February Meeting:
Three Guys on Interaction Design
by Jim Korth, PR Committee member
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Have you had the unique pleasure of experiencing a product that functions perfectly out of the box, like a natural extension of your mind and body, where all functionality is purely intuitive? The college dropout, Steve Jobs of Apple, said, “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But, of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.” Interaction designers strive to create useful and usable products and services. Following the fundamental tenets of user-centered design, the practice of interaction design is grounded in an understanding of real users—their goals, tasks, experiences, needs, and wants. |
DetailsThursday, Feb. 7, 2008, 6:15 to 8:00 p.m. Crowne Plaza Hotel North Dallas-Addison Reservations (Reservations made Dinner (with reservations):
Program Only Attendance
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The Lone Star Community is fortunate to host three noted interaction designers from Perot Systems in a panel discussion at its February 7th meeting. The program is entitled "Three Guys on Interaction Design." Jim Machajewski, Vic Case, and Kevin Mattice of Perot Systems will be the panel participants.
We all interact with products, but making those interactions enjoyable and easy take a special set of skills. Interaction designers define and design the ways in which people work with the final product, making our points of contact with the product simple to understand and intuitive in nature. So what does a good user interaction look like? And how do effective interactions improve the overall quality of a product? Our guests will explain why this aspect of product development is critical to a satisfying user experience.
With his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications, Jim Machajewski has spent the last twelve years focusing on user interface and interaction design. Early in his career, Jim taught himself HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and his focus as a consultant was on ease of use and simplicity of implementation, a definite “less is more” approach. His list of clients includes Verizon, Kinko’s, and Hewitt Associates. Jim’s work has been recognized by CIO magazine’s CIO100 award for innovation. For the last four years, Jim has been the Information Architect manager at Perot Systems. His role includes user research, user interface design, interaction design, information architecture, usability analysis, as well as managing and staffing a team of information architects.
Vic Case has worked with interactive software development since 1991, with prior training and experience as a magazine editor. For several years he focused on interactive multimedia training as an instructional designer, informed by an M.A. in Educational Technology Leadership. He migrated to designing and developing Web sites by starting his own business, where his niche was crafting sites to help users achieve goals. He then joined in an Internet consultancy, where he worked as an Information Architect for major corporate business-to-business and consumer Web sites. He has been at Perot Systems since 2001 supporting the Tenet Healthcare account. Major projects have included an intranet publishing project using a content management system, a case management application, and a patient registration application. Vic has experience in designing user interfaces and interactions for both Web and Windows applications.
As a former Air Force intelligence analyst and Gulf War veteran, Kevin Mattice’s entire career has been oriented around the collection, processing, analysis, and presentation of information. After 12 years in the military (the last three of which were spent training others in the intelligence disciplines), Kevin entered the civilian world of information design. Since 1997, he has held a number of different positions, including instructional designer, interaction designer, 2D and 3D illustrator, and technical writer. With recent experience at the Department of Homeland Security and Travelocity.com, Kevin currently works for Perot Systems as a User Experience (UX) Architect specializing in the design of Web- and desktop-based user experiences for the healthcare industry.
Jim, Vic, and Kevin are eager to share with the Lone Star Community the secrets of what makes for great interaction design. Please join us on Thursday, February 7th.