

Featured Talk
Coordinated By:
Carrianne Tuckley
ctuckley@hotmail.com
Kent State University Student Center - Room 306, 1075 Risman Drive, Kent, OH 44242
Agenda
Search is an integral part of information architecture (IA). Yet many web professionals believe that search engine usage is a failure of site navigation and the underlying architecture. In reality, a website's information architecture can actually support searcher behavior and make content easier to find via browsing, querying, and asking...even on the World Wide Web.
In this session, search expert Shari Thurow will go over searcher behaviors that all websites should accommodate - from fishing expeditions to known-item searching. Includes quick tips and techniques on properly optimizing digital documents for a positive searcher experience.
Humans are naturally creative, curious beings. We like to solve our own puzzles, and our brains reward us with a rush of dopamine every time we make uncommon connections between seemingly unrelated things. This is serendipity, and it brings us happiness. Designers have a chance to facilitate serendipity within the experiences we create.
I will share examples of how my teams have made data-driven, user-centered design choices that facilitate serendipity. And because serendipity is often seen as synonymous with uncertainty in business, we will discuss best practices for how to present, promote, and build client advocacy for serendipity.
When user research showed the Marriott.com reservations team how important it was for users to review their details before confirming a reservation, we set out on a process of iterative experience design and research to get it right. The result was ultimately a change in the steps of our reservation path, and a major overhaul of the review page to make it clearer, more pleasing, and responsive, so that it now gives users the information they need to be reassured, on any device size.
Do people really want or expect information to make them happy? As designers and architects, can we actually architect happiness or is it something else? With the tidal wave of the Internet of Things and sensors monitoring our every move, it's never been more important to connect information and experiences. It's about empowering people to do whatever they need to do and move on. In this talk, I'll show you how we need to aim for confidence over happiness but the devil (& delight) is in the details.
In short, a content audit is the tracking of all content you currently publish, and it is considered a cornerstone of a successful content strategy. Also, the term generally applies to governance of website content, but auditing the content included in your user assistance library is equally important, regardless of if that content is used for online help, printed manuals, graphic walkthroughs, videos, or a combination of all of these. This process is also commonly associated with the term "mind-numbing."
In this presentation, we'll look into ways of creating an effective and less painful audit plan.
Negotiation is a hot topic in technology and this talk will provide the most influential ideas in business regarding negotiation and empower the audience to be effective negotiators.
IA's negotiate on behalf of users throughout the development life cycle. We do this as we work with team members, stakeholder and clients; and those skills are especially helpful when we make difficult-to-hear recommendations. Unfortunately, many of us are not taught skills that will help us negotiate well.
This session will provide the audience with tools to become effective negotiators in their personal and professional lives.
As a UX practitioner, you are reminded every day that "You are not the user!" , so you painstakingly consider the user’s needs, goals, and even their environments in your work. Yet, have you ever stopped to consider your own needs as practitioner or the needs of a happy team? Have you ever done an assessment of your own strengths and the strengths of your team to best serve the user? This talk will focus on the various dimensions that make up a happy UX team and how to assess your new or existing teams. We'll also take a peek into a small, local UX team seeking to make big changes in their organization by using each of their individual strengths to their advantage.
Too often does good UX design fall prey to "conventional wisdom" and an app or website is hijacked by stakeholders way too eager to believe theoretical nonsense, without any credible proof or even their own relevant experience. In this session, we will explore some of the more common pitfalls of UX mythology, from the legendary Adventures Beyond the Page Fold, to The 3 Clicks of Destiny, to The Faceted Navigation of Doom and more! Armed with the truth, you will be able to reliably defend against the onslaught of poor UX, perpetrated by design-by-committee, and reach true UX harmony.