WebVisions 2010

Posted on: Jun. 15, 2010  |  By: Lisa Holmes  |  Category: Technology
Tags: conference, jQuery, social change, technology, WebVisions

WebVisions is an annual conference held in Portland that covers web design and development. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event and is my second year of attending.

JQUERY WORKSHOP

To get started, I attended the half-day workshop: “jQuery for Designers” taught by David McFarland, author of CSS: The Missing Manual, JavaScript: The Missing Manual and Dreamweaver: The Missing Manual.

jQuery is a JavaScript library that makes it easy for tech-minded designers like me to add interactivity to a website without the need to code JavaScript programming. jQuery can be used for everything from simple web components to complex, full-featured interactive user interfaces.

I’ve been using jQuery to create photo galleries and slide shows, but I wanted to learn more about how it works so I could do more with it. Since taking this workshop, I’ve been able to understand the basic workings of jQuery and expand my capabilities considerably. The latest project I worked on incorporated the Fancybox plugin to add functionality for the user to click on an graphic elements to view embedded videos in a “thickbox”, or separate viewer on top of the web page without leaving the page.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Thinking the Unthinkable: How To Spark Disruptive Innovation: Luke Williams of Frog Design talked about how creative insight today needs disruptive thinking. Through disruptive thinking, which is the opposite of following the crowd and doing what is expected, you can come up with creative solutions that get people’s attention… and win.

SESSIONS

Go with the Flow: Erin Malone, Principal with Tangible UX, offered advice for social sites on ways to engage users and create loyalty:

• Make the sign-up process as easy as possible, which may mean no sign-up at all. Consider using Open ID, such as Facebook Connect, so users can sign in by giving permission via Facebook.
• Encourage people to revisit your site often by featuring regular users and their contributions; offer badges, rewards or points.
• Re-engage users that have left your site by showing them new features and show how others are using your site.
• Create connectedness: the more people are connected, the more active they are. “Recommendations” and “Suggested people you may know” are tools to add connectedness.
• Encourage people to share activities offline and then re-connect online. (examples: Facebook Events, Upcoming.org, Meetups)
• Allow users to contribute content to have more ownership and thus loyalty to your site.
• Security matters: give people control over their info that is shared.

Effective Personal Branding: Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami at Network Soutions, highlighted how to use the power of the internet to get connected and control your online profile:

• Set up Google Alerts to get info on when your name, your company, or an interest of yours is published online. The speaker uses this technique to make sure personal info about his children — like their home address — aren’t inadvertently shared online.
• To show your expertise in a particular area, join online communities and participate by commenting on blogs, in forums and by answering questions (LinkedIn).
• Become a publisher and create content about your expertise on your own website or blog, then share that content via social sharing tools.
• Setup a Facebook page for your business, as well as a LinkedIn profile and a Twitter account. Link to these on your website or blog and invite people to join and follow.
• Use Slideshare to upload presentations you’ve given.
• Upload press releases to  PR World and Pitch Engine.
• Most importantly: be a useful conversationalist.

The Human Interface: Christopher Fahey, founding partner and user experience director at Behavior, talked about how technology is becoming a mask with people now spending a majority of their time in front of screens. That might make marketers want to create interfaces that mimic humans, but instead of trying to replicate humans like super-realistic robots, is just creepy. Create interfaces that make people feel comfortable. Think about the personality users can engage with. At the Jet Blue kiosks, instead of a screen with “Enter PIN and press button”, they say “Howdy”, “What’s Up” and “Hi There!”. This approach is not only more fun, it usually makes people more comfortable with using technology to access your services. Two of my favorite examples of great human (or chimp) interfaces are MailChimp and Wufoo for forms.

Mobile is the Future: Jason Grigsby, CloudFour.com blogger, indicated that mobile strategies should include:

• Device detection so mobile users are automatically routed to a mobile version of your website. Unless the mobile device is an iPad, in which case the expanded version is more appropriate.
• Create consistent experiences on your website and mobile site or apps. People expect to be able to perform the same functions regardless of which version of your site they visit.
• Mobile sites should be created, not ported. Think about the user experience on a mobile device and adjust your content structure to accommodate it.
• Don’t rely on Flash since it is not supported on the iPhone or iPad.

IDEA+OLOGY: The Designer’s Journey; Turning Ideas into Inspired Designs: Stanley Hainsworth, tether, showed examples from his new book of designers successfully bringing their personal interests into their work. “Do that which is close to your heart” Stephan Bucher

Design-Thinking for Social Change: Ryan Russell, founder of the non-profit For the Next, gave inspiring examples of what can happen when designers do work based on what they care about. Pressing issues can seem insurmountable, but design-thinking is making a difference. The key is know where your heart is. A deep personal connection is needed and it needs to be what is important to you, not what you think others find important. To find out what matters to you, ask yourself these questions:

• What is your personal design philosophy?
• What do you believe is the purpose of design?
• How could design serve something bigger?
• What do I believe is the most pressing issue of the day?

Take your time to think about what you want to do. It takes time. Going through these exercises will give you a genuine voice. Once you have found your “cause”, share your ideas publicly. If you’re not ready to do this, then you’re not ready to make it happen. People that share your thoughts will gravitate towards you and create a new opportunity for you to work with others. Create a team of  like-minded people to accomplish more working together.

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