UPA Monthly: December 2007
The monthly newsletter of the Usability Professionals' Association
English | Français | Deutsch | Español | Italiano | Português | Japanese | Hebrew | Russian | Chinese
In This Edition
Usability in the News
Top Intranet Trends: Usability, Access, Personalization (Intranet Journal, 5 Nov 2007)
"Users are no longer content to hunt and peck with
their mouse amid poorly designed sites. No one has the patience for bush
league designs that are difficult to impossible to use. With the
increase of personalization and functionality within large intranets, there
is a movement to user centric design and navigation. Customizable and
ease are the name of the game."
Post details: The Technological Dumb Down Continues... (SmartPhone & PocketPC, 11 Sept 2007)
"As technology proliferates, the entire industry is increasingly struggling to balance ease-of-use and usability on the one hand with power and functionality on the other."
Reaching for Apple, Falling Short (New York Times, 8 Nov 2007)
"The iPhone's biggest achievement isn't any particular feature; it's the way Apple took veto power away from the cellphone carriers."
Chapter News
Swiss Chapter: ((o)) - A sign to help people connecting to free WiFi
networks
The Swiss UPA launched an initiative to increase free public
WiFi network accessibility -- The Swiss UPA wants to improve user and
customer experience by dramatically dropping the number of unsuccessful
WiFi connections. The local Swiss UPA chapter therefore suggests to add
the ((o)) sign at the beginning of those network names which are free,
public and easy to connect.
Join our initiative today! - Contact Pascal Magnenat at pascal.magnenat [at]
interactions.ch or Silvia Zimmermann at silvia.zimmermann [at] usability.ch
Photo of the Month
Share Chapter event photos - use the 'upachapter' tag.
Looking for a chapter in your city? Contact: chapters@usabilityprofessionals.org
UPA News
UPA 2008 Conference - "The Many Faces of User Experience: Usability through Holistic Practice"
The conference will take place at the beautiful Inner Harbor of
Baltimore, Maryland, June 16-20, 2008.
Mentoring Program
The Student and Young Professionals Mentoring program continues to pick
up momentum with a number of applicants already seeking mentors. If
you are interested in giving back to the community, becoming a Peer
Mentor or if you are looking for a mentor, please take a closer look at the
program and sign up.
UPA Europe 2008
The first European regional conference of the Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) will take place in Torino, Italy, named the 2008 World Design Capital. Hundreds of designers and usability specialists are expected to attend.
LINKEDIN – Networking among UPA members and more
Do you want to find quickly and easily other UPA members with similar backgrounds and needs? Join us on LinkedIn today.
Learn more about your Board of Directors.
UPA Publications
UPA - Journal of Usability Studies - November 2007: Volume 3, Issue 1
Problems and Joys of Reading Research Papers for Practitioner Purposes
Author: Caroline Jarrett
UPA - Voice October, 2007
Thumbnail: Charlie Kreitzberg
Want to write an article for a UPA publications?
Contact: publications@usabilityprofessionals.org
Want to advertise in a UPA publication?
Contact: assocdir@usabilityprofessionals.org
Save the Date
UPA Announces 2008 International Usability Conference
"The Many Faces of User Experience: Usability through Holistic Practice"
Baltimore, Maryland, June 16-20, 2008
New email or address?
Keep your member profile up to date, so you don't miss any mail.
Thanks to Our Contributors
- Melanie Rousseau and Sylvie Lachize (Québec Chapter), French
- Silvia Zimmermann (Swiss Chapter), German
- Alberto Lacalle (Spanish Chapter), Spanish
- Michele Visciola (UPA Italia), Italian
- Adriana Betiol (Brazil Chapter), Portuguese
- Yaniv Michaeli (UPA Israel), Hebrew
- Natasha Voynarovskaya (UPA Russia), Russian
- Denny Huang (UPA China), Chinese
- Tadashi Kobayashi (HCD-Net), Toyohiro Kanayama (UPA), Japanese
- Daniel Szuc (UPA China-Hong Kong), English, News scout
** UXNet **
If you have a local UPA Event which you wish you publicize on the UXnet website, contact your "Local UX Ambassador" or even better become a "Local Ambassador" if there isn't one in your area - http://www.uxnet.org/locales.php
This helps to promote your event to a wider community and helps to build the UXnet organisation that UPA supports. - http://www.uxnet.org