Caronne Carruthers-TaylorGeek Girl Dinner 3

14 October 2009

Holistic Focus

What is UX

How many women?

Why do it?

Usability

Experience Design

Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

Human Factors Accessibility

User Interface (UI) design

Interaction Design (IxD)User-Centred Design

Context Requirements

Design solutions Evaluations

The UPA poster ...

User-Centred Design process, with suggested activities for each phase

(Usability Professionals’ Association)

http://www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/ux_poster.html

“... a career in Information Technology is often

viewed as a masculine career. It is often

associated with high level mathematical competence, individualistic working conditions, and low levels of social skills”.

Amanda Elliot, Women in(to) Computing, 1998, p4

ARE WOMENTREE HUGGERS !?

http://z.about.com/d/healing/1/0/g/A/1/ww_gi_hug-tree.jpg

o Human psychology & research methods

o Basics of graphic design

o Interest in technology

o Interpersonal skills

o Verbal & visual communication skills

o Negotiation & facilitation

o Creativity & vision

o Enthusiasm!

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, August 2009 statistics (original data, not seasonally adjusted)Division M Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Subdivision 70, Group 700,

Class 7000 Computer System Design and Related Services

Females24%

Males76%

Computer system design & related services

Females41%

Males59%

Information, Media & Technology

Source: ABS, August 2009 statistics (original data, not seasonally adjusted)Division J – Information Media and Telecommunications

Women40%

Men60%

UX Australia 2009 conference attendees

To make a difference ...

To make computers work as an effective tool ...

To help people work with computers ...

In a satisfying, effective and efficient way.

How humans interact with computers ...

their overall experience taking into account the social, cultural & physical environment.

How Changing a Button Increased a Site's Annual Revenues by US$300 Million (Jan 2009)http://www.uie.com/articles/three_hund_million_button/

A form, intended to make shopping easier, turned out to only help a small percentage of the customers who encountered it.

The designers fixed the problem simply. They took away the Register button. In its place, they put a Continue button with a simple message.

The results: The number of customers purchasing went up by 45%. The extra purchases resulted in an extra $15 million the first month. For the first year, the site saw an additional $300,000,000.

“I been looking at your poster in the hallway for weeks. I’m interested in what you guys do. It’s amazing! I work in IT Security down the corridor ...”

http://www.datphan.com/headshot_4_crop_large.jpg

o Usability Professionals Association (UPA), www.upassoc.org

o UX Network, http://uxnet.org

o Canberra IA Community, www.iacanberra.org

o UX Bookclub, www.uxbookclub.org

o Web Standards Group (WSG), http://webstandardsgroup.org/

o Computer Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG), www.chisig.org

o Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA)http://www.webindustry.asn.au/

o And more ...

o Starting a Career in User Experience Design, Nick Finckhttp://www.nickfinck.com/blog/entry/starting_a_career_in_user_experience_design

o So you wanna be a user experience designer — Step 1: Resources, Whitney Hesshttp://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/06/30/so-you-wanna-be-a-user-experience-designer-step-1-resources/

o Nine Essential Characteristics of Good UX Designers, Fred Beecherhttp://userexperience.evantageconsulting.com/2009/07/characteristics-

good-ux-designers/

o Top Twitter feeds for UX Designers, @dpanhttp://www.openthewindow.net/?p=506

o Articles, feeds and links, Steve Batyhttp://www.meld.com.au/blog

Thank you

Caronne Carruthers-Taylor

User Experience aficionado, Interaction designer, Usability specialist

Twitter: @caronne

www.linkedin.com/in/caronne

Holistic Focus