.

We Do Focus Groups Too [Panel]

• Use focus groups early on to help generate

ideas with representative users

• One focus group (4-8 ppl) per persona

• You can't reach consensus

• Use them correctly!

A Common Problem

• Usability testing != focus groups

• Xtranormal video from Steve Krug...

Toward a UX Certification [Molich]

• UX professionals could not agree on the

answers for some of the proposed questions

• Could be very useful when hiring new

employees

• Whether the field needs a certification is

another debate...

Let's Take a Test!

Which two of the following heuristics are

related primarily to accessibility:

1. Follow platform conventions

2. Make all functionality available from a keyboard

3. Keep users informed about what is going on

through appropriate feedback

4. Provide text alternatives for any non-text content

5. Provide useful and usable help and documentation

6. Speak the users' language

My Talks: UX on the Cheap

• User Research on

the Cheap o Client worksheet

o Client kickoff

o Analytics

o Unmoderated tools

o Build Personas

• UX Design on the

Cheap o Co-Design

Workshop

o Wireframing &

Prototyping Tools

o Dealing with Agile

o Dealing with

Responsive

Two conferences in 2013: DC & Shanghai

The Local Chapter

• ABT = Nano

Sponsor

• ABT Members o Andrew W.

o Colin B.

o Daryl H.

o Eileen A.

o Mark R.

o Nancy J.

o Peter B.

Thanks!

Some good sites:

• uxmag.com

• uxmatters.com

• uie.com/brainsparks

• alistapart.com

A couple good books:

• Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

• The Design of Everyday Things by Don

Norman