Call for UPA2012 Student Design Jam Participants & Mentors

The Student Design Jam at the UPA International 2012 Conference is an exciting new event at this year’s conference. All students registered to attend the conference, including student volunteers (if it doesn’t conflict with your volunteer assignment), are eligible to participate on a team for the Design Jam. The teams will compete to create a new concept for the UPA poster.

 

Students will learn who their assigned teammates are, including their mentor, at the conference. There will be a one hour meet and greet session for the team members to meet each other on the day before the 3 hour session design jam. The requirements for the poster will also be shared during the meet and greet. The main prize is that the UPA will invest in the creation of the winning concept. There will be additional prizes for all of the students who participate in the Design Jam.

We are also seeking mentors. Current practitioners attending the 2012 UPA International Conference are invited to volunteer as team mentors during the design jam. Mentors will be assigned to each team to offer guidance, suggestions, and act as a sounding board while the students work on their concepts. This is a great opportunity for working professionals to share their experience with student
designers.

Please feel free to share this invitation to the UPA International 2012 Conference Student Design Jam with alumni and professional networks!

Sincerely,

Tonya McCarley
2012 Design Jam Chair
DesignJam2012@usabilityprofessionals.org   

Introducing our UPA 2012 closing speaker

We’re very excited to introduce our UPA 2012 closing speaker: Dennis Wixon!

As a true leader in the UX field, we think Dennis will be the perfect way to end our week of focusing on Leadership. Not only is Dennis a leader in our UX community and in his own corporate life, he’s also leading the way for the UX practitioners of tomorrow as a professor, and leading the way in technology through his work on cutting-edge designs, including Microsoft Surface.

Dennis will close the conference with his talk “Got Leadership? Principles and examples of authentic UX leadership”. He’ll share stories of leaders he’s worked with throughout the years (both good and not-so-good) and advice for how we can all improve our leadership skills:

Applying the lessons of leadership can be challenging. There is no simple formula and there are many potential pitfalls. For UX practitioners, the challenge of leadership is complicated by factors such as institutional culture, situational complexities, and organizational position. To provide a framework to address these challenges I’ll discuss some of the principles of the heroic leadership and contrast heroic leadership with inauthentic, self-centered leadership. I’ll also illustrate these principles by examples from leaders I have worked with. My goal will be to provide you with both a framework for thinking about leadership and some practical guidance that you can apply to the choices you face in your work and career.

Please join the conference committee in welcoming Dennis Wixon to UPA 2012! We hope to see you all there for an engaging week of information sharing and networking.

More about Dennis

Dennis began his career in user research in 1981. He was a usability practitioner and manager at Digital Equipment Corporation, where they developed methods such as Usability Engineering, Contextual Inquiry, and data logging.

For the past 14 years he has managed research teams at Microsoft, which have covered a wide spectrum of products (from games to touch systems) and where they developed methods such RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation) and TRUE (Tracking Real-time User Experience). Dennis has been an active member of the HCI community for many years, serving as in a number of roles including SIGCHI Conference Co-chair. He has jointly authored over 50 articles, book chapters and talks on HCI. He has also coauthored two books Field Methods Casebook for Software Design(with Judy Ramey) and Brave NUI World (with Daniel Wigdor).

Currently, Dennis is adjunct full professor at University of Washington in the department of Human Centered Design and Engineering Design. He has a PhD. in experimental social psychology from Clark University. 

Twitter list of UPA 2012 attendees →

I just started a twitter list for conference attendees - it’s small now, but will grow.  Let me know who you are and I’ll add you!

Introducing the Student Design Jam

I’m excited to be volunteering on the Student Design Jam project during the 2012 UPA International Conference.   While in grad school, two of my goals for school were to get more hands-on experience in my new field and to expand my professional network.   I think it’s great that the UPA will be offering this opportunity to students during the conference.  Plus, the winning concept WILL get built!

Personally, I really enjoyed working on “real” projects for clients while I was in school.  Real projects tend to be messier, with no “right” answer.  For me, finding a good solution given the constraints is rewarding; it’s like solving a complicated jigsaw puzzle without having the picture to follow.  I always understood that my project work may or may not get implemented.    The UPA’s willingness to invest in the winning concept from the design jam demonstrates their confidence in the quality of work students can produce.

I’m excited we’re offering this chance for students to create the next UPA poster (and just a little jealous!).  A poster is a unique piece of work, different from a website or an app; it persists over time!  And even if a student teams’ concept isn’t selected, they will have the artifacts from the contest for their portfolios and larger professional network.

It’s a win!   See you in Vegas!

——————

Have questions? Please contact the Student Design Jam Chair: Tonya McCarley at DesignJam2012@usabilityprofessionals.org.

Get involved in UPA 2012 - we need you!

The UPA 2012 conference committee needs you!  We need talented UX practitioners to help with a number of things before and during the conference.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please email conf2012@usabilityprofessionals.org and let us know who you are, what you’d like to do, and why you want to do it.

Who do we need?

Pre-conference - these roles will help us prepare for the conference:

• Graphic designer(s) - we’d love someone to help us create an all new design for our printed conference materials, including the program and “at-a-glance” agenda.  This is an opportunity to create a portfolio piece that demonstrates your design skills and one that will see real use on an hourly basis by every conference attendee! 
• Session chair coordinator - during the conference,  we rely on session chairs to introduce our speakers and make sure they have everything they need to give a great talk. The session chair coordinator recruits session chairs and matches them to the conference program to ensure we have a chair for every session.  Again, this is a great way to meet the presenters, it’s essential to making the conference run smoothly, and it’s a great way to ensure a front row seat in a session you really want to attend! 
• Marketing - we’re still spreading the word about the conference and happy to have help.  Our Marketing team needs people to help write content for emails, blog posts, and other marketing opportunities and to help make and share videos promoting the conference.  This is a great opportunity to help us attract even more of the best and brightest in our field to attend the conference. 

On-site - help with these activities will be needed on-site in Vegas during the conference: 

• Social media coordinator - we need someone to represent the conference committee on twitter, this blog, and other social media during the conference. We expect many of our attendees to tweet during the conference and follow #upa2012 on twitter; we need someone to tweet updates from the conference committee: late-breaking news, giveaway opportunities, schedule changes, and more.  This is a great opportunity to get your name out there and build your network! 
• Poster session coordinator - we need someone to help with our poster sessions.  This includes helping poster presenters set up (we provide supplies and lots of guidance to make this easy), facilitating discussions during the poster sessions,  encouraging attendees to check out the cool posters, and facilitating a brief wrap-up with poster presenters.  This is great opportunity to meet people - conference attendees, poster presenters, and conference organizers - and get an early look at our fabulous posters. 
• Design Jam mentors - we will be holding the first ever UPA Student Design Jam this year.  Teams of students will compete to design the next version of the UPA poster.  We need experienced UX professionals to serve as mentors during the design jam.  Our mentors will support the student teams by providing guidance and advice. We all have mentors to thank for helping us get where we are today, this is a chance to give back to the community and provide the same valuable coaching to someone just beginning their career. This is a great opportunity to meet and support the future stars of the UX profession! 
• On-site Conference Volunteers - this is the most intense of our volunteer opportunities and these folks are critical to putting on a successful conference.  It is also a great way to have a visible presence at the conference and to help cover the cost of your registration. You can learn more about the expectations and rewards for our Conference Volunteers (and apply to be a volunteer) on the UPA 2012 website. 

• You will help create the best UPA 2012 possible!
• You will meet lots of great people!
• It feels great to be involved and make an impact!  
• It’s a chance to give back to the UPA community!

At last weekend’s IA Summit Michelle Marut gave a great presentation entitled “Networking on the Introvert’s side of the Room”. One of her 4 tips for networking was to take advantage of volunteer opportunities. Although Michelle was specifically speaking about networking for introverts, this works for everyone!

We hope to hear from you as a volunteer for UPA 2012!

——

A personal note… I got involved with the conference committee back in 2008.  Volunteering has been an immensely rewarding experience for me.  I’ve enjoyed conferences more knowing that I contributed to creating the experience. I’ve had the satisfaction of making an impact. I’ve learned a lot and expanded my leadership, project management, and experience design skills. And, perhaps most importantly, I’ve formed lasting relationships that have benefitted both my professional and personal life.

Idea Market FAQs

Hi there! Congratulations for getting your Idea Market approved to UPA 2012! We are all looking forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!

Usability Fundamentals and Advanced Practitioners Sessions

As in previous conferences, UPA has identified sessions targeted towards those new to the topics (called “Usability Fundamentals” – UF) or those with more experience (“Advanced Practitioners” – AP).  The categorization of sessions is based on the target audience’s experience with that specific topic, rather than their overall experience with usability.  

What makes a Usability Fundamentals session?

A UF session:

• Addresses mainstream topics that are important for most usability professionals to know.
• Addresses topics in an introductory way.  Attendees will not need any prior knowledge to understand the content of the session.

While the UPA conference is a great resource for experienced usability professionals, many of our attendees may be new to some usability topics.  As such, we try to provide introductory sessions for the people who are new to our field.  That is not to say that experienced professionals won’t appreciate the UF sessions.  These may offer new information and techniques for practitioners with many years of experience.

What makes an Advanced Practitioners session?

An AP session:

• Is intended to provide value to experienced usability professionals
• Assumes that attendees have experience with the basics of the methods and issues addressed (and therefore should not cover introductory material)

What is the Passport Program?

Like last year, UPA will have a usability fundamentals “passport” program.  At every UF session, attendees can get their “passport” stamped.  Attendees with enough stamps will get a document from the UPA to share with their employer as evidence that they have attended a minimum number of UF sessions. 

There is no special program for the AP sessions.  The AP designation is only intended to identify those sessions that go beyond the basics for a target audience with experience on the topic.

How did the committee assign categories?

The Education Committee Co-Chairs, working with other members of the conference planning committee, categorized each of the 60-minute presentations, panels, and tutorials.  We looked at the submission itself (where the authors identified their target audience audience) and the comments by reviewers. 

What does this mean for presenters?

Most sessions are designated as “General,” and there is nothing special needed for these.  However, if your session has been designated as a UF session, you should be aware that some members of your audience may have little experience with your topic.  You will probably be expecting this anyway, as the categorization was based on the submission type.  Also, note that attendees will be able to have their “passport” stamped at the end of your session.  This will be handled by your session’s volunteer.

If your session has been designated as an AP session, you can assume that your audience has some experience with the topic, and most likely won’t need for you to cover the basics.  Otherwise, there is nothing additional for you to do.

Where can I get more information?

If you would like more information on these designations, or what this means for your specific session, please contact the Education Committee at education2012@usabilityprofessionals.org.

Announcing the UPA 2012 Opening Speaker: Ronald E. Riggio

UPA 2012 is just 3 months away, and we’re getting very excited here about what is looking like another great UPA conference. It’s that exciting time right now where we confirm and announce the invited speakers to compliment the extensive program of presentation, panels, workshops, tutorials and interactive sessions we’ve carefully reviewed and selected through our submissions process.

This year we were particularly strict with our submissions process to make sure all the sessions will be of the highest possible quality and to leave a number of slots open for us to cherry pick a selection of invited speakers to fit the conference theme and the hot topics we’ve heard you want to hear about at UPA.

One message we’ve heard from you is that you want more speakers from outside the UX community, to share their expertise and a different way of thinking about similar issues. This is particularly relevant to this year’s theme of Leadership, where we seek to explore ways in which we can move from participants in the design team to leading the process and delivering the outcome we believe is the right one.

Well, we’ve done exactly that with this year’s opening speaker and brought in someone who is a truly leading figure and authority in the field of Leadership studies:

Opening Speaker - Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology

Title of talk: Myths and Truths About Leadership and Developing Your Personal Leadership

This talk will begin with a discussion of common questions asked about leadership:

• Are leaders born or made?
• Is leadership different than management?

We will explore the research-based answers to these questions, and realize that we do indeed know what makes leaders effective. Using the very popular model of transformational leadership, we will uncover the secrets of highly successful leaders, and discuss the implications for our own roles as leaders (and exemplary followers) in our organizations. We will explore how to use this model to leverage our personal strengths as leaders, and how to develop our personal leadership and leadership potential.

About Professor Riggio
Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology and former Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. Professor Riggio is the author or editor of over a dozen books, and 100 book chapters and research articles in the areas of leadership, assessment centers, organizational psychology and emotional and nonverbal communication. His books include The Art of Followership, The Practice of Leadership, Jossey-Bass, 2008, 2007), Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.), co-authored with Bernard M. Bass (Erlbaum, 2006), Leadership and the Liberal Arts (2009; co-edited with J. Thomas Wren and Michael Genovese), and Leadership Studies: The Dialogue of Disciplines (2012; co-edited with Michael Harvey).

He has served as an organizational consultant to dozens of businesses and nonprofit organizations in the areas of selection, organizational development, and leadership assessment and development.

Most recently, Professor Riggio guest edited a special issue of The Leadership Quarterly on “Longitudinal Studies of Leadership Development,” co-edited a special issue of Consulting Psychology Journal on “Character and Leadership,” and a forthcoming special issue of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations on Leadership. He is the leadership blogger for Psychology Today magazine, which can be accessed at: http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership

Danielle Cooley of the 2012 UPA Conference organising committee gives an overview of what we can expect from the UPA Ignite sessions, one of the newer and more interactive conference formats at the UPA conference.

UPA2012 Proceedings Content UPDATE!