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Thursday, January 24, 2013, 6:30pm
The Qube, 635 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI
A joint event with Refresh Detroit
As previously said best by Steve Jobs, “The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better designs we will have.” And the better the design, the more your company will thrive. But how can we clarify to our non–user experience co-workers some basics of user experience? The easiest and obvious point of reference is pop culture; something to which we all can relate.
Steve Tengler, Director of User Experience at Altia Inc, will provide a fistful of UX lessons with a Hollywood foundation for the collective digestion of your coworkers. Practitioners and novices alike will enjoy this fun-filled-yet-educational evening of cinematic analogies.
Cost
Free, but registration is required
Please register at the Refresh Detroit website
Questions? E-mail events {at} michiganupa dot org.
Posted on December 27th, 2012
Posted in Fresh, MiUPA Events, Uncategorized | No Comments »
ProQuest, 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Thursday, November 1, 6pm
Missed the event? See the slides.
With the extremely fast rise in the use of mobile devices in recent years, companies are starting to realize that ignoring mobile web users is no longer an option. Many have chosen to provide a stripped-down version of their desktop site to mobile users, on the assumption that mobile users only want or need to use a small subset of the features available to desktop users.
But as more and more people are turning to mobile as their primary or only means of accessing the web, it’s becoming apparent that mobile users’ needs aren’t so straightforward. At the same time, attempts to create a simplified mobile version of a website often make it clear that the full desktop site is too complicated, cluttered, and difficult to navigate.
However, there is a solution. By designing from a mobile-first perspective, and using responsive web design to create a site that responds to the device on which it’s being viewed, you can provide all users with a quality experience across screen sizes and devices, without having to create and maintain separate websites.
About Our Speaker
Clarissa Peterson is a freelance web designer and user experience consultant, specializing in mobile strategy and responsive design.
Before setting out on her own, she spent 10 years working for various nonprofit organizations and government agencies, doing everything from front-end development and user experience design to content strategy, online marketing, and project management. With this diverse set of skills, she is able to blend an innate ability to see how things could work better with the solid technical background needed to turn ideas into reality.
When
Thursday, November 1
6:00 PM — Networking
6:45 PM — Announcements
7:00 PM — Speaker
8:30 PM — Wrap up and more networking
Location
ProQuest, Ann Arbor
Google Map
Cost
Current students $5
Usability Professionals’ Association members $10
All others $20
Register
Register online at Guestlist so we know who’s coming and how to plan for refreshments. We’ll also take payment (cash or check) at the door. Questions? E-mail events {at} michiganupa dot org.
Posted on October 18th, 2012
Posted in Fresh, MiUPA Events, Uncategorized | No Comments »
The Michigan UPA is proud to introduce its 2012 officers. We will run a leaner organization in 2012, with only 3 officers. However, we are confident that these committed individuals will lead us to another successful year for this chapter!
This year, we were unable to gather enough candidates to hold an election. Although we have found members for our 2012 board, it’s not too late to get involved! The Michigan UPA’s event planning and communications rely on help from our local usability community. Please consider contacting us to discuss ways to help.
The 2012 officers are:
Mike Elledge
Mike Elledge is Associate Director of Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting (UARC) at Michigan State University. Mike performs a variety of activities at UARC, including client development, project management, user testing, focus group facilitation, and training. His interests include accessibility in web design and course management systems, and he has been active in the Sakai (sakaiproject.org) and Fluid (fluidproject.org) community source projects. Earlier in his career, Mike worked in consumer marketing and advertising for well-known companies such as Quaker Oats, Borden, Wells Rich Greene and Campbell-Ewald. Mike has an MSI from the University of Michigan, an MBA from Columbia University in New York, and an AB from Vassar College. He has been active on a number of boards including the CIC IT (Big Ten + One) Accessibility & Usability group and the Vestry at Christ Church Cranbrook.
Mike says: “The MIUPA has done a great job bringing together usability professionals in Michigan for interesting and informative sessions. I’d like to help.”
Timothy Keirnan
Tim observes people trying to get something done and then helps create tools for them to do it even better. Having worked for many years as a UX consultant after obtaining his master’s in Scientific Communication, he currently works inside an IT organization where he assists the design & development process from beginning to end.
Tim is a member of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society as well as the Usability Professionals Association. He co-founded the Michigan UPA chapter, has been its Secretary as well as President, and has given numerous presentations on UX research and design over the past 15 years at various local and international events.
In 2005, Tim created the podcast Design Critique: Products for People, which encourages usable designs for a better customer experience. Now in its sixth year, Design Critique episodes feature product reviews, method discussions, and author interviews in a wide-ranging format that can only be called eclectic. Check out Design Critique at http://www.designcritique.net.
Dave Mulder
Dave Mulder is a user experience designer for Libraries, Computing and Technology (LCT) at Michigan State University. Dave participates in the design, development, and evaluation of major institutional webpages, including the university’s homepage (www.msu.edu) and the university’s mobile website (m.msu.edu). His interests include usability research, mobile UX, and mobile web accessibility. In his free time, Dave works as a product designer for SoapBox, the company he co-founded in 2011, and volunteers time time to non-profits seeking an improved web presence. Dave graduated with a BS from Michigan State University in 2006, and is completing an MA in 2011. He is an active member of Lansing IxDA, Hackers & Hustlers, and regional GiveCamp events.
Posted on December 1st, 2011
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Thursday, December 8, 2010, 6:00pm to 9:00pm
The Michigan UPA invites you to another evening of networking and fun on Thursday, December 8th at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti and/or Dublin Square in East Lansing. Enjoy the networking aspect of our meetings? Feel like the speaker or panel gets in the way of the good stuff? This is your chance to skip the speaker and enjoy the company of fellow usability professionals. Missing people who are at the other location? Share the conversation via twitter #miupa11. This will be the fifth year we have done this event, and it has been a great experience each time.
The Corner Brewery is located in Ypsilanti, near historic Depot Town. There is abundant parking, great drinks, and great atmosphere.
Dublin Square is an Irish pub located in East Lansing near MSU. There are multiple parking structures nearby and parking next to the restaurant for a fee. Also has tasty food and drink with a festive atmosphere.
This is a free event and a great opportunity to catch up with other people in the field and meet new people. We hope to see you there! In order to give an approximate head count to the restaurants host/hostess, please rsvp via Guestlist
Which city will have the larger crowd? Do you want to have a gather in your area as well? Contact the Director of Events to have your city added.
When
Thursday, December 8, 6:00PM to 9:00PM – come and go as you wish
2 Locations
Corner Brewery
720 Norris St
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
Map
327 Abbot Rd.
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517)351-2222
Map
Cost
Free admission! (except for any drinks or additional food that you choose to order)
Please rsvp via Guestlist
Posted on November 16th, 2011
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It’s time to start planning for the UPA 20th International Conference which will be hosted in Atlanta, GA, USA June 20-24, 2011.
The 20th annual theme is Designing for Social Change. Join us… there is no better way to communicate what Designing for Social Change means to you than by connecting with peers, or by sharing your knowledge, ideas & experiences.
Call for Submission Reviewers
Have ideas for what content you would like to have as part of your UPA2011 conference experience? Sign up to be a submission reviewer and help select the very best content by reviewing proposals in October 2010.
- Help decide UPA2011 content
- Learn exciting breakthroughs and innovations first
- Gain experience by reviewing for a professional conference
To become a reviewer, submit your application by September 1, 2010.
Questions? Contact UPA2011 Conference Director, Nicole Tafoya at conf2011 at usabilityprofessionals dot org.
Posted on August 16th, 2010
Tags: conference
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 6-8:30PM (Food and networking at 6, Program at 7)
VA National Center for Patient Safety in Ann Arbor, MI
An engaging talk on the role of human factors engineering in making medical devices safer and a tour of the National Center for Patient Safety’s hands-on museum of medical devices. Brought to you by The Michigan Usability Professionals’ Association and the University of Michigan student chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Often, healthcare professionals develop clever and creative workarounds when devices, equipment or architecture are not quite suitable. In other words, they become accustomed to making the hand fit the glove rather than demanding that the glove be designed to fit the hand. The VA National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) has a hands-on collection of medical devices and equipment that came about to help convince clinicians that they didn’t have to accept these faulty designs. It provides an understanding of the principles that support designing systems for the way humans are built and how we function cognitively and physically.
Linda Williams will talk about how human factors engineering guides the NCPS approach to patient safety and will lead a tour through the hands-on collection.
If you come to this meeting you’ll leave determined never to enter the hospital because your sense of the risk involved will have been heightened. You’ll also leave reassured that through the application of principles of human factors engineering, real changes are being made.
About the Speaker
Linda is a member of the team at VA National Center for Patient Safety, serving initially as computer specialist, now part of program operations with the central focus of development and implementation of
patient safety curriculum for physicians. Linda teaches an introductory human factors engineering session at faculty development workshops and is co-director of the patient safety fellowship program. She also is involved in the practical application of usability principles to medical devices and software. Linda holds an
undergraduate nursing degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and an M.S.I. degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Information, a degree tailored to medical informatics with emphasis
in human computer interaction. www.patientsafety.gov
WHEN:
Thursday March 4, 2009
6:00-8:30PM (Food and networking at 6, program at 7)
WHERE:
National Center for Patient Safety
24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Lobby M
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Map the location:
<http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=24+Frank+Lloyd+Wright+Drive+ann+arbor+m
From US-23, take exit 41 for Plymouth Road. Turn left (east) and then turn left at Earhart Road. Turn left onto Frank Lloyd Wright Drive.
COST:
HFES Chapter Members – No Charge
Michigan UPA Members – $10
Full-time students – $5
People actively job seeking – $5
All others – $20
REGISTER:
Please RSVP to events@miupa.org
Posted on February 17th, 2009
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Steve Tengler, Director of User Experience at Altia Inc, will provide a fistful of UX lessons with a Hollywood foundation for the collective digestion of your coworkers. Practitioners and novices alike will enjoy this fun-filled-yet-educational evening of cinematic analogies.