Interface Concepts

Seminars

To schedule
this seminar at
your location,
send email or call
Interface Concepts
at (360) 297-2500.

The following seminar is available for scheduling at your site.

Designing the User Experience: Right from the Start!

A one-day course about the early phase of user interface design.

Course Description:

Proven techniques for designing software from the user's perspective.
In this one-day course about the early phase of user interface design, you'll learn how to:

Create a central focus for your design.
Zoom in on the relevant information about users and their requirements.
Translate user descriptions into design objectives.
Use prioritized objectives to make design tradeoffs.
Approach feature lists and functional requirements from the user's point of view.
Synthesize objects and tasks into a coherent user interface.
Determine when your design is a success.

Learn how to make the right design choices from the start of your next user interface project. Streamline the process and design software that achieves the user's objectives.

Don't wait for results of user testing--get it right from the start!

Who Should Attend:

The techniques taught in this course will be useful for anyone who participates in the design of the user experience for software applications, including:

User interface designers
Application designers
Web designers
Information architects
Design leads
Software engineers
Program managers
Product managers
Usability professionals
Graphic designers
Technical writers

Due to the seminar's emphasis on collaborative, interdisciplinary design teams, your entire design team can benefit by participating in this learning experience together!

Instructor:

This course is taught by Kathy Potosnak, Ph.D., principal consultant at Interface Concepts. Her user-centric design methodology is based on over 15 years of experience in user interface design. She is an excellent speaker and has successfully applied these design techniques to a wide variety of web and desktop applications. Before starting Interface Concepts, Kathy was employed at major software companies such as Adobe and Aldus, where she was responsible for user interface design across entire product lines. She is a founder and past chair of the Puget Sound chapter of ACM SIGCHI, and an active member of the national ACM SIGCHI, the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, and the Usability Professionals Association.

Here's what previous attendees have said:

About the course:

"It was excellent. The steps were clearly described and defined, and Kathy's enthusiasm is contagious."
"Excellent--well organized, fast pace, audience participation built-in."
"Good job, was straightforward and easy to comprehend."
"Excellent -->provides practical methods I can incorporate."
"Appealing. Seems to be an excellent way to organize and sequence early tasks."
"Relates well to industry, easy to apply."
"Interesting and valuable."
"Makes a lot of sense."
"Very useful! -- gave me a framework by which I can tie together disparate UI design experiences."
"I found your relating of usability tests in the real world vis-a-vis your framework very helpful--now I understand what usability tests really accomplish."
Thanks. This was enjoyable and will be useful for my work."

About the instructor:

"Energetic and non-threatening. Professional, yet down-to-earth. Easy to listen to."
"Comfortable, light style; good incorporation of 'war stories' and humor."
"Fabulous--you have excellent presentation skills."
"Animated, lucid, fun, knowledgable."
"Excellent. Clear."
"Wonderful. Her stories/experiences are interesting."
"Very good. Lots of enthusiasm and upbeat manner."
"Great, good mix of experience, war stories and information provided, great energy and pace, never bored."
"Very good, kept me engaged and interested."
"Good job, Kathy. Lively and fun."

To schedule this seminar at your location or for information about customized training, send email or call Interface Concepts at (360) 297-2500.

Updated November 2001.