–Engage

YOU MUST RSVP TO ATTEND: NYC-RSVP (at) ixda (dot) org

Rich Internet Applications: Why Do “Rich”? What is “Rich”?

Presented by: David Malouf, Senior Designer, Motorola

Date/Time: Thursday, February 22nd, 6:30pm

Location: In Midtown, full details provided on RSVP
e-mail nyc-rsvp (at) ixda (dot) org

About the Talk:

There’s been a lot of talk about Rich Internet Applications (RIA) over the last few years. When the topic was first raised through the release of Flash MX’s change in focus from an interactive animation development studio, to an application development environment there was an early
conversation about trying to define what a RIA is. Then as other players tried to enter the field a bit more ferociously the conversation has turned towards how. Not in terms in of design, but rather in terms of technology. Little care has been given to the more sensitive topic of what and why.

In this presentation, David is going to move beyond the usual story of patterns, code, and tips and tricks, and talk more about aesthetics, experience design, brand, and total environmental context of use. He’s going to layer those elements over a discussion around trying to define
“richness” in the context of general application design and then try to apply it to a continuum of various types of computer and network based solutions.

David has given this talk at the UI12 conference and will soon be appearing at the IA Summit 2007. He is offering the talk to us at this free IxDA event. If you can’t catch David’s talk at those two venues, be sure to join us at this event and have some RIA fun!

About David

David Malouf is currently a Sr. Designer of User Experiences at Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Group where he currently designs enterprise applications for managing mobile devices, as well as concept applications for mobile devices using technologies like RFID and GPS.
David is also the current VP of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and one of its primary founders. Previous to his new role at Motorola, David was Manager of User Experience at IntraLinks where he directed and managed user experience design of a Rich Internet Application for a hosted content management and distribution system. David has also done
similar work for Documentum, BMG, EMI, AT&T, and a host of others. David is also an avid blogger on the topic of RIAs and other relevant interaction design topics at http://synapticburn.com/

To attend this talk and get location details, please RSVP to nyc-rsvp (at) ixda (dot) org.

As always, if you are interested in getting involved with the NYC IxDA, please e-mail us at nyc (at) ixda (dot) org, or visit our web site at http://www.ixda.org

C|Net tries really hard to get UX, but doesn’t quite. I find this article so interesting. Here is supposedly an org that led the UX experience with its Builder.com conferences in the late 90′s writing an article about UX Design as if no one has ever heard of it before. Well, I guess its news to someone, but what a shame. This article belongs maybe in the Economist, but not a cutting edge Comp Zine like C|Net.

Or worse, this is a sign about how far away UX Design is from being understood by all who need it.

I really can’t believed the author said, “field of so-called human-computer interaction” … That was a bit of a slap and only in the 2nd paragraph.

Barak Obama takes Web 2.0 to the Presidential Campaign on his web site. I mean, it is about “You”, right?

I am really impressed with this site. I haven’t looked at the others yet, but I’m impressed with how he set up MySpace for his followers. Very nice. I haven’t even seen MoveOn.org do something like this yet.

On the other hand, Hillary Rodham Clinton has given tools for supporters to do stuff, it is not the same type of “you”. Its all about doing for her, as opposed to doing for you. The difference is subtle and says a lot about the message.

On a “design” evaluation note, I would also say that Obama’s site is much better. Much more legible, cleaner, and stately. Hillary’s is a bit all over the place, and cold.

Hillary on the other hand did the Web 2.0 think differently. She posted a question on Yahoo! Answers. I find this to be daring and brilliant and totally in the “You” spirit. (Thank you Joshua Porter for the link.)

We all think that Howard Dean started the online political revolution, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen nothin’ yet. It will be a fun 2 years!

In this recent article about ROI of Design in Fast Company, we learn how Whirlpool is attempting to monetize design.

I find the method really interesting. They basically use evaluation methods which one might find to evaluate an advertising campaign (something those design companies have been doing for decades) and applying it to product design.

Sun has released a template of comics scenes and a character avatar to use for comic creation.

I’d like to take this opportunity to just say that since I’ve been at Motorola Enterprise Mobility, I have fallen in love with comics as an amazing design exploration and communication tool. They are just wonderful.

If people are interested in learning more about using these in the UX world, Kevin Cheng of workshop on using comics as a design tool”>OK-Cancel fame teaches a workshop on using comics as a design tool that I know will be a pre-conference workshop at the IA Summit at the end of March. I’ve been to the short lecture of Kevin and he is a great presenter and I have heard repeated rave reviews from his workshop at last year’s IA Summit and at this past months Web Application Summit.