Yesterday I had lunch with a company founder who’s on the hunt for a user experience designer to join his most excellent team. This is pretty much a weekly occurrence, which got me thinking about what this demand for UX could mean for the future of Waterloo Region. If you live in Kitchener-Waterloo, the impact…
Big news! In mid-September, KW will play host to an awesome 2-day deep dive into user experience design called Fluxible 2012. Working with my friend Mark Connolly, we’ve been lining up a roster of top UX practitioners from around the world. The event format will include a variety of presentations, hands-on workshops, displays and demos,…
Download the MP3 (35:08 duration) “I’ve taken my Segway 108 mph without a helmet.” And with that statement, The Woz had his audience hooked. Not that he needed a hook, mind you, as over 700 people packed into a ballroom in Waterloo to hear him speak: that’s about, oh, 670 more than the original plan…
If you haven’t already heard about tomorrow’s Innovation in Action event, be sure to check it out. The Waterloo UX Group (aka IxDA Waterloo and the Communitech UX P2P) is kicking off our new season with an event co-sponsored with the Infusion Angels. And it’s going to be great. Jensen Harris from Microsoft will be…
Looking forward to May 9-10 this year, where I’ll be conducting a 2.5-hour workshop at the Technology in the Arts Conference in Waterloo. Here’s the session description: For a growing number of arts organizations, the web has become a key communications channel — not just for sharing information, but for cultivating relationships with visitors. To…
Just registered for Interaction 08, the first conference organized by the Interaction Design Association (IxDA). Very excited about this, and not just for the opportunity to visit Savannah, Georgia in February! IxDA is growing into a terrific organization and has attracted most of the world’s top talent in interaction design; for instance, keynotes include Alan…
The Waterloo User Experience (UX) Group is hosting Roger Martin at our monthly get-together. This is a terrific opportunity to spend time with Roger, as he’s quite in demand as a speaker on the topics of design and business. It’s a free event. Head over to the UX Group’s blog for details on the time…
And our first event for the season is in three days, on Thursday September 20. Visit the UX Group’s website to learn more about our planned events (spoiler: Roger Martin in December!) and about our affiliations with IxDA and Communitech.
I was very pleased when Mark Maxted from Blue Coat agreed to speak at last month’s 7-Minute Soapbox in Waterloo. Of all the engineers I’ve worked with in the past 15 years, Mark is perhaps the most well-versed and committed advocate of usability and user-centered design. In this talk, he draws upon 24 years experience…
If you’re in a profession where “billable hours” comes up frequently in conversation, you’re likely familiar with various methods and tools for tracking time. Very few of them are pleasant, at least based on my 10 years experience in consulting. In fact, even though I left the billable-hour game 6 months ago, I’m occasionally hit…