UPA Monthly: January 2008
Heading Here
The monthly newsletter of the Usability Professionals' Association
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In This Edition
Usability in the News
Usability/User Experience Specialist: Executive Summary (US News & World Report, 19 Dec 2007)
"Not surprisingly, the job outlook for usability specialists is strong. The number of new, complex products is proliferating, and many of them demand a usability specialist."
N.H. Usability Professionals group forms (fosters.com, 19 Dec 2007)
"PORTSMOUTH — A group of industry experts has launched the New Hampshire Usability Professionals' Association (UPA). The goal of the newly formed group is to foster the growth of the user experience community in the Seacoast and southern New Hampshire regions."
Ear phone sounds like a good idea (The Age, 19 Dec 2007)
"A Japanese company Tuesday unveiled a new device that will allow people "speak" through their ear so they can use their mobile telephones in noisy places."
Why Nobody Likes a Smart Machine (The New York Times, 18 Dec 2007)
"Dr. Norman, a cognitive scientist who is a professor at Northwestern, has been the maestro of gizmos since publishing "The Design of Everyday Things," his 1988 critique of VCRs no one could program, doors that couldn’t be opened without instructions and other technologies that seemed designed to drive humans crazy."
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
Thank you Thyra Rauch
Thanks and congratulations to Thyra Rauch, UPA's outgoing President. Thyra has served UPA for more than eight years as conference chair, Treasurer, Vice President, and President. Under her leadership the UPA has grown to high of over 2,600 members, and the UPA 2007 conference was the most well-attended UPA conference ever. The current UPA Board of Directors appreciates Thyra's many years of service.
PHP volunteer needed
UPA is seeking a volunteer PHP programmer to help with a short project. The volunteer will work with the Web Director to customize two "Contact Us" forms for the UPA website. The expected effort is 2-3 hours per week for one month.
If you are interested, please contact Amanda Nance at web2007@usabilityprofessionals.org
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/
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.
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.
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.
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
We are all giants
Author: Whitney Quesenbery
UPA - Journal of Usability Studies - November 2007: Volume 3, Issue 1
A Structured Process for Transforming Usability Data into Usability Information
Authors: Jonathan Howarth, Terence S. Andre, and Rex Hartson
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
New email or address?
Keep your member profile up to date, so you don't miss any mail.
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
** Usability Body of Knowledge **
The Usability Body of Knowledge (BoK) project is dedicated to creating a living reference that represents the collective knowledge of the usability profession and provides an authoritative source of reference and define the scope of the profession.