Ux Local Groups

Slide 1: Local Groups How-To (and Why) • Stacy Merrill Surla RUX (Richmond UX Group) • ssurla@ironworks.com April 30, 2008 Stacy Merrill Surla

Slide 2: Why are local groups important? Stacy Merrill Surla 2

Slide 3: Hard to do it alone • The profession is growing, but... • A large proportion of UX professionals still work in relative isolation • Many projects rely on contractors – UXs who have to work on their own • Even companies with UX teams can lack managers who understand and care about user experience Stacy Merrill Surla 3

Slide 4: Creates a Community of Practice “Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” Etienne Wenger, Cultivating Communities of Practice Stacy Merrill Surla 4

Slide 5: Creates a Community of Practice • Local groups give UXs regular social and intellectual contact with peers • Validation and connectedness • Crucibles for new ideas • Volunteer projects help people network and get established in the profession or in new locations Stacy Merrill Surla 5

Slide 6: Builds the Field Local groups are more than just a nice thing to have. They're the key to the future. Building IA as a profession requires building IAs as professionals. Stacy Merrill Surla 6

Slide 7: Improves the World “Whether we like it or not, we are all in the business of influencing people's thoughts and behaviors; we are agents of change. “The stakes are higher now than ever before. How can one design for impact with awareness, efficiency, and responsibility?” BJ Fogg, Persuasive Technology Stacy Merrill Surla 7

Slide 8: Challenges Stacy Merrill Surla 8

Slide 9: Big-Picture Challenges "Why were people so excited about doing things when we talked in person, but when I followed up later via email, nothing happened?” Javier Velasco, Santiago, Chile Stacy Merrill Surla 9

Slide 10: Big-Picture Challenges “When the dot com crash happened, the IA role disappeared. People hunkered down into roles that could be justified, like visual design and programming.” Jason Hobbs, Johannesburg, South Africa Stacy Merrill Surla 10

Slide 11: Big-Picture Challenges “There are lots of professional groups, but no social groups. There's no place to go to talk about issues at work. We need a place to have human contact and talk about professional IA.” Mary MacDonald, Boston, MA Stacy Merrill Surla 11

Slide 12: Big-Picture Challenges “In Germany we have five or six big cities where IAs could work, but these cities are far apart. The Netherlands has one main city. They have a local group and are meeting regularly. I'm very jealous of places like Amsterdam where people can get together and drink beer and talk about IA.” Wolf Nöding, Nürnberg, Germany Stacy Merrill Surla 12

Slide 13: On the Ground Challenges • Where do we start? • How do we gather interest? • Are we overdoing? Underdoing? • How do we keep up momentum? IAI Local Groups Coordinator Survey Stacy Merrill Surla 13

Slide 14: How Do You Do It? Stacy Merrill Surla 14

Slide 15: “A little perspiration, a lot of love, and a few glasses of wine” Andrew Boyd, Canberra, Australia Stacy Merrill Surla 15

Slide 16: Successful local groups work in three domains: Volunteer leadership, project management, and party planning Stacy Merrill Surla 16

Slide 17: Party Planning • Think “Spa” when organizing your group and planning activities. • Everything should be refreshing, fun, meaningful, and good for you. • Keep things as simple as possible, but no simpler • Declare victory and celebrate x Stacy Merrill Surla 17

Slide 18: Volunteer Leadership • Involve everybody who wants in • Give it away x Stacy Merrill Surla 18

Slide 19: Project Management • Makes some simple plans • Up the ante when you get good at it • Replicate your successes • Work with related associations x Stacy Merrill Surla 19

Slide 20: Tips From the “Create a Network” checklist on iainstitute.org Stacy Merrill Surla 20

Slide 21: Reach out to like-minded individuals • Speak up on listservs about your group • Find people and and invite them (eg IAI Member Directory, LinkedIn, Facebook...) • Attend events of related associations and cross- promote the group • Have an action item for people to respond to, like a low-key face-to-face meetup Stacy Merrill Surla 21

Slide 22: Organize an event Decide what "success" means to you. An event with 3 people or 20? One good conversation? Enthusiasm and the next event scheduled? • Face to Face Meetups • More Ambitious Events • Virtual Meetings Stacy Merrill Surla 22

Slide 23: Find good locations and reuse them • Enough room • Right ambiance for the activity • Centrally located, good parking or public transport • Coffee shops • Restaurants • Bookstores • Public libraries / Community centers • Colleges / Universities with related programs • Your company • Your home Stacy Merrill Surla 23

Slide 24: Organize a project • Setting up the local group itself is a project • Organizing each event is a project • Offer a site redesign plan to a local nonprofit • Envision a service you'd like to see through an affinity association, and offer to bring it into being Stacy Merrill Surla 24

Slide 25: Stay in communication • Start a discussion list (consider: Announcements only, or discussion?) • Start a website (consider: How will it be maintained? How about a blog?) Stacy Merrill Surla 25

Slide 26: Keep a good attitude • Keep things as simple as possible • Repeat whatever works best • Quality matters more than numbers • Declare victory and celebrate often Stacy Merrill Surla 26

Slide 27: Grow as a leader • Read a book about organizing volunteers • Read a book about event planning • Make a project plan, a timeline, a network diagram, or other management tool • Involve everybody who wants to participate Stacy Merrill Surla 27

Slide 28: Grow as a leader “We’ll support flamenco dancing if an IA wants to organize it” Dan Brown, DCIA Stacy Merrill Surla 28

Slide 29: What’s Next Stacy Merrill Surla 29

Slide 30: Next Steps for RUX • What’s happened so far? • What’s your next event? • Which challenges or tips are relevant now? Stacy Merrill Surla 30

Slide 31: Support for the Community of Practice Beyond checklists, local leaders need infrastructure, recognition, and the weight of established organizations behind them Stacy Merrill Surla 31

Slide 32: Support for the Community of Practice “The average IA is not a rock star in persona. She's thoughtful, slightly quiet, considerate – an unlikely candidate for evangelist in many respects. “Feeling there's a community behind you is a big support – even if it's invisible, even if it's present only in the imagination." Jason Hobbs Stacy Merrill Surla 32

Slide 33: Support for the Community of Practice Thank you, Ironworks, for supporting RUX Stacy Merrill Surla 33

Slide 34: Links Etienne Wenger http://www.ewenger.com BJ Fogg http://www.bjfogg.com/ Andrew Boyd, Running a Successful IA Cocktail Hour Program http://iacanberra.org/2008/04/03/running-a-successful-ia-cocktail-hour-program/ Stacy Surla http://fritillaria.blogspot.com/ Building IA Means Building Local Groups http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Dec-06/surla.html Create Network Checklist http://iainstitute.org/documents/localgroups/LG_Check_CreateNetwork.doc Organize Conference Redux Tipsheet http://iainstitute.org/documents/localgroups/LG_Tip_Redux.doc Leading Successful Volunteer Projects http://www.slideshare.net/stacysurla/leading-successful-volunteer-projects/ Stacy Merrill Surla 34

Slide 35: Links IA Institute http://iainstitute.org/en/network/ Local Groups Coordinator Survey, 2007 http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/local_groups_coordinator_survey_2007.php IxDA http://www.ixda.org/ UXNet http://www.uxnet.org/ UPA http://www.upassoc.org/chapters/ Stacy Merrill Surla 35

Slide 36: Contact Stacy Merrill Surla ssurla@ironworks.com Stacy Merrill Surla 36