Conference Trip -Twitter as Diary

This is the stream of tweets starting when I left Chicago for the conference. I thought it would be fun to make a blog post to capture the stream of consciousness that captured my IDEA 2009 experience. It was the first IDEA I have been able to attend since its inception a few years ago.

• At the gate in Chicago -2 flights til Toronto- excited to attend @IDEA09 6:03 AM Sep 13th from Tweetie
• @russu absolutely-so many stories-when do you arrive in Toronto? 8:10 AM Sep 13th from Tweetie in reply to russu
• dear @livlab when you return from your run i have a present for you (i’m at the Sheraton) 3:07 PM Sep 13th from Tweetie
• I’m heading to the Sheraton lobby now… RT @livlab: #idea09 peeps: when will lobby congregation commence? (via @mcarvin) 3:39 PM Sep 13th from Tweetie
  
• finally met @theguigirl in real life AND she shared some bacon chocolate with me too #luckygirl 7:40 AM Sep 14th from web
• Good thing @nathanacurtis brought all those extra scissors for @eightshapes workshop – #idea09 10:07 AM Sep 14th from Tweetie

• And safe travel when they let you out. RT @livlab @semanticwill sending antibureaucratic thoughts your way. 11:33 AM Sep 14th from Tweetie
• RT @gumptionthomas Facebook as landlord: “Sure, you can move out. But you need to leave your pictures, clothes, and furniture behind.”4:57 PM Sep 14th from Tweetie
• do you have data in a google product?-YOU own it & they want you to be able to get it in and out easily
  The Data Liberation Front (the Data Liberation Front)
• Thanks to the volunteers #idea2009 8:19 AM Sep 15th from Tweetie

• Tip for event MC’s be like @russu – bring your own laugh track 8:21 AM Sep 15th from Tweetie
• @halvorson location…location…location – hope it was a really good egg 9:13 AM Sep 15th from Tweetie in reply to halvorson
• Second speaker showing video I’ve already seen – #amitoopluggedintouserexperience? #idea09 9:25 AM Sep 15th from Tweetie
• ‘neither too chaotic or too routine’ that’s what humans thrive on #idea09 11:11 AM Sep 15th from Tweetie
• Intriguing framework of architecting posed by @cwodtke illustrated by ‘our boys’ #idea09 1:09 PM Sep 15th from Tweetie

• @akalata how about 7 in the lobby? we can go out side 4:39 PM Sep 15th from Tweetie in reply to akalata
• when someone adds you to their mafia family PLEASE stop clicking on the link – bad things happen when you click the link #justsayin 4:40 PM Sep 15th from Tweetie
• frack! i have no flight home after this trip to Toronto due to the confusion of a necessary rebooking! #madscramble 6:28 PM Sep 15th from Tweetie
• ok – so now i have a flight home BUT i have to leave in the morning OR pay $900 to get there on thursday #traveliscomplicated 7:15 PM Sep 15th from Tweetie
• @livlab at this point, it’s probably best to just ride the wave of social constructs discussion and late night burgers and fries #idea09 3:34 AM Sep 16th from Tweetie in reply to livlab
• when i arrived home from #idea09 yesterday I closed my eyes for a little nap – 17 hours later I have awoken – good morning! #whyidonotnap 6:59 AM Sep 17th from Tweetie

Vacation Trip-Twitter as Diary

Recently I took a week off. I stayed home for the first part, traveled to visit a friend in Chicago for the last half. When I was done with vacation, I headed to a conference. I wanted to play around with the idea of Twitter as diary, so I created this post and the next one as documentation of my adventures. It’s just an experiment.

• last day of ‘staycation’ phase of vacation – heading to chicago tomorrow for phase 2 to hang with the amazing @tesia_k 9:42 AM Sep 9th from Tweetie
• you know you’re a little geeky when you enjoy spending some of your vacation time upgrading your blog #packingprocrastination 1:52 PM Sep 9th from Tweetie
• You build your life one moment at a time. Appreciate those moments. #foundinoldblogpost 2:09 PM Sep 9th from Tweetie
• @russu people that know where to look almost know everything at all times – almost – but not quite 2:50 PM Sep 9th from Tweetie in reply to russu
• RT @redmolly23 @evoljennifer @russu I call those people “librarians.” 3:20 PM Sep 9th from Tweetie
• At the gate-Leaving Minneapolis for Chicago – @tesia_k will see you soon – mpls will see you later 8:27 AM Sep 10th from Tweetie
• At the Empty Bottle watching experimental music & participating in interactive art with @tesia_k 11:50 PM Sep 10th from Tweetie

• MN artists: E.G. Bailey, J. Otis Powell!, Chastity Brown share 911 memorial track 9:27 AM Sep 11th from Tweetie
• @Armano I’ve been rediscovering Jane’s Addiction recently as well-fun to unearth good music 9:47 AM Sep 11th from Tweetie in reply to Armano
• @russu DO IT 7:52 PM Sep 11th from Tweetie in reply to russu
• Watching motion graphics videos with@tesia_k 12:18 AM Sep 12th from Tweetie

• Today will include art, critical theory & discussion of said art, & Matt&Kim tonight at the Bottom Lounge -all beginning with epic coffee 7:59 AM Sep 12th from Tweetie
• b4 the internet, my friends and i always JOKED: ‘spies are everywhere-listening to your conversations’-now it’s literally true 8:43 AM Sep 12th from Tweetie
• OH: I was really having fun at the museum until I chipped my tooth on the sculpture. 1:57 PM Sep 12th from Tweetie
• Time for the symposium 2:03 PM Sep 12th from Tweetie

• Stuck in chicago traffic because everyone is downtown waiting for U2 to arrive 4:53 PM Sep 12th from Tweetie
• Amanda Chapel opened for Matt & Kim-never heard of her-she was amazing #mustbuyamandachapelmusic 8:53 PM Sep 12th from Tweetie

UX Book Club

Happy summer Twin Cities UX’ers –(even though it feels like October outside!)

We met June 8, 6-8pm at Wilde Roast to discuss the book Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan Brown.

The conversation was facilitated by Stephanie Hammes-Betti. Stephanie manages a User Experience team at U.S. Bank. She told us a story about how she found the book and how it helped her team. It was so inspirational for them they started a book club just to discuss the concepts in the book. For the team Stephanie manages, it gave them a way to catalog what they were doing and present it back to the other people in their organization. It allowed them to have the language to work more effectively with the rest of the organization and with each other.

There were a few people in the group that were working in roles where they didn’t ‘officially’ have titles that involved the words ‘user experience’ but they recognized and enjoyed this work very much. The book also gave them a language to speak with people inside of the field of User Experience and co-workers who had no idea such a thing existed. In addition to providing a simple and common language, it filled in gaps for individuals who had not been through large web design projects.

One criticism that was shared by someone who felt as though they were more of a beginner was that it was a bit more advanced than beginner, but she still found it really useful.

“It brings a community and a language to the team.” Overall people agreed it provided a common vocabulary to use with each other as practitioners and with (internal/external) clients.

The deliverables are the communication tools that allow us to get work realized. It is important that they are effective and easy to use, after all we are in the UX business.

Some conversations that are still happening even after all these years:

• put the print design on the web
• the visual design is the only attribute that matters-as long as it looks good
• usability is still absent from the process of many organizations

The main thing that drew people to the book was that they were seeking more knowledge. This book held a complete view for people who were not practicing with larger teams. It has a strong appeal for people that identify they are doing user experience work, it’s just not called that.

We had several librarians at the table tonight. It made me feel like there is a resurgence of interest in the work happening. With the economy adjusting and honestly a need for people doing this work, I was excited to see it. Smart managers will see the potential in this future User Experience workforce. People that really care about making better experiences.

Our event was sponsored by Harvest, simple online time tracking, time sheet and reporting software. Harvest created a special MNteractive Meetup coupon code for anyone who’d like to upgrade to a paying Harvest account: MNTERACTIVE09 will get the recipient $10 off their first month.

Thanks to Harvest for sponsoring the event. Christine Anameier was the winner of the $50 gift card from Wilde Roast.

Your Twin Cities UX Meetup organizers:

Kristi Olson
Stephanie Hammes-Betti
Jennifer Bohmbach
Garrick Van Buren

P.S. Please note we are taking a summer break.

The next UX Book Club will be September 14th, 2009. The second Monday of the month.

However, we are going to try and pull together a resume workshop with managers and UX people who would like to talk with others about how to build a better UX resume.

Digtial DNA

What does your persona look like online? A nifty web tool goes out to find all the references to your name and creates a digital DNA. The one challenge is that all the people that share your name get grouped into it. I happen to be lucky as I have not found another Jennifer Bohmbach who has a web foot print. Click the image for a full size version.