It’s easy to take the functionality for granted when you’re the one developing the software. I worked on an iPad app which was laid out in a way to give the user the same information in two different views (but that’s for another topic). The information on the main screen was organized into categories and the way to access the second view was to tap on the heading of a category. Once in this view, the user could go back to the main screen by tapping the heading again or by tapping a button on the edge of the screen. Did I mention that the user could also get to the second view by tapping the name of the category on the bottom of the first screen?

This design might work for giving the user an alternative if he/she doesn’t realize that the same action can reverse the initial one. However, putting the alternatives in different locations will likely confuse more than help the user. A better approach would be to place both alternative buttons in the same position for both views. Consistency is one of the golden principles of usability and is one that becomes all the more important in the mobile world. This is just one simple example of ways it can be implemented to improve real software.

Topic
The Business of User Experience.
In honor of the all-too-quickly approaching Tax Day, it would be nice to hear about the business of user experience. Do you work at GigaUX GmbH providing UX solutions to the world? Perhaps you work for a large company in the UX Department. Or, you might be the “go to UX expert” on a development team. Maybe you point your lance at those UX giants from the comfort of your own business, Quixotic UX, LLC.

Come share your story, your experience, your wisdom. We would love to hear about your workflow, tools that impede or ease the flow, best practices—even financial “observations”! NB: This should not be taken as official financial advice from the Man’s Life of Chartered Accountancy! [Hat tip Monty Python.]

When
Monday, April 11. 6pm

Where
Red Stag Supper Club

Location
509 1st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55413
612.767.7766

We will be meeting to discuss at Wilde Roast Cafe in Minneapolis.

WHERE TO BUY
Rosenfeld:
Paperback + screen-optimized PDF + ePub + MOBI, $39
Print-optimized PDF + Screen-optimized PDF + ePub + MOBI, $22

Amazon.com
Paperback, $39

MEETUP DETAILS
Date & Time
Monday, May 9
6 – 8 PM

Location
Wilde Roast Cafe
518 East Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55414

For reference or to learn more about the titles of UX Book Club check out the Reading List for 2011.

As a reminder, our title for March is Nancy Duarte’s Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform Audiences.

Date and Time
Monday, March 14, 6:00p–8:00p

Location
Sen Yai Sen Lek
2422 Central Avenue NE,
Minneapolis, MN 55418
612-781-3046

Password is: webinar

Duarte Resources

• The blog: http://blog.duarte.com/
• The book: http://www.duarte.com/books/
• Book assets: http://www.duarte.com/books/resonate/assets/
  The book assets include many of the diagrams found in resonate. She encourages readers to include them in blog posts and presentations.
• Tools and resources: http://www.duarte.com/training/tools/
  The tools and resources link contains several small videos to help lone agents compel bosses, peers, and direct reports to improve communications. There are also two PDFs for analyzing signal to noise (Glance Test) and showing where a presentation might fall (Presentation Landscape).

As a side note, duarte.com has several tools and resources you may find of use, as well as an informative blog. There are several entries on the blog that are an accompaniment to Resonate or continue its theme. She even has a posterous entry showing a glimpse of a Resonate iPad app, which would pare down the text and add multimedia features such as video designed to enhance what the book teaches.

Location
Sen Yai Sen Lek
2422 Central Avenue NE,
Minneapolis, MN 55418
612-781-3046

Regular and Vegetarian PDF menus are available online.

Date and Time
Monday, March 14, 6:00p–8:00p

The months for the Book Club meeting this year are: March, May, July, September, November.

MARCH: Resonate, by Nancy Duarte
MAY: Storytelling for User Experience: Crafting Stories for Better Design, by Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks
JULY: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward Tufte
SEPTEMBER: Change by Design, by Tim Brown
NOVEMBER: Rework, by 37signals

If there’s a book you’d like to nominate or rally to change, please post in the comments. We are also on the look out for new locations, so please comment on that as well if you have ideas or suggestions.

– The UX Meetup Organizers

We hope everyone had a a very Happy New Year! May 2011 be our best year ever, but not half as great as the next!

Our first regular meeting of the New Year will be Monday, February 7. Please note the date change to accommodate Valentine’s Day!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll prepare a reading list for the coming year and send it out for the first Book Club meeting on Monday, March 14. If you have a specific book you would like added to the list, please send us a link!

Again, our best wishes for the New Year and have a wonderful January! We’ll see you all in February.

DATE, TIME, LOCATION
Monday, February 7, 2011
6pm

Wilde Roast Cafe
518 E. Hennepin Ave.,
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Map

Best regards,
Us

This will be an open discussion – let’s hang out, talk UX and eat good food.

Hope to see you on the 11th!

DATE & TIME
October 11, 2010 (2nd Monday of the month)
6-8 p.m.

LOCATION
Wilde Roast Cafe
518 Hennepin Ave. E, Minneapolis, MN 55414
612.331.4544
Click for directions

Your Twin Cities UX Meetup organizers:
Bill Dorman
Christine Anameier
Stephanie Hammes-Betti
Jennifer Bohmbach
Garrick Van Buren

The July session was such a rousing success full of conversation and discussion that we thought we’d do it again. It’s the perfect activity for summer, not too much deep thinking and a casual time.

Let’s get together and pick over some UX bones of contention! Do you have a UX topic about which you feel passionately contrary? Are people you work with doing some really stupid things that could be done in better ways? Do have better ways to do these things? Do you rant about about methods or deliverables or mindsets that frustrate you? Well, you aren’t alone….

Let’s start with some of the UX Myths from UX Myths.com

Myth #10: If your design is good, small details don’t matter
Myth #9: Design has to be original
Myth #8: Stock photos improve the users’ experience
Myth #7: Graphics will make a page element more visible
Myth #6: Accessible sites are ugly
Myth #5: Accessibility is expensive and difficult
Myth #4: Design is about making a website look good
Myth #3: People don’t scroll
Myth #2: All pages should be accessible in 3 clicks
Myth #1: People read on the web

And if none of these get your goat, bring a topic or rant of your own! PLEASE feel free to add comments to this post on the topic YOU want to discuss!

DATE & TIME
Monday, August 9
6pm – 8pm

LOCATION
Red Stag Supperclub
509 First Ave. NE, Minneapolis
612.767.7766

Your Twin Cities UX Meetup organizers:
Bill Dorman
Christine Anameier
Garrick Van Buren
Jennifer Bohmbach
Stephanie Hammes-Betti

Let’s get together and pick over some UX bones of contention! Do you have a UX topic about which you feel passionately contrary? Are people you work with doing some really stupid things that could be done in better ways? Do have better ways to do these things? Do you rant about about methods or deliverables or mindsets that frustrate you? Well, you aren’t alone….

Here are some of the topics we’ll consider:

• Site Maps – Do We Still Them?
• What’s the difference between data and content?
• Does Jakob Nielson still matter?
• Intuitable or Intuitive?
• Why the Fascination with Faceted Navigation?

And if none of these get your goat, bring a topic or rant of your own!

DATE & TIME
Monday, July 12
6pm – 8pm

LOCATION
Red Stag Supperclub
509 First Ave. NE, Minneapolis
612.767.7766

Your Twin Cities UX Meetup organizers:
Bill Dorman
Christine Anameier
Garrick Van Buren
Jennifer Bohmbach
Stephanie Hammes-Betti