Haptic/tactile interactive systems

Presenters: Dr. Beryl Plimmer and Dr. Peter Reid

How do you design an interactive system that will teach writing and drawing to blind children? How do you evaluate a system with a limited target audience (less than 10 in Auckland)?

Our June presentation will describe the unusual challenges of designing ‘McSig’ – a multi-modal, multi-user system that utilizes a haptic pen, audio, a tactile writing surface and a tablet PC.

While this may sound like a fringe application, haptic game devices such as the Novint Falcon are on the market and tactile surfaces are becoming increasingly popular in mobile phones.

This is also an extreme case of ‘the users are not like us’: the presenters could not consider involving the children in usability testing – yet absolutely needed to usability test!

The lessons learned, while reinforcing many of the basics of user centred design and usability testing as the corner stones for good solutions, will help extend our understanding of these new technologies.

A report on the first phase of this project received a best paper award at Chi2008, the premier International Human Computer Interaction Research Conference.

• RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland@upa.org.nz by 5pm Monday 23rd June
• Date & Time: Tuesday 24th June, 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles.
• Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm.
• Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
• Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street, Auckland.
• Late entry: Please call Paul Johnson on 029 222 0589 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm.

• When: 12-1.30pm, Tuesday 3 June 2008
• Where: Ground-floor conference room, Statistics House, The Boulevard, Harbour Quays. Further details below.

• RSVP by Friday May 30 to upanz.wellington@upa.org.nz

Emotion and Design

Edgar Rodriguez, Victoria University

Edgar Rodriguez is an industrial designer, lecturer, and PhD candidate at the School of Design at Victoria University in Wellington.

“The emotion that products elicit is an increasingly important area of research for Design. While designers had long relied on intuition to attempt to understand users’ affective experiences, new methodologies allow us to address them more specifically. A more detailed understanding of emotional reactions can create more appropriate user experiences and allow design managers to make better informed decisions.

This talk will present some methodologies used in Industrial Design to assess users’ emotions. It will present some examples of design projects based on assessment of emotions for companies such as Philips, Samsung, and Studio Santachiara. Finally, the talk will present a framework that suggests a relationship between emotion and behaviour in Design.”

Directions to get to the venue

Access by road is from Aotea Quay at the traffic lights near the stadium. There is also a footpath beside the sheds and construction site on the harbour side of Aotea Quay, and a bridge walkway from the railway station and stadium. Get to the walkway from the north end of several rail platforms, and from the steps opposite East Day Spa on Thorndon Quay.

Parking is pay-and-display. You need to sign in at reception, then head left through the library. Tea, coffee, juice, and snacks will be provided.

Hope to see you there!

What the eye can’t see…

or what cognitive psychology can teach us about usability

Speaker: Justine Sanderson - Userfaction Ltd

Ever stared at a computer screen and not seen what you were looking for? Ever had an error message come up, and not noticed it? A couple of psychological phenomena may explain these and other curious happenings we notice in usability evaluations: people often don’t see what’s right in front of them!!

With a couple of video demonstrations, we’ll explore these ‘blind spots’ and others aspects of visual perception and look at how they may relate to web design and usability.

Trust us: it will be an eye-opening experience

About Justine Sanderson
Justine runs her own user experience consultancy - Userfaction - and wears many hats. Part usability consultant, part information architect, and part interaction designer, she’s helped a range of clients organise their information and develop more user-friendly websites and applications. She’s fascinated by how people interact with technology,and is always on the lookout for quirky ways to demonstrate the value of usability.

• RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland@upa.org.nz by 5pm Monday 28th April
• Date & Time: Tuesday 29 April, 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles.
• Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm.
• Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
• Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street, Auckland.
• Late entry: Please call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm.

NextWindow optical touch screen technology

Speaker: Keith Colson

Our next presentation will cover how touch screen technology works, compare the various technologies and components, and describe the future of NextWindow touch screens. There will be demonstration hardware to showcase NextWindow’s functionality.

NextWindow is a leading designer and developer of optical touch screens. Its unique optical touch screen technology is proving to be very competitive in the consumer and commercial market. NextWindow is also at the forefront of multi-touch touchscreen development.

About Keith Colson
Keith Colson is currently the software manager for NextWindow. His designs have made NextWindow’s touch screens the easiest touch screens in the world for “people” to install and use.

Keith is also New Zealand’s current robotics champion. He is a member of ACRA, Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation. He is also the founder of Robonz, New Zealand’s personal robotics club.

• RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland@upa.org.nz by 5pm Monday 26th November
• Date & Time: Tuesday 27th November, 6pm onwards for drinks and nibbles.
• Talks start at 6.30pm. Finishes at approximately 8pm.
• Cost: $10 cash at the door. Please bring correct change.
• Location: Bank of New Zealand, 3rd floor, 125 Queen Street, Auckland.
• Late entry: Please call Mark McLay on 029 222 00 16 if you have difficulty getting in or arrive after 6.30pm.