Thank you so much to the 20 or so folks who showed up for the fifth week of Whit Hour — my weekly one-hour video chat to answer any and all of your questions about user experience, consulting, and whatever else you throw at me.
I particularly appreciate your patience and determination to stick with me through our Tinychat technical difficulties. For some reason my Pro Membership wasn’t being recognized so I wasn’t able to broadcast my video/audio and had to conduct the whole Whit Hour via text-chat! My hands got tired, but it was still totally worth it.
Next week I’m on hiatus due to Labor Day Weekend, but please join me the following week on Sunday, September 13, 9-10pm Eastern Time at http://tinychat.com/whitney password:whithour, and bring your questions!
Whit Hour – Week 5
August 31, 2009, from 9-10pm ET
This week’s beer
Negra Modelo
Grupo Modelo
Mexico City, Mexico
Questions asked and (hopefully) answered
- I’m eager to learn more about UX design, but am getting swamped by resources. Where do you recommend I start?
- This might be difficult to answer this way, but how do you deal with rejection from a client or potential client?
- How often do you find having yourself sell the value of your services, as opposed to they already “get it”?
- Was getting a Master’s in HCI worth the experience?
- What has been the networking / sales technique that has most paid off for you?
- How exactly do you make contacts on Twitter?
- Any other events/meetups you recommend in NY other than IA meetup and UX book club?
- When you say “most of my gigs came through Twitter”…how does that naturally occur?
- What’s your favorite UX/Design book of the moment?
- Do you tend to work on projects mainly in the NYC area or do you move around lots?
- How about books specific to running your own business?
- Clients seem to react to prototypes/wireframes but I have a hard time getting them into personas. How do you use these? Format?
- Do you ever use personas/research just to aid in your design process and not even run them by the clients?
- Have you ever done testing in users’ actual homes?
- What software do you use to record usability tests?
- I’m trying to figure out how to market myself. I keep going back and forth between “/We/ are a UX Company/Agency/whatever” or “/I/ am a UX consultant.” Thoughts, opinions?
Full text chat
[21:04] whitneyhess: if my hands get tired I’ll let you know :)
[21:04] dianeleeper: *nod*
[21:04] jaremfan: *agrees*
[21:04] whitneyhess: Ok folks, ask your questions!
[21:05] whitneyhess: i’ll do my best to answer them via chat
[21:05] dianeleeper: I’m eager to learn more about UX design, but am getting swamped by resources. Where do you recommend I start?
[21:07] whitneyhess: @dianeleeper Start with my blog post So You Wanna Be a User Experience Designer: https://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/06/so-you-wanna-be-a-user-experience-designer-step-1-resources/
[21:07] dianeleeper: :) thank you
[21:07] jaremfan: since i’m new here – do you keep a list of questinos and answers people ask on whithour?
[21:08] lwcavallucci: This might be difficult to answer this way, but how do you deal with rejection from a client or potential client?
[21:08] whitneyhess: @jaremfan Yep here’s an example of what I do: https://whitneyhess.com/blog/2009/08/26/whit-hour-week-4/
[21:08] whitneyhess: @lwcavallucci With a beer :)
[21:09] lwcavallucci: LOL.
[21:09] jaremfan: awesome thanks
[21:09] whitneyhess: Honestly, if I don’t get the gig, I consider myself blessed
[21:09] whitneyhess: If they didn’t understand how much value I could provide to their company or didn’t have the money to pay me, then I’m lucky I didn’t end up working with them
[21:09] whitneyhess: BTW I’m drinking Negra Modelo tonight
[21:10] lwcavallucci: That’s a really good way to look at it.
[21:10] surferroop: on that point how often do you find having yourself SELL the value of your services, as opposed to they already “got it”
[21:10] dianeleeper: cheers to both of those posts
[21:10] jaremfan: i’m curious to know your experiences about doing a Masters in IxD… was it worth the experience?
[21:10] lezard: Whit, I`m new at ux in general, and i`m used to design applications or services from scratch, but now at my internship they asked me to merge aplications and make them consistent as a whole, what should be a good aproach to do that?
[21:10] whitneyhess: @Suferroop I’m always selling. Even the folks who think they get it don’t really get it
[21:10] jaremfan: I’m currently finishing my MSc in HCI here in London
[21:10] surferroop: good point
[21:10] surferroop: agree
[21:11] whitneyhess: @jaremfan I don’t actually have a Master’s in Interaction Design, I have a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction. Similar but quite different
[21:11] whitneyhess: @lezard Can you give me more detail on what you mean by “merge applications”?
[21:12] lezard: Well, the university have a lot of different services that are going online, and every single one of them was designed separetedly
[21:12] whitneyhess: Thanks so everyone who came tonight! And sorry I’m not broadcasting but Tinychat isn’t recognizing my Pro membership
[21:12] lezard: now they want a model to integrate them because its messy
[21:12] whitneyhess: I see! Well do all have the same users?
[21:13] lezard: Hmm, well, sort of
[21:13] lezard: You could narrow down maybe to 2-3 personas with a lot of similar traits
[21:13] lezard: but still different
[21:13] lezard: some got resistent with the confusion to the point of simply not using the sistem
[21:13] lezard: system
[21:14] lezard: and preffering to have the possibility of lets say, lose a semester because of panic on using it…
[21:14] whitneyhess: You need to determine if it’s an issue of inconsistent look and feel or if the divorced apps are causing workflow issues
[21:15] lezard: right now, i`m maping all the applications to see what are the real activities to find things in common
[21:15] lezard: try to see what is a pattern to use as a reference, and start from there…
[21:15] lezard: would that work ?
[21:15] whitneyhess: if there are similar sets of users across all systems then you ought to do user research holistically to understand the larger workflow
[21:16] whitneyhess: But if there are actually different users of the different systems, I’d argue that consistency doesn’t matter and it might be a different issue
[21:16] lezard: Well, but there is the possibility of 2 students being at 2 groups at the same time
[21:16] lezard: since they can do 2 courses
[21:16] whitneyhess: Sorry, I’m talking about user types
[21:16] whitneyhess: Are they all students?
[21:16] lezard: yes
[21:17] whitneyhess: okay, then it likely is a consistency issue
[21:17] whitneyhess: It might just be look and feel
[21:17] whitneyhess: Instead of a usability issue
[21:17] whitneyhess: What indication do you have that people aren’t using the apps?
[21:18] lezard: I did some research with the courses and the students, the answer is diverse
[21:18] lezard: but depending of the course
[21:18] lezard: some courses have actually to redo all of what the system was supposed to do
[21:18] whitneyhess: I think this discussion is too complicated for text :-\
[21:19] lezard: okay, I can wait a week maybe
[21:19] lezard: next question? xD
[21:19] whitneyhess: Sorry @lezard, would definitely like to talk about this more but I need considerably more background info before I’d feel comfortable giving you any advice
[21:19] lezard: but thanks for the feedback anyway
[21:19] dianeleeper: :)
[21:19] lezard: I`ll try to get more, and structure it
[21:20] whitneyhess: Thanks to everyone for being here. I’m not broadcasting tonight because Tinychat isn’t recognizing my Pro membership
[21:20] jeremypwhite: bummer
[21:21] whitneyhess: Yes, big bummer considering I pay $14.95 a month for it
[21:21] whitneyhess: No one on their team is getting back to me
[21:22] whitneyhess: Anyone got any questions for me?
[21:22] lwcavallucci: That is not cool :(
[21:22] tshukla: Can you not do this without Pro membership if you just have to broadcast your self?
[21:22] tshukla: Coz I think I tried once, and was working. Not too sure though
[21:22] whitneyhess: I’m an “owner” of this room and I have a password on the broadcast, not working
[21:23] tshukla: Oh ok
[21:23] surferroop: Am 3 mnths into going it alone, after 9 years as an innie UXD’er. All my gigs have been referrals or those I already knew. But, trying to tackle the long view of getting work. What has been the networking / sales technique that has most paid off for you?
[21:24] whitneyhess: @surferroop Killer question. I could go on and on about this
[21:24] surferroop: that’d be the book, then?
[21:24] lezard: I`d like to hear that one as well
[21:24] whitneyhess: Firstly, you’re probably not gonna be able to control the longview :)
[21:24] surferroop: yeah
[21:25] whitneyhess: And as I’m finding out at the moment, contracts don’t really mean a whole lot
[21:25] whitneyhess: So you should ALWAYS be working on your pipeline
[21:25] whitneyhess: Have you seen my Evangelizing Yourself presentation? These are some of the ways that I have put myself out there in order to stay top-of-mind
[21:25] whitneyhess: http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyhess/evangelizing-yourself-1184852
[21:26] surferroop: excellent. I’ve been meaning to listen to it too
[21:27] whitneyhess: Staying active on Twitter, blogging often, going to lots of events and conferences, just generally getting your name out there and associating it with quality — that’s the best way I know how to get work
[21:27] surferroop: events & conferences… follow up q on that.
[21:27] surferroop: …
[21:27] whitneyhess: Look for speaking engagements, consider teaching in continuing studies at your local college
[21:27] lezard: Do twitting and blogging actually make that much a difference? O_o
[21:27] lezard: surprised on that actually
[21:28] whitneyhess: Almost all of my gigs come from Twitter
[21:28] mortvia: This surprises me too
[21:28] willsansbury: @lezard How’d you hear about Whit? :)
[21:28] dianeleeper: I found this from twitter
[21:28] surferroop: wow
[21:28] lezard: ixda actually
[21:28] lezard: xD
[21:28] mortvia: @lezard – me too!
[21:28] lezard: but makes sense…
[21:28] whitneyhess: It’s the best way to get in front of people’s faces on a daily basis and show them what you care about
[21:29] whitneyhess: It’s also a great networking tool
[21:29] dlichaw: @lezard @mortiva – ixda how? the site? boards? mailing list?
[21:29] willsansbury: Huge (and awesome!) UX community on Twitter. It’s been a godsend for me.
[21:29] mortvia: @lezard – all three!
[21:29] surferroop: i’m trying to find those that are audiences outside my typical audience, especially peers like us in here. how much success is there in presenting at other types of meetings / user groups / conf / etc?
[21:29] whitneyhess: Ditto @willsansbury
[21:29] lezard: Good to know, I guess, I`ll start working on that as well
[21:29] whitneyhess: I’m presenting more for visual designers/devs/entrepreneurs lately
[21:29] whitneyhess: It’s such an untapped market
[21:29] surferroop: (for speaking engagements, that is)
[21:29] surferroop: ok, good audiences there.
[21:30] dlichaw: ditto on the twitter – it’s how i’ve kept in touch w/@whitneyhess and met @willsansbury
[21:30] whitneyhess: A bunch of folks recently presented at Agile. It’s good to get outside of the echo chamber
[21:30] surferroop: have been trying to tap into local “startup” folks == entrepreneurs.
[21:30] whitneyhess: Where do you live?
[21:30] surferroop: KC
[21:30] whitneyhess: Are there any tech meetups there?
[21:30] lezard: Well, in here is pretty rare to find HCI and UX designers…
[21:30] scribblewerks: local tech startup groups for sure
[21:30] surferroop: yeah, finding a few.
[21:30] whitneyhess: Are you going to them every month?
[21:30] lezard: the biggest conference from here on the research point had only 200 people
[21:30] surferroop: that’s a good one to focus in on.
[21:31] surferroop: will start to :)
[21:31] whitneyhess: :-D
[21:31] whitneyhess: You’ve gotta work for it
[21:31] surferroop: yups
[21:31] mortvia: I too need to attend events more often in Philly
[21:31] whitneyhess: Answering job postings is pointless
[21:31] surferroop: yups
[21:31] surferroop: yeah, those are driving me batty
[21:31] surferroop: especialyt when headhunter calls
[21:31] whitneyhess: @mortvia Check out Refresh Philly, PhillyCHI, Usability NJ
[21:31] whitneyhess: And follow @livlab @zakiwarfel @stellargirl
[21:32] lezard: Any Ideas on conferences on brazil xD ?
[21:32] lwcavallucci: Chris got laid off on Friday and I posted to Twitter. The calls coming in as a result are incredible.
[21:32] lezard: there might be some I don`t know
[21:32] dianeleeper: I’m helping a UX group in Tampa/Orlando, FL – if anyone is in that area. There are two, one for research, one for development
[21:32] mortvia: I sent an email to @livlab since I heard from @azollers that she’s looking for interns.
[21:32] whitneyhess: @lezard http://uxnet.org/cat/locales/recife
[21:32] whitneyhess: Oh I’m so sorry to hear that Lori
[21:33] lwcavallucci: Chris & I stay active with local events (and driving distance from NY to Washington)
[21:33] lwcavallucci: Thanks Whitney.
[21:33] lezard: was on that one whit
[21:33] lynneux: lwcavallucci: That’s awesome & I agree. twitter has been the source of some amazing connections and projects for me
[21:33] mortvia: True – I never though twitter could be used this way
[21:33] lwcavallucci: But it’s amazing that so many contacts that were made on Twitter are paying off.
[21:33] willsansbury: I found my new FT UX gig (transitioning from one foot in UX, one in tech comm) through Twitter. Start tomorrow!
[21:33] lynneux: @ebuie’s list of UX folks is a good resource
[21:33] lezard: Hmm, how exactly do you make contacts on twitter
[21:33] lezard: might sound a stupid question but
[21:33] lwcavallucci: @willsansbury That is so cool!
[21:34] lynneux: congrats will :)
[21:34] whitneyhess: @lezard Go to http://www.ixda.org/local.php South America > Brazil
[21:34] whitneyhess: @willsansbury Congrats! Can’t wait to hear all about it
[21:34] mortvia: @lezard just start following people
[21:34] lezard: no local ixda close by lol
[21:35] whitneyhess: @lezard Follow folks, respond to what they say. Start a conversation, point them to stuff you’ve written.
[21:35] whitneyhess: It’s just about making friends
[21:35] lezard: hmm okay
[21:35] lynneux: absolutely. and UX peeps are some of the nicest & most welcoming you’ll find anywhere :)
[21:35] willsansbury: @lezard If you’re looking for UX people to follow, @ebuie’s list is a good (but overwhelming!) place to start – http://www.luminanze.com/blog/2009/07/user-experience-tweeps.html
[21:35] whitneyhess: @lezard, There are tons of IxDA contacts in Brazil! Email them
[21:35] dianeleeper: :)
[21:35] lwcavallucci: Absolutely Lynne! I agree about UX peeps :)
[21:35] lezard: will look
[21:36] lezard: I hope I find some close by
[21:36] lezard: I`ll
[21:36] dianeleeper: Part of why I am interested in UX is that it has so many great resources online.. and it is so sorely needed
[21:36] lezard: Well, I`m interested because its fun lol
[21:36] mortvia: Agreed…I’m switching from Libraries to get in this field for that reason
[21:36] dianeleeper: like Design (with the capital D) in general. ;) It IS fun!
[21:36] whitneyhess: Thanks to everyone for being here. I’m not broadcasting tonight because Tinychat isn’t recognizing my Pro membership
[21:36] lezard: I like solving puzzles… and trying to make things actually work are fun
[21:37] whitneyhess: Anyone have any questions?
[21:37] dlichaw: @whitneyhess – any other events/meetups you recommend in NY other than IA meetup and UX book club?
[21:37] syktek: hello all
[21:38] dianeleeper: :)
[21:38] whitneyhess: NY Tech Meetup http://www.meetup.com/ny-tech/
[21:38] whitneyhess: IxDA NYC
[21:38] whitneyhess: VizThink NYC
[21:38] syktek: no video broadcast? :\
[21:39] lynneux: @lezard I explained wireframing to someone recently as it being like suduko for web geeks. they finally understood why I liked it :)
[21:39] dianeleeper: haha!
[21:39] whitneyhess: @syktek Tinychat isn’t recognizing my Pro membership
[21:39] dlichaw: The tech meetup seems so BIG – you still find it useful as far as meeting people and learning about new products/tech?
[21:39] chriscavallucci: Anders Ramsey started this group recently for people into Agile UX – http://www.agileexperiencedesign.org/
[21:39] syktek: son-of-a…
[21:39] lynneux: anything VizThink is great
[21:39] whitneyhess: @dlichaw Let me put it this way — are you going to get UX gigs from other UXers, or from business owners, developers, visual designers and investors?
[21:40] dlichaw: ha, good question
[21:40] surferroop: yups
[21:40] surferroop: when you say “most of my gigs came through twitter”… were they followers, were you having a conversation there, or referrals, or they found you by searching for #ux or something. How does that naturally occur?
[21:41] lynneux: most of my recent gigs have been hand offs from other swamped UXers
[21:41] whitneyhess: @surferroop Naturally :) It’s organic. Sometimes it’s that the person has been following me for a while. Other times they’re referred by someone who follows me
[21:41] mcectocooler: Whitney,What’s your favorite UX/Design book of the moment?
[21:43] whitneyhess: @mcectocooler Project Guide to UX http://projectuxd.com/
[21:43] surferroop: i echo that answer
[21:44] lynneux: yes, is great book
[21:44] whitneyhess: Just bought Designing the Obvious, but haven’t started yet so can’t quite recommend it :)
[21:44] jaremfan: whitney – do you tend to work on projects mainly in the NYC area or do you move around lots? esp since you get a lot of gigs via the interwebs.
[21:44] surferroop: and to expound @mcectocooler’s q, how about books specific to running your own biz (not just from ux perspective) e.g. marketing, sales, finances, time management, etc… or do we really have to wait for your book again? ;)
[21:45] whitneyhess: @surferroop I read lots of stuff, which is partially why I’d like to distill it in my own book
[21:45] whitneyhess: Reading Secrets of Consulting now http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Consulting-Giving-Getting-Successfully/dp/0932633013
[21:46] whitneyhess: @jaremfan Many of my clients are local, but I’ve also had clients in South Africa, Israel, Vermont. It varies
[21:46] whitneyhess: I do a lot of video conferencing
[21:46] whitneyhess: Adobe Connect mostly
[21:47] jaremfan: thanks
[21:47] whitneyhess: @surferroop Some recent reads: Raving Fans, Outliers, The Tao of Pooh
[21:47] lynneux: question about personas? clients seem to react to prototypes/wireframes but i have a hard time getting them into personas
[21:48] surferroop: cool
[21:48] lynneux: how do you use these? format?
[21:48] jaremfan: outliers is awesome
[21:48] lynneux: understanding the user is so key, but they seem to go ‘yeah, yeah show us the designs’ :(
[21:49] dlichaw: @lynneus – that’s how my clients react to even wireframes and sitemaps, charts, docs, etc ;)
[21:49] surferroop: yeah, i’ve had that challenge. Finding a nice way to say, “you are not the [product]’s end user.”
[21:49] whitneyhess: @lynneux When I explain them over the phone, they’re totally confused. So I tend to follow up with an in person meeting. I walk them through the interviews that I did and show how the findings were synthesized into personas. Then I describe how the personas lead to the scenarios and the scenarios lead to features, ultimately determining what to build. If it weren’t for the user interviews, we wouldn’t know who our target audiences really are. The personas are just a way of expressing what we
[21:49] whitneyhess: learned
[21:50] lwcavallucci: I just lost a client because I brought up the “users”. They wanted to think it was about them, not user.
[21:50] lynneux: *sigh*
[21:50] lynneux: :)
[21:50] whitneyhess: I would caution you against focusing on the document. It’s about the process and the intelligence you gather with each step
[21:50] whitneyhess: @lwcavallucci Thank your lucky stars! You did not want those people as clients
[21:51] lynneux: Agreed
[21:51] whitneyhess: Without the users it’s basically masturbation
[21:51] surferroop: oy
[21:51] chriscavallucci: :)
[21:51] lezard: LOL
[21:51] whitneyhess: The only person you’re making feel good is yourself
[21:51] surferroop: yeah, they are not the users. I’ve got 20 “nice” ways to tell them that.
[21:51] lezard: you have to twit that I`m realy loling a lot here
[21:51] lwcavallucci: I know that now. Didn’t knowwhy at time I lost them though. Now it makes me feel relieved.
[21:51] chriscavallucci: i will not forget that analogy
[21:52] dlichaw: @whitneyhess – that’s a good point. Do you ever use personas/research just to aid in your design process and not even run them by the clients?
[21:52] dianeleeper: Anytime you have to translate into marketing jargon it’s not so good. Users = Customers
[21:52] whitneyhess: @surferroop I prefer not being nice about that.
[21:52] lezard: yeah I`ll never forget that to the rest of my life
[21:52] dlichaw: i.e. if you have resistant clients, that is
[21:52] lynneux: I’ve started going that route @dlichaw
[21:52] whitneyhess: @dlichaw Absolutely, but I tend not to put them in a pretty document when they’re just for myself
[21:52] whitneyhess: :)
[21:52] dlichaw: righto
[21:52] lynneux: Had colleagues who actually did a skit for the client, acting out various ‘users’.
[21:53] whitneyhess: But I’d do the same interviews/observations and synthesis
[21:53] whitneyhess: @lynneux That’s amazing! Genius idea
[21:53] lynneux: clients loved it, laughed a lot…but they got it
[21:53] dlichaw: @lynneux – I have a documentary film bg and have found the process for UX research and filmmaking to be quite similar – was thinking i’d make a funny movie to show clients someday
[21:53] dianeleeper: I wonder if that would be as effective as a video
[21:54] whitneyhess: I’m pretty blunt. My clients get the point. If during the initial meetings I get the sense that they’re sensitive, they’re not the clients for me
[21:54] lynneux: i think it’s a good idea. i’ve started to realize that i talk a lot about “engaging users” but that applies to my own clients too!
[21:54] dlichaw: @dianeleeper – yeah, probably too much effort, which is why it’s just in my head
[21:54] willsansbury: Love that idea of skit/video. Huge value in user research to build empathy, and those media seem more emotionally accessible than a document.
[21:54] dlichaw: @whitneyhess…someday I’ll be selective with what clients I take! Mark my words!
[21:55] whitneyhess: Start selective
[21:55] lynneux: i find that user research actually takes up a significant portion of my time, so clients want to see some ‘value’ or outcome from it
[21:55] lezard: good advice I guess
[21:55] scribblewerks: Do you consider remote usability testing or work with a brick and mortar usability lab? Why?
[21:55] dlichaw: @whitneyhess good point. taken.
[21:55] whitneyhess: @dlichaw You don’t realize how ahead of the game you already are. If you aren’t selective, if you don’t pay attention to the cues, you’re just devaluing yourself
[21:55] lwcavallucci: I agree with Whitney on starting selective because the clients that I have had doubts about cause nightmares for me in the end.
[21:55] whitneyhess: @lynneux What’s taking up so much time?
[21:56] dlichaw: @whitneyhess I feel like we’re talking about dating ;)
[21:56] dlichaw: but very very good advice
[21:56] mortvia: I was thinking that too!
[21:56] mortvia: That applies to life in general, really
[21:56] dlichaw: so true
[21:56] lwcavallucci: dlichaw. It kind of is like dating :) you’re right.
[21:56] whitneyhess: @scribblewerks I don’t get a lot of value out of formal test centers, but I have used them in the past. If the client is a giant company and you need a tremendous paper trail then those facilities might be best because of their A/V set up and one-way mirror
[21:57] scribblewerks: so you do informal testing?
[21:57] lynneux: I suppose it’s not a *lot* of time, but researching who users are, interviewing them if necessary
[21:57] whitneyhess: @scribblewerks 90% of the time, yes
[21:57] whitneyhess: Still get a TON of value out of it
[21:57] scribblewerks: So you basically stalk users.
[21:58] lynneux: pretty much ;)
[21:58] whitneyhess: @lynneux You should start hearing trends after just a few interviews. You can report on those verbally before you’re done with any documentation
[21:58] lynneux: yeah…that’s more where i’m going lately
[21:58] whitneyhess: @scribblewerks Not sure what you mean re: stalking
[21:58] dianeleeper: Is there a central resource for those testing centers? A keyword to google? I’d love to go see one in real life
[21:58] whitneyhess: @dianeleeper What city are you in?
[21:58] dianeleeper: Tampa/Orlando FL
[21:59] whitneyhess: http://www.herron-research.com/
[21:59] dianeleeper: ty
[21:59] dianeleeper: HA! I’ve even been in that building
[22:00] jeremypwhite: great, that’s for indianapolis too
[22:00] whitneyhess: They aren’t going to market themselves as “UX” in any way
[22:00] lynneux: Whit have you ever done testing in users’ actual homes?
[22:00] whitneyhess: Those centers are usually for market research
[22:00] whitneyhess: but the facilities are multipurpose
[22:00] whitneyhess: @lynneux I did in-home observations and usability tests for boxee
[22:01] whitneyhess: @dianeleeper @jeremypwhite First Google result. Glad it’s a good resource!
[22:01] surferroop: good example. i’ve done grocery store self-checkout observations. fuuun
[22:01] lynneux: How did you find that and did you use any software to record? A couple of the users i’m visiting are Mac users, so I was going to use SilverBack (so awesome!) but am unsure for PC
[22:01] livlab: am I super late or is there no Whit on video today?
[22:02] whitneyhess: @liv Tinychat isn’t recognizing my Pro membership
[22:02] whitneyhess: So no broadcast
[22:02] willsansbury: Paul Sherman (@pjsherman on Twitter) posted this write up on how to run remote usability testing on a shoe string budget. Might be interesting for people thinking about formal/informal. http://www.usabilityblog.com/index.php/2009/08/29/low-rent-usability-tech-tip-remote-usability-testing-with-observers-watching/
[22:02] livlab: @whitneyhess gotcha
[22:02] whitneyhess: @lynneux I don’t usually record the tests
[22:02] surferroop: Trying to figure out how to market myself. I keep going back and forth between “/We/ are a UX Company/Agency/whatever” or “/I/ am a UX consultant.” Thoughts, opinions?
[22:02] lynneux: Ah.
[22:02] dlichaw: There’s also a bit in the back of Don’t Make Me Think
[22:02] whitneyhess: But I’ve used Morae UserVue in the past
[22:03] whitneyhess: @surferroop Is there more than one of you?
[22:03] lynneux: cool, ty. I haven’t tried Morae yet
[22:03] surferroop: heh… no
[22:03] livlab: (Coming in late but I hear remote testing… Kyle Soucy gave a great talk about trends in testing methods, including remote at PhillyCHI – video here http://phillychi.acm.org/?p=281)
[22:03] whitneyhess: Then don’t pretend to be bigger
[22:03] whitneyhess: You’ll probably get gigs you aren’t prepared for :)
[22:04] surferroop: i try to market myself as “boutique IxD agency”
[22:04] willsansbury: Thanks, @livlab :)
[22:04] surferroop: as a way to balance that out a bit
[22:04] lwcavallucci: @lynneux there’s some testing resources that are out in beta right now, too. I can find them for you later and email.
[22:04] lynneux: sweet. thanks Lori :)
[22:04] whitneyhess: @surferroop I can’t speak to the advantages of that
[22:04] surferroop: np
[22:04] willsansbury: @surferroop Seriously? That’d turn me off big time.
[22:05] whitneyhess: Alright, we’re almost out of time. Any more questions?
[22:05] surferroop: which part, boutique?
[22:05] willsansbury: Yeah… I’d just call yourself a consultant. No need to dress it up.
[22:05] willsansbury: My opinion, anyway. :)
[22:05] lynneux: Agree with @willsansbury
[22:05] surferroop: appreciated :)
[22:05] dianeleeper: Since I get most of my gigs from personal meetings/twitter identification, I say keep them liking you – not a firm
[22:05] livlab: @whitneyhess How long until Simple Human approaches you to redesign their website? ;)
[22:06] surferroop: maybe “boutique” is out-of-jargon or generation.
[22:06] whitneyhess: @livlab They just @’ed me on Twitter! :)
[22:06] surferroop: thx dianeleeper
[22:06] whitneyhess: http://twitter.com/simplehumans/status/3678749880
[22:06] livlab: @whitneyhess yes I just saw that, very cool.
[22:06] whitneyhess: In love!
[22:06] livlab: haha
[22:06] whitneyhess: Did you see my pic earlier?
[22:06] livlab: yup.
[22:06] lwcavallucci: Whitney. that is sooo cool!
[22:06] livlab: amazing all the product spotting. funny too
[22:07] dianeleeper: link? *confused*
[22:07] whitneyhess: http://twitter.com/whitneyhess/status/3671454011
[22:07] whitneyhess: http://twitter.com/whitneyhess/status/3668383249
[22:07] whitneyhess: The second link should have been first
[22:08] lwcavallucci: Hey @ldragoman. You’re late :)
[22:09] whitneyhess: Ok if there’s no other questions I’m gonna peace out
[22:09] scribblewerks: Thank you for hosting.
[22:09] ldragoman: haha…chris just sent me the info
[22:09] lwcavallucci: Thanks for doing this Whitney. It couldn’t have been easy.
[22:09] mortvia: Thank you Whitney! :)
[22:09] dlichaw: Yeah, thanks, this was super
[22:09] dianeleeper: Thank you for all the great links and info, Whitney!
[22:09] willsansbury: You rock, Whit. Thanks for giving back so much.
[22:09] tshukla: Thank you!
[22:09] surferroop: thanks so much whit!
[22:09] jaremfan: thanks, whitney
[22:10] whitneyhess: Thank you ALLLL for bearing with me without the broadcast. I’m sure it wasn’t all that easy to follow
[22:10] lwcavallucci: @ldragoman Stick with me, not Chris & I’ll set you up right. heehee
[22:10] dianeleeper: When is the next chat/broadcast scheduled?
[22:10] lwcavallucci: It was fine to follow until I had a short person come into my room and bother me.
[22:10] lezard: thanks for the help whit
[22:11] lezard: I`ll try to get more info and structure it better for next time
[22:12] mortvia: @lezard Are you on Twitter?
[22:12] dianeleeper: I’ve got enough info to last me to the end of the year, but I’d still like to hear more. ;)
[22:12] lezard: Yep
[22:12] lezard: I`m @lezardfleck
[22:12] chriscavallucci: Thanks Whitney. Keep in touch.
[22:12] mortvia: Will be following you as @mortvia :)
[22:12] lezard: if anyone want to follow me or discuss more about ux
[22:12] lezard: I`d be glad
[22:12] dianeleeper: I’ll add you, I’m @dianeleeper
[22:12] dlichaw: I’m @dlichaw
[22:12] lezard: @mortvia animefan? xD
[22:12] scribblewerks: I’m @scribblewerks
[22:13] mortvia: Yes :)
[22:13] lezard: same here
[22:13] whitneyhess: Ooh glad you reminded me. The next Whit Hour will be Sunday 13th due to Labor Day
[22:14] mortvia: @lezard – Awesome!
[22:14] dianeleeper: Thanks!
[22:14] lwcavallucci: You rock Whitney! Thanks!
[22:14] lezard: following all you
[22:14] dianeleeper: Interesting.. most of us have drawn avatars.
[22:14] whitneyhess: I’ll be in Toronto for IDEA http://ideaconference.org/2009/Home but I’ll make it work
[22:14] lezard: thanks with
[22:14] dianeleeper: Scott McCloud would be proud.
[22:14] whitneyhess: Sorry again for the broadcasting issues
[22:14] lezard: not at all
[22:15] whitneyhess: See you all in two weeks!
[22:15] dianeleeper: Will IDEA be broadcasting the sessions?
[22:15] lezard: also I`ll think a little about your suggestions, even with a lot of grey areas
[22:15] lezard: from my part
[22:15] whitneyhess: Twitter @whitneyhess anytime
[22:15] lezard: If I have any questions I will
[22:16] whitneyhess: Bye everyone!
[22:16] lezard: bye bye
[22:16] chriscavallucci: bye
[22:16] mortvia: Bye all
[22:16] lezard: nice meeting everyone
[22:16] dianeleeper: See you in two weeks! :)
[22:17] lynneux: Thx again to Whit. Night all :)
Join me in two weeks
Sunday, September 13, 9-10pm Eastern Time at http://tinychat.com/whitney password:whithour, and bring your questions!
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