2014 Midwest UX
In 2014 Midwest UX took over the city of Indianapolis for two days of presentations and workshops on methods for becoming a better user experience practitioner.
How Do We Design Great Designers?
Kicking off the conference on a high note Jared Spool asks the crowd how we can continue to expand the community of user experience to be more inclusive and fill the openings in one of the hottest fields in the industry today.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/jared-spool.html
Web Site
http://www.uie.com/
Make. Mentor. Learn
Todd Zaki Warfel encourages the use of prototypes to get our ideas into a tangible format that can be ahared with others and not be discouraged by the threat of negative criticism or failure.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/todd-zaki-warfel.html
NOAM: Prototyping Strong Ideas, Weakly Held
Simon King impresses the importance of iteration and testing during the design process. Don’t be afraid to fail early and often as you look for the correct solution to difficult problems. He introduces the NOAM framework as a way to do so in a lightweight fashion.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/simon-king.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110161992
Abuse It or Lose It
Dark design patterns can convince people to act against their own interests. Edward Stojakovic how these decisions can make their way into a production system and strategies for better user advocacy.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/edward-stojakovic.html
@estojakovic
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110162074
The Self Aware Researcher
Veronica Erb helps lay out a framework for how to be a better UX researcher by applying the same methods to our own careers and community.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/veronica-erb.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110162355
Measuring the Wrong Data: Data Driven Pitfalls
Data can inform many aspects of the design process. However it is tempting to fall in to the trap of capturing either too much data or capturing meaningless metrics that do not offer any context on user’s experiences within a system. Jen Matson offers up several ways that we as researchers can adapt to make sure we are measuring the things that matter.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/jen-matson.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110174565
Web Site
http://www.jenmatson.com/
Be Data Informed Without Being a Data Scientist
You do not have to have an advanced degree in statistics to be able to understand how to mine data for patterns. Pamela Pavilscak lays out methods that anyone can use to help become smarter about using analytics to create better user experiences.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/pamela-pavliscak.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110180408
Web Site
http://www.changesciences.com/
Wayfinding on the Web: Design Principles for the Great Outdoors
Hiking and outdoor exploration can teach us many things about best practices for wayfinding in digital environments. Chris Basham and Tara Bazlar lay out ways in which to consider how a hike through the woods can help us build better discovery interfaces.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/chris-basham.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110190912
Creative Destruction: Design as an Agent for Change
Lorna Ross challenges us to ask questions and push for positive change within the places that we work to build better relationships and trust.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/lorna-ross.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110204910
Articulating Design Decisions
How can user experience designers build a shared understanding with the rest of their teams? Tom Greever offers up ways that we can communicate more effectively the design decisions required to build products that center on the user.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/tom-greever.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110260257
Lessons Learned Building the Internet of Skis
Normative Design decided to redesign the experience of downhill skiing to see what could be learned by gathering more information. Much as Garmin type devices have done for running, cycling, and swimming it quantified ski metrics so that people could improve. In an engaging presentation Ken Leung walks through how Normative did this.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/tom-greever.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110300781
Designing Mobile Payment Experiences
Mobile payment can be tough to get right. Skip Allums walks through ways to make people more comfortable with the concept of using their portable pocket computer as a way to pay at the register.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/skip-allums.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110333994
The UX of Stairs: When Simple Tasks Aren’t Simple
If you have a disability things which are easy for the common person may suddenly become difficult or impossible. Greg Tarnoff walks through his story of the challenges he faces and considerations that designers can make for people who need to process information differently.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/greg-tarnoff.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110360523
Shapelessness of Things to Come
The concluding keynote of the conference tackles the evolution of the computer and what it will look like in the future. Marc Rolston offers up his thoughts on how designers can continue to create rich experiences when we no longer have screens.
http://2014.midwestuxconference.com/speakers/mark-rolston.html
Video
https://vimeopro.com/mwux/2014/video/110386621
Web Site
http://argodesign.com/