[Sigia-l] UPA Delaware Valley | PhillyCHI Joint Meeting - Jared Spool: "Brave New World: Usability & Web 2.0" - Monday July 23, 2007

[Natalia Minibayeva]

*** Apologies for cross posting. ***

Please join us on Monday July 23rd as Jared Spool discusses the challenges
of usability and Web 2.0. Space is limited, so sign up early!

Title: Brave New World: Usability & Web 2.0
Date: Monday July 23, 2007
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Berger Auditorium, Skirkanich Hall, University of Pennsylvania
210 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Map: http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/mapsBldgs/view_map.php3?id=140

RSVP: http://upadelawarevalley.org/events/event_register.php?id=6


*** About This Event ***
Once again, everything is exciting. The advent of social networks, APIs,
mashups, RSS, aggregators, and folksonomies promise a world where the
information and services we've always wanted are delivered right to our
browser. However, delivering on the promise is easier said than done. Moving
from a great concept to an exceptional user experience proves to be more of
a challenge than many people thought. What works on a small scale is a very
different story, when put into production.

As Spiderman's Uncle Ben pointed out, "With great power comes great
responsibility." Just because we can do all these things doesn't mean we
should do them. In the early 1980's, the cheap availability of laser
printers and digital fonts produced a plethora of documents that more
resembled ransom notes than professional publications. We could easily
imagine designers going wild with the capabilities of this new technology
and not using the restraint necessary to ensure they produce an optimal
experience.

In this entertaining and informative presentation, Jared will show examples
of the usability challenges we face as the web continues to change and
evolve. He'll discuss the implications of "The Long Tail", the introduction
of a mashup mentality in business environments, and how basic techniques,
such as usability testing and field studies, change when social network is
at the center of the design.


*** About Jared Spool, Founding Principal, UIE ***
If you've ever seen Jared speak about usability, you know that he's probably
the most effective, knowledgeable communicator on the subject today. What
you probably don't know is that he has guided the research agenda and built
User Interface Engineering into the largest research organization of its
kind in the world. He's been working in the field of usability and design
since 1978, before the term "usability" was ever associated with computers.

Jared spends his time working with the research teams at the company, helps
clients understand how to solve their design problems, explains to reporters
and industry analysts what the current state of design is all about, and is
a top-rated speaker at more than 20 conferences every year. He is also the
conference chair and keynote speaker at the annual User Interface
Conference, is on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute, and
manages to squeeze in a fair amount of writing time.


*** About User Interface Engineering (UIE) ***
User Interface Engineering is a leading research company, specializing in
helping design professionals produce delightful and enticing user
experiences. They work with all of the top organizations in the technology
space and help thousands of designers every year. Hosting events, such as
the annual User Interface Conference and the brand new Web App Summit, UIE
continues to push the envelope of new design practices and techniques. You
can find more information about UIE and learn about their latest research at
http://uie.com.


*** About the Sponsor: Refinery, Inc. ***
This event is sponsored by Refinery, Inc., an award-winning Advertising Age
Top 30 interactive agency servicing area Fortune 1000 clients. You can learn
more about Refinery at http://refinery.com.


*** About UPA Delaware Valley & PhillyCHI ***
The event is co-organized by UPA Delaware Valley (
http://upadelawarevalley.org) and PhillyCHI (http://phillychi.acm.org).