UPA Monthly: February 2008
Heading Here
The monthly newsletter of the Usability Professionals' Association
English | Français | Deutsch | Español | Italiano | Português | Japanese | Hebrew | Russian | Chinese
In This Edition
Usability in the News
Gadgets Are Great... If Your Customers Can Figure Them Out (The Consumerist, 8 Jan 2008)
"The Accenture group will be releasing a study on gadget product returns later this week, but I got an early peek. Their main finding is this: Consumers often can't figure out how to use many of the gadgets they buy, and a sizable portion of those gadgets end up right back at the store."
'Wii warm-up' good for surgeons (BBC News, 17 Jan 2008)
"Playing computer games such as the Nintendo Wii can improve a surgeon's performance in the operating theatre, a US study shows."
EBay executives plan to focus on improving 'user experience' in new year (Technology Review, 12 Dec 2007)
"EBay Inc. will focus on improving the 'user experience' in 2008 in hopes of making the world's largest online auction more satisfying for its millions of users, a top executive said."
UK retailers failing to meet web accessibility standards (ComputerWeekly.com, 7 Jan 2008)
"Among navigational problems for disabled users, the study discovered that a prevailing failure among sites was poor accessibility at the checkout stage."
Chapter News
Chapter Updates 2008
Heads Up. In Feb 2008, UPA will send out "Chapter Updates" to all Chapters to better understand what is happening in your Chapter -- We look forward to hearing from you!
Questions: chapters@usabilityprofessionals.org
Photo of the Month
Share Chapter event photos - use the 'upachapter' tag.
Looking for a chapter in your city? Contact: chapters@usabilityprofessionals.org
UPA News
UPA 2008 Conference - "The Many Faces of User Experience: Usability through Holistic Practice"
The conference will take place at the beautiful Inner Harbor of
Baltimore, Maryland, June 16-20, 2008.
World Usability Day 2008 - Transportation
World Usability Day will next be held on 13 November 2008 and the theme is Transportation -- Look out for more information soon.
UPA offers support to plain-language bills being considered by US Congress
The UPA has written a letter of support endorsing "The Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2007" bills, currently being considered in both the House and Senate, with public hearings scheduled for 26 February. If passed, the bills will require that US government communications - including "letter, publication, form, notice, or instruction" - be presented in clear, easy-to-understand language.
UPA Europe 2008
The first European regional conference of the Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) will take place in Torino, Italy, named the 2008 World Design Capital. Hundreds of designers and usability specialists are expected to attend.
WCAG 2.0 Last Call for comments
The W3C has issued a call for comments on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. These guidelines explain how to make Web sites, applications, and other content accessible to people with disabilities. Any comments are due by 1 February 2008.
WCAG 2.0 Draft: http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-WCAG20-20071211/
Instructions for Commenting: http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/comments/
Mentoring Program
The Student and Young Professionals Mentoring program continues to pick
up momentum with a number of applicants already seeking mentors. If
you are interested in giving back to the community, becoming a Peer
Mentor or if you are looking for a mentor, please take a closer look at the
program and sign up.
LINKEDIN – Networking among UPA members and more
Do you want to find quickly and easily other UPA members with similar backgrounds and needs? Join us on LinkedIn today.
Learn more about your Board of Directors.
UPA Publications
UPA - Voice December, 2007
Back to Basics
Authors: Daniel Szuc and Gerry Gaffney
User Experience Magazine: Volume 6, Issue 4, 2007
http://www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/user_experience/past_issues/2007-4.html
UPA - Journal of Usability Studies - November 2007: Volume 3, Issue 1
Decision Models for Comparative Usability Evaluation of Mobile Phones Using the Mobile Phone Usability Questionnaire (MPUQ)
Authors: Young Sam Ryu, Kari Babski-Reeves, Tonya L. Smith-Jackson, and Maury A. Nussbaum
Want to write an article for a UPA publications?
Contact: publications@usabilityprofessionals.org
Want to advertise in a UPA publication?
Contact: assocdir@usabilityprofessionals.org
Save the Date
UPA Announces 2008 International Usability Conference
"The Many Faces of User Experience: Usability through Holistic Practice"
Baltimore, Maryland, June 16-20, 2008
UPA Europe 2008
The first European regional conference of the Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) will take place in Torino, Italy, named the 2008 World Design Capital. Hundreds of designers and usability specialists are expected to attend.
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Thanks to Our Contributors
- Melanie Rousseau and Sylvie Lachize (Québec Chapter), French
- Silvia Zimmermann (Swiss Chapter), German
- Alberto Lacalle (Spanish Chapter), Spanish
- Michele Visciola (UPA Italia), Italian
- Adriana Betiol (Brazil Chapter), Portuguese
- Yaniv Michaeli (UPA Israel), Hebrew
- Natasha Voynarovskaya (UPA Russia), Russian
- Denny Huang (UPA China), Chinese
- Tadashi Kobayashi (HCD-Net), Toyohiro Kanayama (UPA), Japanese
- Daniel Szuc (UPA China-Hong Kong), English, News scout
** 2008 Board of Directors **
Say hi to the UPA 2008 Board of Directors and welcome your feedback.
- http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/about_upa/leadership/board_of_directors.html