UPA Monthly: November 2008

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The monthly newsletter of the Usability Professionals' Association

In This Edition

Usability in the news
UPA news & Events
Chapter news
UPA Publications
Visit the UPA Store
Usability Resources
Thanks to our contributors

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

Usability in the News

How Poor Usability Can Kill Your Copy and Conversions (American Chronicle, 13 Oct 2008)
"It's funny how we, as website owners, don't always think like our visitors. A course of action that might seem perfectly obvious to us may stop our visitors right in the middle of their buying process. Take, for instance, e-commerce–type copy. Do you realize that what happens after your customers read your copy could make or break your sale? I'm not talking about shopping cart abandonment. I'm talking about good communication that keeps the buying cycle moving forward."

My Take: E-Voting Not User-Friendly (Discovery Channel, 3 Nov 2008)
"Most electronic voting machines use touch screens, much like an iPhone or many bank ATMs. While there are several different technologies for figuring out where your finger might be, they all require a "calibration" process. Unfortunately, calibration depends on viewing angle, and that will vary across different voters. That means some voters will need to "aim high" while others will need to "aim low" in order to hit their target. Some voters will figure this out. Others will make mistakes and may or may not notice."

Navigation menus 'important for usability' (ClickThrough, Search Engine Marketing, 3 Oct 2008)
"Online retailers should work on their navigational menus to make them as usable as possible following research suggesting some of the UK's biggest brands fail to do this."

UPA News & Events

2008 MEMBERSHIP SATISFACTION SURVEY
Please give us 10 – 15 minutes of your precious time to help improve the usability industry by adding your data to this anonymous and confidential survey.
For further questions please contact Trent Mankelow - marketing2008@usabilityprofessionals.org

World Usability Day - 13 Nov 2008
Our focus for World Usability Day 2008 is TRANSPORTATION. We will be launching the Global Transport Challenge on November 13th, so check out www.worldusabilityday.org/globaltransportchallenge to get your travel footprint and see how you rate. With the global focus on rising energy costs and the resulting design and development of new methods and modes of transporation; aging infrastructures and safety and security issues in the news daily, World Usability Day 2008 should make an impact on everyone.
Questions: caryn@worldusabilityday.org

International Student Design Competition
This is the first year of the UPA International Student Design Competition. Similar competitions have motivated and energized students to work on meaningful projects and led to initiatives that positively impacted lives of real people. Students who have participated in similar events went on to become active members of their professional communities.

Sponsor a Young Professional
The UPA Student and Young Professionals Board is happy to announce that Apogee - www.apogeehk.com has donated sponsorship of 8 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 UP A members and more
Do you want to find quickly and easily other UPA members with similar backgrounds and needs? Join us on LinkedIn today.

Events

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.

UPA 2009 - Bringing Usability to Life
Will be held in Portland, Oregon on June 8-12, 2009

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

Chapter News

Chapter Spotlights
- New Jersey: UsabilityNJ - http://usabilitynj.org/
- North Carolina: TriUPA - http://www.triupa.org/
- Texas: Austin - http://austinupa.ning.com/

Photo of the Month
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmitrysatin/2599006674/ and http://picasaweb.google.ru/usabilitylab.ru/0802#5262284342597771330
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 Publications

User Experience Magazine: Usability in Transportation Volume 7, Issue 4
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/user_experience/past_issues/2008-4.html

UPA Voice
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/upa_voice/

UPA - Journal of Usability Studies - August 2008: Volume 3, Issue 4
http://usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/jus/

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

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

Usability RESOURCES

http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/usability_resources

Thanks to Our Contributors

Pauline de Robert (UK 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
Daniel Novichkov (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