Notes from Touchpoint 2012 Symposium on Interaction Design at SFU.

1. Notes for TouchPoint2012 Symposium | SFU Surrey | Feb. 16 2012
Prepared by Visnja Milidragovic (@vishmili)
Table of Contents
THEME ONE: THE NECESSARY FUTURE OF INTERACTION DESIGN 2
RYAN BETTS, ADOBE, VANCOUVER 2
MATT CONWAY, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, FROG, SEATTLE 3
MARIE-CLAUDE LAVOIE + RICHARD Z'GRAGGEN, LVL, MONTREAL 4
PANEL SAYS… 4
THEME TWO: IDX; THE INTERACTION DESIGN EXPERIENCE 5
CATERINA SANDERS, DIRECTOR OF EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, HABANERO, VANCOUVER 5
ROCK LEUNG, MANAGER OF UX + ED PRINSEN (UX DESIGNER), SAP, VANCOUVER 5
MATT WALSH, CRISPIN, PORTER + BOGUSKY, BOULDER, COLORADO 6
PANEL SAYS… 6

2. Theme One: The Necessary Future of Interaction Design
Learning curves (Ex. iPod)
o manufacturing quality management; the craft of making something
o product design
o ID
o service design: nothing without Apps etc. The ecology of where this thing fits into
(within a lifestyle – example, as always, is the chair).
Ryan Betts, Adobe, Vancouver
@hitsmachines
Coding and designing = skills that give you opportunities for design.
- Literacy: we learned to listen and speak; we learned to read and write; as we learn to use
programs, we should also learn to create them.
- Data shadows = “cloud”
o Scott Jenson – not only talking UX about technology by UX of data
- Adam Greenfield Everywhere
o New tools and methodologies needed
o Alvin Toffler “the illiterate of the 21st century….those who cannot learn, unlearn,
and relearn”
o Literacy = empathy, inspiration, perspective
o *Renaissance post-it in La Disputa in the Vatican

3. - Code Literacy: 4 archetypes
o Enthusiast: a fan. Armchair _____; vocabulary, concepts
o Mashup Artist: reads and understands blocks of code, articulate diff. between,
cut/pastes small alterations to code
o Inventor
1 pictures = 1000 words
1 prototype = 1000 pictures
 Xnay on the wireframing
 “I show, not boast”
 Handcraft tool using webstack
o Wizard (“Unicorn” if you get to a wizard and are still a designer! Rare.)
- Best place to be: between mashup artist and inventor.
Matt Conway, Associate Director, frog, Seattle
@conwaymatt
Everything connects
– Connecting “what”?
o people + things
o people + people
o people + intentions
– Ex. Blink – electric vehicle charging kiosk
o Took 3 forms: mass gas-station-like, parking/public, residential;
o software, industrial and mechanical design
 Accessibility needs to be considered (the size of the kiosk)
o Each kiosk has a WiFi connection (and it’s not for playing commercials!
Communicate to user to tell user when car is fully charged via mobile)
- Ex. Girl Effect.org
o Ethnographic research in Kenya
o There is a disconnection between peers; but a mobile network infrastructure is
there
- Once a upon a time visual design (and applied visual arts) = design
o then… interaction and computer design + more...interdisciplinary
o Have a sharp ear/design research or understand that design is an interactive, living
thing (avoid a medium mismatch; why would you write about music?)

4. Marie-Claude Lavoie + Richard Z'Graggen, LVL, Montreal
http://www.lvlstudio.com/
TV UX optimization
- Ex. an App
o Web TV. Shows work with Twitter or not. Okay for Oscars, not so much for Myth
Busters (*3 diff episodes played 12 times a day)
- Context
o Content and interaction – content strategy may need to consider possible UX
opportunities that result from contextualized content
o the form also changes according to context; TV is so visceral and visual
- Transmedia design (taking a video of taking photos; we operate on many platforms today)
- Experience design
o Context, content, container. This is UX.
Panel Says…
Know the limits of your intellectual leash and tap into it. Find a specialty though.
Trust your intuition – it‟s the one thing you sharpen as you fail and succeed.
90% of what I know is in other people‟s heads.
Stupidity gives you the ability to ask questions experts can't ask.
Being curious as a designer - how do you deal with a client who isn‟t willing to indulge in that kind
of process? Trust-building. Show that you‟re listening.
Sell an idea that client thinks is too big conceptually but you think is appropriate through:
a. Prototypes. These also allow you to validate your own assumptions. (Internal prototypes).
b. User Journey. Product will change over time. 1st contact with a web may be discovery;
2nd contact, perhaps signing up; it‟s about when user will to use what.
This is further exploded by + devices in market.
Seeing talent (rigour/true substance). Portfolios are the greatest tool for lying. Must be
communicated in either ways; it opens the door, but discussion is what sells a person.
“Plays well with others” is really high on the list.

5. Theme Two: IDX; The Interaction Design Experience
Caterina Sanders, Director of Employee Experience, Habanero, Vancouver
@castsanders
Grounding yourself in your strengths
- IT consulting firm: the importance of UX + business needs
- “Strength-based career development” – you can‟t be anything you want to be if you try hard
o First, Break all the Rules; Go Put Your Strengths to Work (Buckingham)
 Thought he wanted to be a life coach, but he hated it. Strengths: he found himself
coaching miserable people – so he started working w successful people who wanted to
go to the next level.
o In-born strengths, things we gravitate to. Time goes by in a heartbeat; energizing.
o Not areas based on knowledge you already have.
DIY: tasks, what makes time go by fast vs. what frustrates you. Hone in on those aspects to find
your specialty (something that will be easier to specialize in because you enjoy it).
Rock Leung, Manager of UX + Ed Prinsen (UX Designer), SAP, Vancouver
- research to empower more users
- work for customers and their customers.
- Designing for the causal business users: who may not be familiar with the data itself they‟re
hoping to get access to.
- Ex. Problem: casual user interested in data set
- Velocity, variety, volume.

6. Matt Walsh, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Boulder, Colorado
@cpbgroup @icecoldvideo
- the ultimate UX: the toilet. (Frankfurt airport: plugged in?!)
- “please pick up after your seeing-eye dog” sign..!
13 Dimensions that make someone strong in UI field:
o Passion: love the journey. Life beyond work. Can they bounce about it and control it?
o Mental Quickness: finish sentences? Eye contact. Helps approximate learning curve
o Creative Vision: able to say “what if?” Pick battles. Do they hide? Design challenge
o Strategic Acumen: defend decisions; know business realities. Communicate „nuggets‟
o The Fundamentals: documentation; portfolio; “what‟s wrong w this pic?” challenge.
o Attention to Detail: visual polish; spelling. Give more than asked for.
o Zoom Control: macro and micro perspective. Understanding depth/context.
o Comfort in Numbers: digital metrics, analysis, data justification; knowledge of how
past projects performed. Back up ideas with numbers to argue w Creatives/Clients.
o Translation Skills: being able to talk to different stakeholders, audiences.
Backgrounds in other fields? Reading list/blog roll. Ability to sell idea through; fewer
rounds of deliverables.
o Awareness + Inspiration: beyond marketing
 Clay Shirky: Napster vs./= Postal system. Abstact conceptualization.
o Platform Jumping: learn, unlearn, relearn.
o Lessons Learned: important to make mistakes.
o People Skills: grab a beer? Make people around you look good.
Panel says…
Polish documents and packaging and words. These help communicate the idea. Medium is message?
Mindset versus skill-set. Versatility and creative spirit.
Know your strengths, specialty of execution > specialty in ideation. Pull together teams whose
strengths will culminate in successful solution.
Quantitative persuasion is what gets you out of subjective arguments. How to square the circle?
Evolutionary leaps can be inspired by both – soul + data intelligence = longevity.
Humans are different from robots. Add some magic into life.
Idea: Vancouver is afraid of failure. How does it exist in your companies?
CP+B: Failure as progression within design; fail early.
SAP: Reduce risk as you get further along in the process (sketch more).
Habaneros: got rid of departments. Ground level structure – additive process; do what you can as
you come to be needed.
Designing as adding to a landfill…are we adding as much pollution in the digital space as we are
improving the world with ID? CP+B: so much space junk, digital has a long memory – clean it up to
keep reputation. Education in sustainability and the full cycle of product.