[Sigia-l] STC Post Conference Workshop -- Managing UI Design Projects

[Scott McDaniel]

We would like to invite you to a post-conference workshop at the Society 
for Technical Communication's 51st Annual Conference.

Title: Managing User-Centered Design Projects

Organizers: Scott McDaniel and Laura Snyder, Cognetics Corporation
Date: 1:30 - 5:00 PM, Thursday, May 13, 2004
Location: STC 51st Annual Conference, Baltimore MD
URL: http://www.stc.org/51stConf/sesPostConference.asp


Have you ever advocated user research, just to be told that you can do it 
only as long as it doesn't affect the schedule or the budget?  Have 
deadline pressures made you say, "Well, maybe next time..." when it comes 
to iterative design?  Have you ever been asked how long it will take to do 
a usability test and had to pull the answer out of the air?

This STC post-conference workshop on Managing User-Centered Design Projects 
takes a project manager's view of user-centered design.  We will show how 
to use standard project management techniques to estimate both cost and 
schedule for UI design and usability activities.  We will also show how to 
assess the risks of typical UI projects, plus how to express the risks of 
NOT following user-centered design principles.  By working with project 
managers in their terms, and using their language, you will be able to 
better integrate usability into your design practices.

In this workshop, you will learn how to plan user-centered design 
projects.  You will receive worksheets and templates and use them to 
estimate cost and schedule for one of your own projects.  In the workshop, 
you will:

-- Understand a framework for UCD that places heuristic reviews, user 
interviews, usability tests, and other methods into a larger context.

-- Learn how to decide which UCD deliverables you should produce for your 
project.

-- Identify the usability methods most likely to benefit your project, plus 
how to time them for maximum impact.

-- Estimate the budget and time needed for those usability activities.

-- Take away a project plan that you can act on when you return to your office.


Understanding a manager's world of scope, schedule, and budget is the key 
to getting usability included in project plans early and ensuring ourselves 
a place at the software design table.


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Scott McDaniel
Cognetics Corporation, Designer

1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 209, Silver Spring, MD 20910
301.587.7549   --  scottmcd at cognetics.com  --  fax 301.562.8267
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