UPA Monthly: January 2009

Heading Here

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

Best Careers 2009: Usability Experience Specialist (US News & World Report, 11 Dec 2008)
"This profession has a hard time agreeing on a name for itself. It's called, for example, user experience specialist, interface designer, information architect, usability practitioner, user-centered design specialist, and usability manager."

What makes a "User Experience expert"? (Inside RIA, 17 Dec 2008)
"If you're like me, you've been hearing a lot about this amazing thing called User Experience. It's supposed to turn your normal, old, web 1.0 piece-of-garbage application into a shining beacon of hope in a world beleaguered by bad interfaces. If you're like me, you've been watching the explosion of User Experience from somewhere between the forefront and the sidelines, enjoying the arrival of the requisite acronyms (UX, XD, EX, UXD, etc.), and trying to figure out exactly where and what the forefront even is. If you're like me, you've been a little skeptical of this vague and magical term for a while now, and if you're anything at all like me, you've been wanting someone to clear things up."

The Year of the Simpler Gadget (The New York Times, 20 Dec 2008)
"It is not just the economics of a shopping-fatigued nation at work here. Consumers found the simple devices, which don’t need instruction manuals to set up and use, more appealing."

UPA News & Events

The Challenge of Turning UPA into a Global Association - Silvia C. Zimmermann
Outside the United States of America the UPA is often perceived as an US-centric association. Do we as an association want this? And if not, what counteractive measures do we need to undertake to avoid this perception?

UPA EUROPE - Congratulations!
The first European conference of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA), which was dedicated to Usability and Design, concluded earlier this month, but the high quality of the event still lingers.The conference, which took place in Turin, Italy, was inspired by the designation of the city as the first World Design Capital and by the locally grown international movement of Slow Food, to focus on design and the importance of cultural diversity.
- http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article5308.asp

BE COUNTED - UPA MEMBERSHIP SURVEY
The 2008 UPA member satisfaction survey is under way. Add your input and help align our strategic five-year plan with the needs and requirements of our members.
For further questions please contact Trent Mankelow - marketing2008@usabilityprofessionals.org

UPA 2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS - FROM PAUL SHERMAN - UPA IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
On behalf of the UPA Board of Directors, we are pleased to introduce the
2009 UPA Board of Directors Executive Committee.

Note: The UPA has elected their first ever non-United States based
International President!

2009 Executive Committee:

Silvia Zimmermann, President (Switzerland)
Dan Szuc, Vice President (China)
Paul Sherman, Secretary (United States)
Carol Smith, Treasurer (United States)

Please share with us your thoughts and ideas so that we can help continue
to make the UPA an international association of which you can be proud.

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 2009 - Bringing Usab ility 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
- Spain - http://www.upaspain.org/
- Connecticut - http://www.ctupa.org/
- Dallas-Fort Worth - http://www.dfw-upa.org/

Photo of the Month
UPA Europe - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jowong/3086700262/
Share Chapter event photos - use the 'upachapter' tag.

Chapters in Formation

Join the Chapters Group

Learn more about UPA Chapters
Contact: chapters@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 8 x UPA student memberships.
Contact: info@apogeehk.com for more details on eligibility

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 - November 2008: Volume 4, Issue 1
http://www.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