[Sigia-l] New Podcast: The SpoolCast

[Jared M. Spool]

[ Sorry for any duplicates -- Jared ]

Greetings,

I go to 20+ conferences a year and while many of the conferences have
excellent programs, I often find myself learning the most from the
after-hours activities. Often, these activities happen in bars, with a
group of like-minded, extremely bright people. No specific agenda is
on the table, yet somehow, the conversation turns out to be fun,
thought provoking, and interesting.

Inspired by some excellent podcasts I listen to regularly, I thought
we could reproduce the fascinating discourse I've experienced at these
non-official conference events for everyone's benefit. I contacted
some folks who I thought would make great conversation and, to my
surprise, they all jumped at the chance to partake in our little
experiment.

 From this was born the first SpoolCast. It's a 90-minute recording of
fascinating conversation on topics of user experience, usability, and
design.

Joining me for the first SpoolCast are:

+ DeWayne Purdy from the University of Northern Iowa
+ Kyle Pero from UsableInterface.com
+ Lyle Kantrovich from Human Factors International
+ Rashmi Sinha from Uzanto
+ Nate Bolt from Bolt|Peters

In this inaugural recording, we discuss:

+ What can we learn from the new Brown University web site?
+ What does it mean to be usable?
+ Why is MySpace so successful?
+ Which is better designed, the new Brown Web Site or Craigslist?
+ How important is the design of a home page? (I think not so much.
   Everyone else disagrees.)
+ The value of social networking
+ The UPA Body of Knowledge project
+ The design experience, as it applies to conference design

I've divided the recording into four parts, to make it easier to
listen to during your commute or while you're out doing errands.
(Alternatively, you can just listen on your computer.)

The first part of the SpoolCast is available at
http://tinyurl.com/qe3ks

The other parts are available in the Brain Sparks Audio Library:
http://www.uie.com/audio

The transcript for this first session is available at
http://tinyurl.com/fydka

If you use an RSS reader or iTunes, you can subscribe to our podcast
feed: http://www.uie.com/podcast/ (This way you'll be notified when
future SpoolCasts are available.)

I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Jared M. Spool
Gang Leader, SpoolCast Crew