Key Learnings from UI 9

October 18, 2004

So, I made it back from Boston on Friday. A few of my friends have asked me, "When are you going to post about your key learnings?" "Get it up on the blog."

I have tons of notes and key takeaways from the sessions and discussions I participated in, but based upon my motivation level from the conference and my blogs I am not sure if I will ever really post it all. Why?

The funny thing is I really don't know where to start. To paraphrase an email I sent to one of my co-workers, the UI 9 Conference had a major impact on me personally, professionally, and from a company organizational perspective. (Boy, having re-read that statement, it almost sounds like a born-again kind of statement, but it almost is true).

On a personal level, I got a clear sense of what I want to do with myself...a motivational cumbuya having been in a high energy conference. With that I have a plan of action, which is more than I can say for myself before I went to Boston.

Professionally, I learned a few techniques, such as the "5 Second Usability Test" and also got a sense that most of the usability, political, and design problems I am facing are not unique. That latter piece was very comforting considering some of the insane situations I am finding myself in the middle of these days.

Also, I came away with a reminder that the true value of Usability and User experience is not really appreciated by Senior Management. In the end usability needs to be portrayed in concepts they understand...meaning, increase revenue, shareholder value, market share, etc. So, the term "Usability Testing" is something that needs to be banned in conversations at that level because the folks don't care about it.

And then Organizationally...well, let's just say that it became clear to me that there is a need for a usability soul searching process. That's all I can say because I really don't know where it will go or where I can take it.

I will try to finish posting some of the session highlights (like I started to do while in Boston), but I am not making any promises.