December 2013: Best Practices in Accessible User Experience Design for Mobile Devices

Designing simplified user experiences for complex and complicated products is hard work. Designing user experiences destined for consumption and interaction on the latest generation of mobile devices introduces slightly different challenges and constraints. Designing user experiences that can be used effectively and universally by customers of all shapes and sizes, abilities and disabilities, is an even more difficult venture that can be very challenging and rewarding for software engineers and UX practitioners. Join Greg Fields as he uses real world examples to explore the best practices and heuristics for creating mobile user experiences that are both accessible and usable. Adventurous attendees are welcome to bring in examples of their work for review and evaluation.

Greg Fields manages a portfolio of BlackBerry Handheld Software products and services at BlackBerry (nee Research In Motion), is a Certified Usability Analyst, remains an Interaction Designer hobbyist, and is generally a curious guy. He has led the introduction of accessible BlackBerry products and services over the last 7 years, led the institutionalization of Accessibility @ BlackBerry, has worked closely with end users in 100+ instances of user studies, is an innovator with 20+ patents in the area of Wireless/UI/Human Factors, and has contributed to international research and standards in the area of Human Factors.

Note that we’re meeting on a Tuesday this month!

Tuesday December 10, 2013
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, P2P Room
151 Charles St. W.
Kitchener, ON N2G 1H6

Call for Participation in Research on Work/Life Balance and Mobile Technology

Some of you may remember Sam Ladner’s presentation to UX Waterloo back in February, in which she mentioned a research project on mobile technology. Sam’s delighted to announce that she’s starting the recruitment phase of this project. More from Sam below.

Call for Participation in Research on Work/Life Balance and Mobile Technology

Are you a smartphone user? Do you want to know more about how this device is affecting our lives? We want to talk to you!

Ryerson University is seeking to recruit smartphone users to participate in a social research study on mobile technology. Hosted at the Ted Rogers School of Management, this project asks the simple question: what happens when workplace technologies like the BlackBerry come into the household? The research team is looking to recruit people who have used a smartphone for work and personal use for the last six months, preferably in the Greater Toronto Area.

The research will be publicly available. We will be sharing white papers and conference presentations with the community at large. Those interested in mobile technology will learn more about how individuals use their phones at home, the kinds of content they typically use, and what frustrates them about current software and hardware design.

All participants will remain completely anonymous.

Participants will be visited at home by a researcher, who will conduct an interview and will spend time visiting and observing the participant’s home experience with their smartphone. All participation is strictly confidential.

Recruitment will begin in April, with field work happening throughout the spring and summer. Participants from across the country will be considered, but those in Southern Ontario are preferred. The project is being lead by Dr. Sam Ladner, postdoctoral research fellow, and co-principal investigators Dr. Catherine Middleton and Dr. Ozgur Oturetken.

Learn more at mobileworklife.ca and on Twitter @mobileworklife.

October 2010 meeting: designing mobile readers at Kobo

For today’s meeting we’ll hear from James Wu, UI Architect at Kobo, about making the transition from designing for a web/desktop to designing for a mobile user experience. Issues that he’ll address include smaller screen, touch screen, gestural UI, wildly different user contexts, and unreliable connectivity.

Kobo is a company dedicated to enabling people to “read any book, anytime, anywhere, and on the device of their choice”. To that end, they’ve created a suite of products that run on iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad), Android smart phones, RIM BlackBerry smart phones, and even their own well-regarded Kobo eReader.

James has a great depth and breadth of experience, and is an engaging and generous speaker.

Time/location details:
Thursday, October 21, 2010
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
Meeting Room #2
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo
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