Competition Details

Round 1 - Short Paper

An anonymized  short paper will be submitted describing the design solution. The short paper document includes project title only and abstract, but omits the name of the institution and author names, which appear in a separate cover page document.  In addition a separate document, the Proof of Student Status must also be provided.  All three documents are to be submitted in a zipped format inside a single folder that does not exceed the file size of 4Mb. 

  1. Cover Page Document is a separate (.pdf) document that includes project title, author names, institutional affiliation, mentor name(s), and an abstract describing the project.
  2. Anonymized Short Paper Document (maximum 6 pages) including project title and abstract but excluding author names & affiliations.
  3. Proof of Student Status letter(s) for each group member – scanned letters on faculty stationary stating that at “During the work on the design problem, least 50% of the students’ working week was spent following an academic course of study.”  The letter must be signed by an academic supervisor and include their title and contact information, both phone and email.

The short paper must include:

  • A description of the proposed solution, including the approach taken and the design process followed, and any user involvement in the project
  • Images to illustrate the design solution, as appropriate
  • Where appropriate, reference to design principles and theory
  • Acknowledgement of partial or incomplete solutions
  • Acknowledgement of any assistance drawn from outside the student team (advisors, faculty, domain experts, existing solutions, users, etc.)

All submissions must be in English.  Submissions must not contain proprietary or confidential material and not cite proprietary or confidential publications. Due to tight publication schedules, revisions will not be possible. The submitted .pdf version will be considered the final version of the paper.

The Short Paper should follow the format of this template for Peer Reviewed Papers (.doc)

To participate in the competition, the Round 1 package (one zipped folder, smaller than 4Mb, containing Anonymous Paper, Cover Page including project name, names of team members, contact information, & affiliations, and Proof of Student Status for each team member) must be received by email at isdc2009@usabilityprofessionals.org before 23 March, 2009 17:00 EST.

Round 2 - Poster

All short paper submissions will be reviewed by a number of UPA reviewers and Co-Chairs. Up to 10 of the best submissions will be invited to UPA 2009 in Portland to take part in the next stages of the competition. Teams will be provided space at the conference to display posters and discuss their proposed solutions with the conference attendees.

A scheduled Poster Session will take place on 9 June, 2009 at the conference. Student teams will be expected to host their posters and discuss their approach, design method and solutions with the Student Design Competition Judges. The competition judges will select four teams to advance to the next and final round of the competition.
Specific guidelines for preparing posters

Each poster will have a display space approximately 8 feet wide and 4 feet high.
The poster is expected to follow the International Standards Organization (ISO) poster size format (A0) in portrait orientation. The dimensions for A0 format are 84cm x 119cm, or approximately 33" x 47". Either landscape or portrait orientation is acceptable. Poster board panels are 250 cm tall by 100 cm wide (98" high by 39" wide).

Audiovisual and computing equipment will not be supplied. Power outlets will not be available

The poster must include:

* The proposed solution's name, school affiliation, authors & mentors names
* The perspective taken to address the design challenge
* A concise description of the proposed solution
* Clear illustrations of key aspects of your proposed solution
* Compelling, effective visual design

Round 3 - Oral Presentation

Four teams selected following the Poster session will present their solutions during a short presentation to the Judges and UPA attendees on 10 June, 2009. Presentations will be limited to 10 minutes plus a subsequent 5 minutes to answer questions from the judges and audience. Presentations must include:

  • The design process that was followed
  • A concise description of the proposed solution
  • Reference to design principles and theory where appropriate
  • Acknowledgement of partial or incomplete solutions