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.

If you or someone you know is interested I’ll connect you w/ my contact.

If you’re interested in their HR / Job application system, here’s a link (search for ‘interactive designer’)

https://eprod89.pshr.childrensmn.org/EXTAPP/Careers.html

–
Garrick.

The topic will be “What Taxonomy Is & Why It’s Important to UX.”

Our guest speaker will be Seth Earley, CEO of Earley & Associates.

Seth will join us via Skype.

DATE & TIME
Monday, January 9
6-8 p.m.

LOCATION
Wilde Roast Cafe
65 Main St SE (Riverplace)
612.331.4544

“The first member of the team we are looking for is an experienced interaction designer to help develop a vision for highly usable solutions, working closely with customers, product management, engineering, and Symantec’s internal UI design team, which is global. NetBackup’s UCD and UI architecture center of expertise is Pune, India, and we have support from the corporate UCD center in Mountain View, CA. This individual will need to maintain excellent communication and foster working relationships with all teams. He or she will also execute the vision for highly usable solutions by helping establish design processes and enabling individual engineering teams to deliver that vision incrementally, on time, and within budget. Finally, this individual will help us grow the team as needed to support these activities.”

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.

We have an immediate opening for a User Experience Designer (Contract)
at Medtronic in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

High-Level Responsibilities:

Provide leadership conducting task analysis and usability assessments.
Work closely with customers, the business teams and the development
teams to play a lead role in user interface design for internally- and
externally-facing web applications and sites. Conduct heuristic
evaluations and recommend design improvements. Conduct usability tests
and present usability results and recommend design solutions to
project managers, business users, developers and testers. Gathers and
analyzes user requirements. Conduct workflow analysis. Design the
information architecture and content of the site and develop a
conceptual model to prototype. Design and prototype interfaces using
standard tools. Provide detailed design document for the development
team to construct the site. Develop user guides.

This is not a graphic design or programmer position.

For more details or to submit your resume, contact
janene.christman – medtronic.com

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