August 2006 Contents

Is the UPA Board a Good Fit for You? You Now Have an Opportunity to Contribute to UPA’s Success.
Serving in the UPA Board of Directors can be fun and challenging, open new doors and also put your skills and abilities to use to help build the UPA of the future. If you have been a UPA member for longer than two years and also have previous experience volunteering in UPA (or other similar associations), then you’re just two steps away from becoming a candidate for the 2007-2009 UPA Board!

By Eva de Lera, Peter Picone, and Whitney Quesenbery

UPA 2007: Patterns: Blueprints for Usability
UPA 2007 submissions will be accepted starting on August 25th! Please be sure to submit your Tutorials, Workshops, Panels, Presentations and Experienced Practitioner Topics before the September 25th deadline.

By Carol J. Smith and Alain Robillard-Bastien

The Most Non-Boring Article About The UPA Board Ever
I joined the UPA Board of Directors in 2004 after serving as President of the Dallas-Ft. Worth UPA chapter. Just before my first board meeting, I realized I had absolutely no clue what the Board actually did. (I did ask for and receive a quick overview of the Board roles and responsibilities during that first meeting. But let’s just say I’m glad there wasn’t a pop quiz at the end...).

By Paul Sherman

Podcasting for User-Centered Design
This summer marks the anniversary of initial recordings of Design Critique: Products for People with Tim & Tom, a podcast devoted to informing listeners about the advantages of User-Centered Design (UCD). I hope this article may encourage the creation of other podcasts related to UCD theory and practice.

By Timothy Keirnan

User Friendly 2006 - Hangzhou, China
In late 2004, Qin Lin, Josephine Wong, Jason Huang and Daniel Szuc from both the UPA Hong Kong and UPA China Chapters met in Shanghai to talk about usability and how both chapters could work together more effectively. It was a great opportunity to make new friends, to talk about how we could further promote usability in China, and to build a usability community long-term.

By Daniel Szuc

Experienced Practitioner's Program a Big Hit at UPA 2006
The Experienced Practitioner’s Program was a first-time event at UPA 2006. Forty lucky participants experienced five presentations geared to those with 5-10 years of experience in usability. The event was overbooked, so a group of 30 held an informal session on Tuesday morning. The informal session sparked lively and interesting discussions. To refresh themselves afterwards, many attendees went on a mountain hike. Check the UPA website for links to the pictures!

By Merryl Gross