SIG Spotlight: Usability and User Experience

If it's Thursday, it must be Spotlight time! If you weren't aware of that, don't worry; it's been a while since I've put a Spotlight up so it's hard to figure out the pattern. But we'd love to do more—all I need are some communities to volunteer! I met some great leaders at the Summit that said they were interested, but there's always room for more. If you'd like your chapter or SIG in the spotlight, email me and let's talk! Today's Spotlight is the Usability and User Experience SIG, with answers provided by Alice Preston, SIG manager.

What’s the official name of the SIG?
Usability and User Experience

When did the SIG originate?
In the mid 1990s.

How many members do you currently have?
Over 1300.

Who makes up the leadership of the SIG?
Manager Alice Preston and Assistant Manager for Development and Finances Meenakshi Khanna work with an enthusiastic volunteer team, including Membership Coordinator Linda Patryas, Newsletter Editor David Dick (STC Fellow), Discussion List Coordinator Adrian Howard, Webmaster Cheryl St. Charles, and Bookclub Coordinator Kathleen MacDowell.

Market your SIG: Give me a one-sentence purpose of the SIG.
The Usability and User eXperience community focuses on issues related to the usability and usability assessment of technical communication, providing a forum in which STC members can share information and experience.

Who should join your SIG?
STC members who would like to read about, discuss, and learn to conduct user-centered design and usability assessment activities.

What type of events do you have? What else do your members get by being members?
We have an award-winning quarterly newsletter, which is an opportunity for our members to get articles published and to learn more about usability. We have a very active book club, which regularly discusses important books in the field, including those by authors who are members of our community. We also have two information tracks at this year's STC Summit, and hold web-based seminars on topics of interest to our community members. Volunteers have the opportunity to learn UUX skills by doing them, to become noted “voices” in the UX world, and to work with long-term pros in the field.

Is there a “sister” SIG? What kind of overlap is there?
There are actually two “sister” SIGs—first, the AccessAbility SIG, since Accessibility and Usability overlap in some very important ways for materials presented in several types of media, and we have some significant cross-membership. In addition, many of us who work under variations of the User Experience job title also design interfaces, so there is a natural synergy with the Information Design and Architecture SIG.

What do you think your SIG would bring to an STC Potluck?
The games. And maybe some nice hors d'oeuvres.

What superhero would probably be a member of your SIG?
Professor X or Jean Grey because both are telepaths. Or maybe Batman. The guy has so many gadgets, and each one always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Warner Brothers makes a movie about your SIG. What genre? What title? And who would star?
We had a couple of nominations for this. First, something with Pinky and the Brain applying UCD (user-centered design) to take over the world would be fun. Second, as long as we're talking comedy (and we must), it could be some kind of takeoff on a James Bond movie—the mad designer in the back room rolling out changes while Bond conducts usability tests under duress in the lab with the two-way mirror. I guess we don't get out much, no nominations for actors.

Who’s your most accomplished member and why? 
Among our many very accomplished members, a lot of whom work hard behind the scenes to make this SIG succeed, our authors are notable (including the indefatigable Ginny Redish and Caroline Jarrett). Since all of us know a bit about writing and publishing, we're especially proud of those with new books out just in the past few months, including Design to Thrive: Creating Social Networks and Virtual Communities that Thrive by Tharon Howard, Feb. 2010; Storytelling for User Experience: Crafting Stories for Better Design by Kevin Brooks and Whitney Quesenbery, April 2010 (associated blog: Storytelling for User Experience); and upcoming books Usability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set…Test by Carol Barnum, summer 2010; and Adapting User Experience for Global Projects: Towards a Universal UX by Paul Sherman and Whitney Quesenbery, late 2010.

If you had to pick one, what would your SIGnature (haha) cocktail be?
After much discussion, we think it might be the Harvey Wallbanger—captures that moment in usability testing when the development manager charges in and asks the study participant “WHAT were you THINKing?” in a slightly different tone of voice than we'd have chosen.

Finally, brag a little bit, about anything you want.
There's a natural synergy between technical writers and user experience specialists. We're all most concerned about our users and the experience they have using what we work hard to create. Many of our senior members have writing background and distinguished careers in Tech Comm before moving to or adding User Experience. This community fosters individual growth by providing our members information and mentoring newbies into the wonderful world of usability. We'd love to have others in Tech Comm join us for the ride.

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