Whit Hour – Week 19

Thank you so much to the ~26 people who showed up for the nineteenth 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.

Tune in every Monday night from 10-11pm Eastern Time at http://www.livestream.com/whithour.

Whit Hour – Week 19

October 18, 2010, from 10:15-11:15pm ET

This Week’s Beer

No beer this week!

Questions Asked and (Hopefully) Answered

1. Have you ever done guerrilla testing on a cafe? How do you approach people? Are they usually receptive? Do you reward them?
2. Have you found the need to tailor your approach to UX when working wit newer approaches to business building such as lean startups, customer dev processses, agile development methodologies etc?
3. Do you have “hot tips” for usability testing?
4. How do you handle “the rate question?”
5. In what ways is your UX work is informed by your HCI education? Who are essential Twitter accounts for formal HCI?
6. I’m interested in knowing what types of CMS systems you like to work with. Do you think CMS is hurting UX in general?
7. Can you talk a little more about your discovery process both fromthe aspect of you understanding the client and the client understanding you and your role.
8. Any tips on conducting brainstorming sessions with people who are not designers?
9. Do you know resources for an university alumni website design?
10. How often are you asked to revisit a prior project, for instance to repeat the evaluation part, of that project? Do you find users grow over time changing their experiences?
11. I’m a computer science student, but now I’ve decided that I really want to get into the field of UX/IA. I don’t really want to continue studying computer science. What should I do?
12. How highly do you value empathy as a skill? And, do you find that it is a skill that many are aware of in the web design/dev field?
13. Have you ever worked on desktop software?
14. What are some good books to get into this field?

Full Text Chat

Welcome to the ‘whithour’ room.
gabimoore: Hi Whitney!
laurapeterson: Hi! :)
gabimoore: Alright, I gotta a question:
gabimoore: Have you ever done Gorilla testing on a cafe? How do you approach people? Are they usually receptive? Do you reward them?
bobpetrie: hi whitney
gabimoore: *I meant in a cafe
bobpetrie: have you found the need to tailor your approach to UX when working wit newer approaches to business building such as lean startups, customer dev processses, agile development methodologies etc?
gabimoore: Awesome, thanks!
rowast: whit dont say anything profound i cant listen until i am off the phone
laurapeterson: do you have “hot tips” for usability testing?
whitneyhess mod: http://startuxs.com
bobpetrie: nice
dafark8: how can we forget the classic question: “what;s the beer?”
andrewechidna: I’m interested in knowing what types of CMS systems you like to work with
james3neal: Yankee game is good but we love Whitney!
bobpetrie: yep.. thanks’\
bobpetrie: (go yankees)
andrewechidna: follow up to that – do you think CMS is hurting UX in general?
laurapeterson: cool, thanks, great tips!
mcarvin: Hi Whitney! Long time listener, first time caller. How do you handle “the rate question?”
james3neal: In what ways is your UX work is informed by your HCI education? Who are essential Twitter accounts for formal HCI?
andrewechidna: – do you think CMS is hurting UX in general?
mcarvin: exactly
whitneyhess mod: https://whitneyhess.com/blog/consulting
andrewechidna: my experience is that really engaging UX can’t be maintained by CMS – clients want CMS but in reality they aren’t skilled enough to maintain it.
laurapeterson: good point
AKAMisterSmith: hear hear
mcarvin: excellent point
mcarvin: yes!
mcarvin: :)
AKAMisterSmith: Can you talk a little more about your discovery process both fromthe aspect of you understanding the client and the client understanding you and your role.
james3neal: TY! Be well! OK!
fajalar: I miss y!live. Hi Whitney. :)
andrewechidna: those are great examples thanks – i watched a sxsw panel debate that CMS is killing UX – but likely more do to lazy programmers
andrewechidna: thanks for your feedback
gabimoore: Any tips on conducting brainstorming sessions with people who are not designers?
laurapeterson: Do you know resources for an alumni program design?
bobpetrie: (isn’t anyone going to ask her what she is like on a first date? … she kind of left the door open for that one)
fajalar: There’s a doc of kickoff questions that are free to use how you see fit at: http://usability.gov/templates/index.html
AKAMisterSmith: Thanks so much!!
whitneyhess mod: Gamestorming
whitneyhess mod: David Gray and Sunni Brown
mcarvin: Macanufo
ebrownco: How often are you asked to revisit a prior project, for instance to repeat the evaluation part, of that project? Do you find users grow over time changing their experiences?
laurapeterson: http://blog.brainstore.com
laurapeterson: Alumni website design for X university
fajalar: fah-jah-lar (matto was taken)
fajalar: Longitudinal studies are a hard sell for most companies
whitneyhess mod: UI Conf
fiveminutes: Have you ever considered MBSR Mindful Based Stress Reduction? Just curious
james3neal: http://educheckup.com/
laurapeterson: thanks
fajalar: spam?
fiveminutes: You don’t have to mindmap it
TriTri: I’m a computer science student, but now I’ve decided that I really want to get into the field of UX/IA. I don’t really want to continue studying computer science. What should I do
TriTri: tri
TriTri: yeah i was thinking of that!
TriTri: no hci T_T
TriTri: do i need academia for this field?
fiveminutes: OK maybe I was mean….We Love You
TriTri: you are my god right now
TriTri: i was really thinking of that school, but it’s a grad school right?
poshable: How highly do you value empathy as a skill?
poshable: and, do you find that it is a skill that many are aware of in the web design/dev field?
TriTri: wow, thank you for your answer
laurapeterson: Have you ever worked on desktop software?
poshable: Is this question about empathy relevant to others here?
fajalar: Empathy garnished with skepticism as people don’t always need what they say they need.
poshable: I think I have it in excess, but learning how to be more tactful with it is a goal.
james3neal: Please menition the title again
fiveminutes: what the world is fajalar? If you don’t mind?
poshable: Learning with Empathy, John Selby.
james3neal: cool TY
fajalar: just say matto
fiveminutes: The General Public puts the cart before the Horse among other stuff…lol
TriTri: You’ve probably have gotten this question before, but what are some good books to get into this field? So far I have “Design of everyday things” and “project guide to UX Design”
poshable: Empathy is a skill that many don’t understand. It can seem too mystical to some.
fajalar: yes
mcarvin: @TriTri Information Architecture for the WWW
AKAMisterSmith: Rangers just broke the game open… :)
mcarvin: @TriTri Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
whitneyhess mod: UX Bookshelf
poshable: Thank you, that was a rewarding response.
fiveminutes: NO not yet
TriTri: awesome for the answers!
james3neal: Rest well Whitney and Thanks again!
mcarvin: Thanks!!!
bobpetrie: Yay Whitney!
poshable: Good night. Sleep well.
TriTri: Thanks!
TriTri: yankees boo
TriTri: rangers boo
fajalar: bye-ee!
AKAMisterSmith: great talk!
bobpetrie: night
fiveminutes: thank you
gabimoore: bye!

JOIN ME NEXT WEEK

Monday, October 25, 10-11pm Eastern Time at http://www.livestream.com/whithour, and bring your questions!

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