January 09, 2006
Conference scores highly on evaluation forms
Median assessments of the quality of the two plenaries and of all sessions featuring peer-reviewed submissions were either "good" or "excellent," the two highest ratings of the 5-point scale used on the evaluation forms. The website and blog, conference venue, printed program and CD, food, studio tours, exhibits, and receptions were also highly rated. Tutorials rated especially highly.
The vast majority of attendees reported that, overall, the conference had met or exceeded their goals.
Evaluation form return rate: ~40% of conference forms; ~75% of tutorial forms.
Thanks to everyone who completed the evaluation forms. We are still reading through your many written comments!
Posted by richard.anderson at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2005
The look of DUX 2005
flickr offers a multidimensional look at DUX 2005, courtesy of conference attendees. Search for photos tagged with dux05 or dux2005. (Photos appearing in several blog entries are there for you to access.)
Posted by richard.anderson at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2005
The case for case studies (and DUX 2005)
The importance of case studies to user experience practitioners has received increased emphasis in recent years. For example, Dennis Wixon, ACM SIGCHI's Vice President for Conferences, argued in the July+August 2003 issue of interactions that the research literature largely fails the practitioner:
"If our discipline is serious about public discussion of methods as they are applied in industry, we will move to ... a broad-based case study approach, examining outcomes that are relevant to both practice and business. Our relevance as a discipline and our career success as practitioners depend on such a change."
AIGA's Experience Design community of practice was an early advocate of case studies, spearheading the development of a freely accessible, online case study archive, and teaming with SIGCHI for a 2002 case-study-oriented 2-day forum.
The current editors of interactions, both instrumental in making the case for case studies in recent years, say more in the July+August 2005 issue:
"Case studies are important; they're readable, they're engaging, they reflect on the same issues you do, and sometimes they present an approach that is so gloriously and confoundedly obvious you'll wonder why you didn't think of that. They also emphasize best practices. But don't take our word for it. Nancy Frishberg, one of the DUX 2005 program chairs said recently about case studies:'The case study format encourages more interplay between the images and words, because of the extended length (compared with some other conferences including CHI). It also helps remind practitioners that learnings from projects are worth recording and sharing whether they count those projects as unvarnished successes or not.'...The good news is there is an excellent conference where practitioners share best practices: DUX 2005 (www.dux2005.org). We encourage all practitioners to consider attending DUX 2005 at Fort Mason in San Francisco this November. The program consists of Design Case Studies, Design Practice Studies (less focus on evidence, more on process), Design Research Studies (evidence through research that provide guidance or prediction of results), and Sketches (work in progress)."
As mentioned in an earlier blog entry, DUX 2005 will feature approximately 60 agency, industry and academic case studies, research studies, practice studies, sketches and posters, from diverse cultural geographies, spanning a broad range of design exploration. So, if you are a user experience practitioner, give serious thought to spending your 3-5 November 2005 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. (And register soon.)
Posted by richard.anderson at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2005
Conference highlights
More and more details about the program for DUX 2005 have been appearing recently on the conference website. And more are still to come.
Highlights of the three day conference, including some yet to make it onto the website:
- Studio Tours -- a packed day for attendees who take a self-guided visit to San Francisco's premier design studios;
- Tutorials -- half- and full-day sessions on powerful research and design methodologies;
- Special Events -- outstanding opening and closing plenary sessions, along with an invited panel of of design luminaries, festive receptions, book signings, and exhibit activities. (An exciting evening on Thursday, Nov. 3rd will feature 2005 Tony Award-winning actor and MacArthur Award recipient Bill Irwin, comedian and performer Heather Gold, interactive artist J.Walt Adamczyk, and special recognition of World Usability Day. The closing plenary on Saturday, Nov. 5th will offer a unique talk from award winning author and consultant Edward Tenner.)
- Conference Sessions -- a packed program of ~60 agency, industry and academic case studies, research studies, practice studies, sketches and posters, from diverse cultural geographies, spanning a broad range of design exploration. (Unique topics for this year include the e-commerce of diamond buying, context-aware mobile computing, responsive work and home environments, personalized information filtering, and effective means of bridging cultures.)
We'll provide more information about much of the above in upcoming blog entries. But of course, more information can also be found on the conference website.
Posted by richard.anderson at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
Welcome
Welcome to the Designing for User eXperience (DUX) 2005 blog.
We shall use this blog to keep you abreast of developments over the final weeks leading up to the 3-5 November conference. We will also:
- fill you in on assorted background information (e.g., why the conference is being held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco),
- provide more information about the conference than outlined on the conference website (e.g., what you can expect to happen during select conference sessions),
- provide you with important reminders (e.g., the cutoff date for taking advantage of early registration rates),
- provide tips to those who attend the conference (e.g., good ways to get to Fort Mason from the conference hotel),
- and much more.
And we'll keep the blog active for some time following the conference.
In case you found your way to this blog directly rather than via the conference website: you'll find the conference website at www.dux2005.org.
Posted by richard.anderson at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)