Notes Design

Can you learn about design research and user experience in a bar? Why yes! says Nate Bolt of Bolt|Peters, the brains behind User Research Friday. On Friday, November 7, we travelled to San Francisco, CA to check out this bi-annual event. The event brought together design research and user experience professionals for education, conversation and the all important networking.

The big conferences can be great - CHI, IDSA, IXDA - but there was something great and very tangible about this short and fairly small gathering. 150 people gathered for 5 hours to learn and network - then it was gone.

Highlights:

Steve Portigal of Portigal Consulting discussed the role of prototypes, not just as a precursor to a product, but as a real development tool where you learn about next steps. He also reminded researchers that it's our job to talk the language of the user, not to get them to speak our language - or that of the product company. A simple but important message.

Indi Young, founder of Adaptive Path and now independent, focused on a tool creating mental models. She discussed the real importance of knowing your "customer", whether that is a company or a person. She proposed segmentation not by market research demographics such as age and gender, but by behaviors, beliefs and reactions.