Michigan UXPA

Saturday, February 9, 2013, 8:30am–5:00pm

University of Michigan Modern Languages Building Auditorium 3, 812 E Washington St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Cosponsored by the Michigan Usability Professionals’ Association

Speakers include:

• Peter Morville on The Architecture of Understanding
• Malcolm McCullough on What Architecture Does: How Form Informs and Inhabitation Inspires
• Daniel Eizans on Designing For Distributed Content Models
• Chris Farnum and Farris Khan on UXD V. Analytics – What Have You Got for Me? No, What Have YOU Got for ME?
• Karl Fast on TBD
• Andrew Hinton on Context Design
• Jessica DuVerneay and Marti Gukeisen on A Beginners Guide to Taxonomy
• Evening reception at Sava’s

Cost

Free, but registration is required

Questions? E-mail events {at} michiganupa dot org.

Thursday, January 24, 2013, 6:30pm

The Qube, 635 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI

A joint event with Refresh Detroit

As previously said best by Steve Jobs, “The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better designs we will have.” And the better the design, the more your company will thrive. But how can we clarify to our non–user experience co-workers some basics of user experience? The easiest and obvious point of reference is pop culture; something to which we all can relate.

Steve Tengler, Director of User Experience at Altia Inc, will provide a fistful of UX lessons with a Hollywood foundation for the collective digestion of your coworkers. Practitioners and novices alike will enjoy this fun-filled-yet-educational evening of cinematic analogies.

Cost

Free, but registration is required

Please register at the Refresh Detroit website

Questions? E-mail events {at} michiganupa dot org.

Have some beer cheer,

Network with a peer,

Learn why site maps remain dear,

Engage with products that are queer,

Hear each chapter talk about the past and new year,

…and win some stuff!

Thursday, December 13, 2012, 6–9pm

Corner Brewery, 720 Norris Street, Ypsilanti

Schedule

6:00pm Networking, check-in, and product usability challenges (appetizers provided, cash bar)
7:00pm Tiny talks and raffles (Michigan CHI, Michigan UPA, and STC-SM)
7:30pm Presentation: Helping Site Maps Get Their Groove Back, Caitlin Potts
8:15pm The Usability Game Show
8:30pm More networking and appetizers

Helping Site Maps Get Their Groove Back

Who remembers site maps? Anyone? Even if your answer is “Me! Me! I remember them!”, you probably still wonder why anyone used them. Well, no more! Site maps are much more than the antiquated deliverable that offered little to no value that most people remember. We’re bringing site maps back and let me tell you, your product owner and developers will thank you!

I truly believe that site maps are an undervalued deliverable of UX and IA, and I have done work over the last several months that shows how valuable a site map can be, regardless of the state of a project.

This presentation will include a brief introduction of what site maps are today, followed by a case study of how I’ve improved sitemaps at my organization and the benefits that we’ve seen as a result. And if that’s not enough, this presentation will offer takeaway (an Omnigraffle template!) that is immediately actionable for almost any UX or IA professional.

About Caitlin Potts

Caitlin Potts is a user experience practitioner (designer and researcher) at Covenant Eyes, Inc., in Owosso. Working as part of an agile team, she spends her time collaborating with the developers to design web, mobile, and client application interfaces. She is also leading the development of a brand standards guide for Covenant Eyes.

She is passionate about building interfaces that delight users and make their lives just a little bit easier. She also loves ampersands, great coffee, and her Sharpie collection (63 and counting!).

Cost

$5 CHI, UPA, and STC members (if you’re not a member, join one or more!)
$8 All others

Register

Register online at Guestlist so we know who’s coming and how to plan for refreshments. We’ll also take payment (cash or check) at the door. Questions? E-mail events {at} michiganupa dot org.