User Experience Specialist Andrew Wirtanen with Raleigh, NC based Atlantic Business Technologies, presents at UPA Conference June 2012.

1. UPA 2012 Overview
Andrew Wirtanen
User Experience Specialist, Atlantic BT
Henderson, Nevada
June 6-8

2. Strip = A M Resort = B

3. Goodbye, "UPA"
Do you have "usability" in your job title?

4. Dan Saffer

6. The Reverend
• UX Evangelism
• @xvangelist
• aka Ronnie Battista
but shh...

7. Keynote [Ron Riggio]
• "The best leaders are also
the best followers"
• Transformative leadership
o Challenge
o Connect & communicate
o Be a role model
o Inspire
• Not all effective leaders
are great leaders

8. 5 Second Test [Jeff Sauro]
• 5 second tests do
not predict site
usability
• But, they may be
useful for other
things (e.g. first
impressions)

9. Desire Paths of Design [Rosenberg]
• Strategies when
working with desire
paths:
o Make unofficial path
official
o Pave by desire (don't
pave!)
o Prevention (e.g.
fence)
o Improve the
designed path (e.g.
lights)

10. Quick Check Testing [Walser,
Rubin]
• Move beyond the usability lab
o Print out screenshots
o Use Google Forms, Flickr, Feedback Army, etc.
• Explain purpose to participants and ask
good questions
• More: Howto.gov/firstfridays

12. On Being Agile [Panel]
• "There is no right process"
• Iteration 0/Discovery/Sprint 0/Spike is
necessary
• "Design studio exercise" = everyone sketch!
• Teach developers about personas and the
basics of design (e.g. CRAP)

13. Web Analytics [Mike Beasley]
• What can you • Ask your client:
measure? o Why does your site
o Funnels exist?
o Short Action o Where does the
website fit into the
o Engagement
overall experience?
o What things do users
• Conversion rate want to do?
only shows o Do users want to do
them?
attempt... not long-
term dedication

14. Promoting UX [Cory Lebson]
• You have to get • Problems get fixed
buy in; you can't if stakeholders are
just say "I do UX" involved in the
process
• How to spread UX o Involve your client in
usability testing,
o Start small expert reviews, etc.
o Lunch & learns
o Don't try to say
everything

15. We Do Focus Groups Too [Panel]
• Use focus groups early on to help generate
ideas with representative users
• One focus group (4-8 ppl) per persona
• You can't reach consensus
• Use them correctly!

16. A Common Problem
• Usability testing != focus groups
• Xtranormal video from Steve Krug...

18. Toward a UX Certification [Molich]
• UX professionals could not agree on the
answers for some of the proposed questions
• Could be very useful when hiring new
employees
• Whether the field needs a certification is
another debate...

19. Let's Take a Test!
Which two of the following heuristics are
related primarily to accessibility:
1. Follow platform conventions
2. Make all functionality available from a keyboard
3. Keep users informed about what is going on
through appropriate feedback
4. Provide text alternatives for any non-text content
5. Provide useful and usable help and documentation
6. Speak the users' language

20. My Talks: UX on the Cheap
• User Research on • UX Design on the
the Cheap Cheap
o Client worksheet o Co-Design
o Client kickoff Workshop
o Analytics o Wireframing &
o Unmoderated tools
Prototyping Tools
o Dealing with Agile
o Build Personas
o Dealing with
Responsive

21. Two conferences in 2013: DC & Shanghai

22. The Local Chapter
• ABT = Nano
Sponsor
• ABT Members
o Andrew W.
o Colin B.
o Daryl H.
o Eileen A.
o Mark R.
o Nancy J.

23. Thanks!
Some good sites:
• uxmag.com
• uxmatters.com
• uie.com/brainsparks
• alistapart.com
A couple good books:
• Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug
• The Design of Everyday Things by Don
Norman