August 2008 Contents

Ballot Design and Usability

On July 21 the Brennan Center for Justice released a report about the impact of poor ballot designs and unclear instructions on voters. I am listed as one of the authors. Other members from the UPA Usability in Civic Life Project also worked on this project.

By Whitney Quesenbery

Teaching Election Officials Usability Testing

The election calendar is very tight, with legally mandated deadlines and other constraints, all conducted in the public view. The UPA Voting and Usability Project wanted a way to fit usability testing into that schedule, and give election officials a way to do what they all want: run excellent elections.

By Whitney Quesenbery

Using Calculators for User Engagement

Calculators can play important roles on websites. They are especially popular for financial sites, where they can help users calculate mortgage payments, retirement needs, interest earned, and so on. They also appear on other sites, where users can calculate things as varied as their BMI (body mass index), carbon footprint, life expectancy, or gas mileage.

By Yun Zhou and Cliff Anderson

Market Research Event Conference

The Market Research Event is the premier industry event for market research and consumer insight professionals. It is the conference with the most client side participation in the world.

Call for Proposal Submissions and Reviewers for the User Experience and Usability Program at CHI 2009

The CHI 2009 User Experience and Usability (UXU) Committee would like to encourage practitioners to submit proposals, review proposals, and attend the next CHI conference. The conference will be held April 5 - 9, 2009, in Boston, Massachusetts (USA).

By Susan Dray, Arnie Lund, Chauncey Wilson & Elizabeth Buie

What's new at UPA 2009?

UPA conferences are a crucial part of the ongoing conversation about what it means to be a practitioner of usability and user experience. (I personally believe the being is in the doing!) We also have a responsibility to take into account the realities of our participants and attendees - whether they be seasoned experts or newcomers to the field - and adapt the conference to reflect their changing needs and expectations.

By Kate Caldwell