this is where I try out: she's geeky (part 1)

Notes from She's Geeky.

Day 1, 12:00pm:
Arrive at the Computer History Museum and proceed upstairs to registration. My registration got fouled up - I suspected it had. But I know my payment cleared even if my name's not on the list... and without any proof of said payment (y'know, like the freakin' receipt!), they give me a badge and wave me through.

I have a mild anxiety attack, wondering who the hell I think I am ducking work for 2 days to come to a conference when there is a metric ton of work to do back at the office. I get over it. I decline a request to enter the "Geek Confessional," mostly because I am suddenly not sure I belong here. It's not called She's Nerdy, after all. And we all know there are vast differences between Geeks, Nerds, and Dorks. I am squarely in the middle category.

ANYway... I help put tablecloths on the tables until I see Minnie and Liz arrive. I can't get my wireless connection to work and in my lame attempts to troubleshoot end up uninstalling the wireless card all together. Oh wellz. Lunch is served - compost-able flatware & plates, delicious veggie and meat options, cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (FAVE!), and a little opening speech by the conference organizers. High on sugar and estrogen, it's time for session 1.

Session 1: User Experience Design with Kaari Peterson & Dee Adams from Yahoo!

I immediately like these ladies. They're set up in the space, playing Madonna on the iPod as we filter in. Kaari starts us off giving examples of User Experience, in contrast to design and style. User experience is everything, EVERYTHING, your customer experiences from the moment they become aware of a need or desire for your product to the day they dispose of it or discontinue its use.

• Good Experience: Apple products carry a consistent user experience from advertisement, to online presence, to the packaging in which your item arrives, to the item itself. Even the shipping materials stick with the program. No shabby styro peanuts here!
• Nice Try: Pontiac Aztec. The design team did extensive research into what people said they wanted from their vehicles, then proceeded to cram every last one of the suggestions into this fugly monstrosity. I shared the story of Mitch's parents, who had the misfortune of being assigned an Aztec as a rental car for a roadtrip from California to Colorado. After spending two weeks with this beast, they decided that they *loved* it. They bought one a couple months later, and immediately ordered the vanity plate: Fuglee.
  
• Bad Experience: I forget.. oh, yeah! There is a set of doors on opposite sides of a skywalk between the Adobe buildings in San Jose. The doors on one side push in, but the set on the other pull out - so apparently noobs are always thinking they're locked out or doing the push-me-pull-you thing.
  

I think this was the segue to Kaari's case study of Adobe Acrobat 5. The main reason folks might use Acrobat is to create a PDF file, but it turns out that in this particular version, nobody could find the 'Make PDF' button. D'oh! She walked us through the process she used for identifying the issues with the menu structure (user observation, polling customer support to determine the top call generating issues) educating the development team about the difficulties users were experiencing (taking them to usability sessions and letting them observe users first hand), and how the team ultimately streamlined the experience putting things in 'task based' clusters vs. the traditional Adobe approach of 'tool based' panels. The updated interface also effectively eliminated the "I can't make a PDF" support calls, providing adequate cost savings to the business, and permitting further User Experience Design activities.

Handoff to Dee, who is charismatic and intelligent, and gives humorous commentary to the different expectations of "designers" in tech cultures. Dee does an excellent job of articulating the difference between UE design, UI design, branding, and style. I don't recall as much of the particulars (her style is very conversational), but the gist was know your business case, apply design liberally and style sparingly. Don't think because it has rounded corners and a bubbly font that it's a great user experience, or even a good design. If you're serious about a career in UE, look for programs through CMU and other certification programs - there are a lot of wannabee designers out there (myself included...).

Tomorrow I'll post about Session 2: VCs and Women in Tech: A Brainstorm with Women VCs and Entrepreneurs

(cross posted from my personal blog: Confabulari)