STC Telephone Seminar

Paper Prototyping
Carolyn Snyder
September 10, 2003
1-2:30 PM Eastern Time

Are you weary of explaining hard-to-use interfaces? Have you ever itched to rewrite a cryptic error message? Would you trade your favorite dictionary to be on equal footing with other members of the development team? Once considered a fringe usability technique, paper prototyping is now an accepted practice at many mainstream companies.

In paper prototyping, representative users interact with a paper version of an interface that is manipulated by a person "playing computer." By drafting rough interfaces on paper--even hand-drawing them--you can conduct quick but effective usability tests before implementation begins. Apply your communication skills where they'll do the most good--right in the interface.

And for those issues that still require help or documentation, you'll discover what information users need.

You'll learn the following:

• What a paper prototype is, including case studies and examples
• What kinds of issues paper prototypes will (and won't) help you uncover
• Situations where paper prototypes are most likely to save you time and aggravation
• How to include documentation and help in paper prototype tests
• How paper prototyping can change your relationship with the development team (Hint: You'll hear the word "proactive" a lot.)
• Tips for introducing paper prototyping into your organization

Carolyn Snyder spent the first ten years of her career developing hard-to-use software, first as a software engineer and then as a project manager. After her epiphany that real people actually had to use what she designed, she became a usability consultant, specializing in usability testing and paper prototyping. She spent six years at User Interface Engineering and then started her own company, Snyder Consulting, in 1999.

For the past decade she has helped development teams create more usable interfaces. Carolyn has conducted several hundred usability tests, including more than 100 using paper prototypes. Her book, Paper Prototyping, was published by Morgan Kaufmann in April 2003.

What Is a Telephone Seminar?

A telephone seminar is much like a large conference call where the speaker makes his or her presentation over the phone. You simply dial the 800 number from your phone, enter your personal identification number, and you're connected! You then sit back and listen to the presentations and join in the lively Q&A discussion.

Benefits

• No travel time
• Pay per site and not per person
• Train all your people without their leaving the office

Cost

With a telephone seminar, the cost is per site, not per person.

• U.S. sites: $145.00 USD
• Canadian sites: $160.00 USD
• Overseas sites: Please contact the STC office

An additional $10 will be charged for registrations received less than five business days before the seminar.

Sign-up today! www.stc.org/seminars.asp