UPA Monthly: May 2008

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The monthly newsletter of the Usability Professionals' Association

In This Edition

Usability in the news
Chapter news
UPA news
UPA Publications
Save the date
Visit the UPA Store
Thanks to our contributors

Usability in the News

Learning what makes Facebook tick (BBC News, 21 April 2008)
"Each week the class dissects an aspect of Facebook and looks at the way it works, the psychology behind it and what impression users are trying to convey. The gamut runs from examining status updates to news feeds and from poking to writing comments."

Usability a Useful Test for Green Home Products (ergoweb, 14 April 2008)
"There was more than a splash of green at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago in March. In line with the official theme for the 2008 show, many products were designed with environmental friendliness in mind. Buyers keen on 'green' could benefit from testing the exhibits for user friendliness. Regardless of any green features in the design, difficult-to-use products are consigned to landfills before their time, defeating their green potential -- and their green credentials."

The Cozy Suite - Building a Better Airplane Seat (Wired, 25 April 2008)
"They started by observing passenger behavior on both short- and long-haul flights. Thompson's Brian Rogers says the design team came away with two main findings: passengers trying to sleep on long flights tend to position themselves at an angle, and those sitting at the window seat generally seem slightly less miserable because they can rest their head against the wall."

Chapter News

Chapter Updates 2008
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.

Chapters in Formation

Join the Chapters Group

Learn more about UPA Chapters

Looking for a chapter in your city? Contact: chapters@usabilityprofessionals.org

UPA News

UPA 2008 Conference
Registration is now open for the 2008 International UPA 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.

Celebrate Usability in Civic Life at the UPA Conference
Did you know that UPA supports projects to improve the usability of elections, support plain language, and remove barriers to access for people with disabilities? Join us for posters, networking and a bit of inspiration from two advocates: Dr. Annetta Cheek, Center for Plain Language, and Karen Peltz Strauss, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access. Tuesday, 17 June, 5pm 7pm at UPA 2008 Conference (open to all)

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.

User Friendly 2008 - Shenzhen, China
24-27 October 2008

World Usability Day 2008 - Transportation
World Usability Day will next be held on 13 November 2008 and the theme is "Transportation".

Photos or Videos Wanted for World Usability Day 2008 - www.worldusabilityday.org How many times have you been on a train, plane, subway or other transport and wanted to share the way it looks or works for people? ** Here is your chance! **

This year's theme is "Transportation" and to help us kickoff this years program we are looking for photos or videos of your city's transportation successes or challenges. Ask your friends, colleagues and family to photograph signs, vehicles, bridges, tunnels, maps etc with people using these. Upload your photos to www.flickr.com and/or video to www.youtube.com using the tag - wud2008 - Questions: caryn@worldusabilityday.org

Announcing UPA Regional Coordinators
Please join the UPA Board of Directors in recognizing our new Regional Coordinators (RCs). The RC position was created to continue to improve the communication between the Board and UPA members around the world. RC's will liaison with chapters in their their region, represent the UPA to their region at local events and will collaborate with other RC's to extend the UPA's global reach. The Regional Coordinators are:

- Asia: Jason Huang, China
- Europe: Chris Rourke, Scotland
- MEAOS (Middle East; Africa; Oceania - Australia and New Zealand; and Sub-continent - India, Pakistan): Susan Wolfe, Australia
- North America: DeeDee DeMulling, USA
- South/Central America: Lucia Filgueiras, Brazil

Questions: Carol Smith, Director of Global Outreach - outreach2008@usabilityprofessionals.org

Sponsor a Young Professional
The UPA Student and Young Professionals Board is happy to announce that Apogee - www.apogeehk.com - has donated sponsorship of 10 x UPA student memberships. - Contact: info@apogeehk.com for more details on eligibility.

UPA Students & Young Professionals
UPA would like to welcome students and young professionals to join a UPA sponsored Yahoo Group. The group will serve as a way to help connect current and potential UPA members. Join the group to learn, to network, and to get more involved with UPA.

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.

If you would like to learn more about your Board of Directors.

UPA Publications

UPA - Journal of Usability Studies - February 2008: Volume 3, Issue 2
A new approach to analyse human-mobile computer interaction
Author: Jurgen Kawalek, Annegret Stark, and Marcel Riebeck

UPA - Voice April, 2008
Personas and Diversity

User Experience Magazine: Volume 7, Issue 2, 2008
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/user_experience/past_issues/2008-2.html

Design by People For People: Essays in Usablity
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/design_by_people_for_people.html

Designing the User Experience Poster
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/ux_poster.html

Want to write an article for a UPA publications?
Contact: publications@usabilityprofessionals.org

Want to advertise in a UPA publication?
Contact: publications@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

User Friendly 2008 - Shenzhen, China
24-27 October 2008

World Usability Day 2008 - Transportation
World USability Day will next be held on 13 November 2008 and the theme is "Transportation".

New email or address?
Keep your member profile up to date, so you don't miss any mail.

VISIT THE UPA STORE

No, we can't pre-package usability, but you can buy conference and other UPA materials to help you develop and promote usability in your own organization.
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_store/index.html

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
Ali Berkman, Turkish
Daniel Szuc (UPA China-Hong Kong), English, News scout

Contact UPA Monthly