March 19, 2008 – Refreshing SnagIt: A Case Study for Focusing on the User Experience

Where: Ann Arbor District Library, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 (map). Parking is available in the library parking lot. We’re meeting in the conference room on the third floor. At the third floor stairs lobby, go through the double doors, turn right, and look for the first door on the right to enter the conference room.

When: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:30PM-8PM

Speaker: Barb Hernandez, User Experience Manager at TechSmith, Lansing, Michigan

Abstract

What can you do when conversion rate is flat? TechSmith is a trialware company by nature, so measuring how many people download, try and actually purchase our software is the best measure of conversion and success.

We know that the thousands, dare I say millions of users who own SnagIt can’t live without it and tell us how it has changed the way they communicate with people. So what were we missing, why were we not getting the conversion rate we wanted? Learn about how we focused on the user experience, what we did, and how the changes impacted the conversion rate.

Barb Hernandez Biography

Ms. Hernandez specializes in using User Centered Design techniques to drive the user experience for technology products. She has led the user centered design efforts for cross-functional teams and has been involved in all stages of product development, including investigation and analysis, defining detailed requirements, creating prototypes, running usability tests and conducting usability evaluations.

She has worked on the design and usability testing of graphical user interfaces, content Web sites, Web-based applications, and interfaces for hand-held devices including cells phones and PDAs. At TechSmith, Barb focuses on helping teams make design decisions grounded in user intelligence.

February 27, 2008 Meeting: JavaScript Library Techniques, Tips and Tricks

Where: The Ann Arbor Public Library, in downtown Ann Arbor. We will be meeting in the library’s free space, located on the third floor.

When: Wednesday, February 27th 2008, 6:30 – 8:00

Speaker: Brian Reindel, Software Engineer at Niche Retail.

Abstract

The advent and popularity of JavaScript libraries has caused front-end programming paradigms to change drastically. Design patterns are emerging, object-oriented concepts are common place, and the line between client-side scripting and server-side scripting is beginning to blur.

Brian will be reviewing some of the techniques inherent to these libraries so that you can better understand how to build custom functionality of your own, while taking into account best practices. Some of the sub-topics to be included will be namespacing, anonymous function execution, the dollar sign selector, variable arguments, callback functions and shorthand.

Brian Reindel’s Biography

Brian Reindel is a software engineer, currently employed with Niche Retail, LLC, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He graduated from Oakland University in 1999 with a BA, Journalism, and has been toying professionally with Web development technologies for almost a decade.

Brian’s language of choice is Java, but he gets dirty on occasion with Ruby on Rails and LAMP as a solution stack. The majority of his career, however, has been spent on the front-end, developing Web pages with XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Although he still dreams of writing full-time in the future, Brian is immersed in the world of software development, and enjoys the challenge of learning new technologies.

January 30, 2007: Refresh Detroit in Livonia

For our first meeting of 2008 Refresh Detroit will be partnering with the Michigan Usability Professionals and speaker/usability expert Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus.

Subject:

Live Website Usability Evaluations:
Branding, Messsage, Content, and Usability.

Commercial web sites wither or thrive based on their usability, upon
the translation of brand image to the web site, and the clarity of
their marketing message. But what about web sites for non-profit
organizations? Whether organizing volunteers, educating people, or
gathering donations… for the non-profit web site, usability,
branding, message, and content matter!

Come and experience Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus conducting evaluations on
a number of non-profit web sites that have been submitted by
attendees. This session provides you with a rare opportunity to see it
live, experience the interactions with the stakeholders and designers,
and, time and bandwidth permitting, discuss YOUR site directly with
Dave.
Time, Date, Location:

This meeting will be on January 30th, 2008, from 6-8:30 pm at the
Perficient office in Livonia.

Map to Perficient Office

Please RSVP to events at michiganuxpa dot org. Also, if you are interesting in
submitting your non-profit website, please send a separate message to
events at michiganuxpa dot org.

Price

Because we are teaming up with MIUPA there will be a fee, but it will be worth it!

$5 Students, $10 STC, Refresh Detroit, and UPA members, $15 all others.