Theo Mandel

UX Conference in Phoenix this week!

Theo Mandel — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 05:47:51 +0000

Theo Mandel is one of the organizers and presenters at the ninth annual Internet User Experience conference – IUE 2013. The April 2-3 conference in Tempe, Arizona, highlights top industry speakers, practitioners, and authors to provide attendees with a complete package of Internet user experience design training, case studies, and real-world examples. Mandel’s sessions include:

Golden Rules of User Experience Design (Presentation)
Designing Object-Oriented User Experiences (Presentation)
Building and Positioning UX for Success in Your Organization (Panel Moderator)

Arizona World Usability Day – Video

Theo Mandel — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:52:14 +0000

Mandel organized the Arizona World Usability Day event on November 8, 2012 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The wildly successful event was captured on film and is now available on the World Usability Day YouTube Channel. Check out the Arizona WUD event on the World Usability Day website.

John Karlin, Father of Touch-Tone Dialing, Dies

Theo Mandel — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:35:44 +0000

An obituary in the New York Times highlight’s John Karlin’s historic influence on digital dialing. Karlin died on January 28 at the age of 94.

Ed Israelski, a well-know human factors professional, was fortunate to work under Karlin at Bell Labs. Karlin designed the famous (or infamous) telephone keypad layout. He also conducted innovative research on the optimal length of the phone cord.

“He was the one who introduced the notion that behavioral sciences could answer some questions about telephone design,” Ed Israelski, an engineer who worked under Mr. Karlin at Bell Labs in the 1970s, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Very interesting article on a virtually unknown man who had a huge impact on the general public.

Lots of comments and discussion on the history and pros/cons of the phone keypad design can be found on Slashdot.

Who owns your UX philosophy?

Theo Mandel — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:18:16 +0000

“I’ve been in three board meetings in the last month where it was painfully apparent that there wasn’t a person in the company who owned the UX philosophy of the product. I’m explicitly saying “UX” (user experience) rather than “UI” (user interface) as each company had an excellent designer and the application looked great. But the UX broke down quickly, especially as you went from novice first time user to experienced user.”

Check out Brad Feld’s Blog Post “Who owns your UX philosophy?” Lots of great comments and discussion.

We’ve been discussing the differences between UX and UI for years. This post discusses corporate-level UX strategy that often does not even exist for well-known companies. Well worth the read!

Tech hotshots: The rise of the UX expert

Theo Mandel — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:40:12 +0000

“As the digital world shrinks down to a screen the size of your hand, demand for
user experience designers explodes.”

The surge of mobile and tablet devices has placed more emphasis and need for user experience skills. UX practitioners have been promoting awareness and education of UX and usability for years, and it has paid off.

Read Computerworld’s latest article on the UX design explosion.

A sidebar in the article discusses Why UX designers love their jobs

The job description is amorphous and challenging — to understand a given app’s interface requirements, user experience context and back-end machinations. But the pay is mighty attractive — between $70,000 and $110,000 to start, recruiters say — and the perks associated with a UX (user experience) position sound like the halcyon days of the Internet boom: stock options, signing bonuses, flexible work hours.

One recruiter reported seeing one company offering liquor in its vending machines, and one employer offered designers unlimited time off (in return for results, of course).

And UX designers themselves say there are other, intangible benefits to the position. “Money only takes you so far,” says Michael Beasley, a designer for Internet marketing agency Pure Visibility in Ann Arbor, Mich. “The work has to be interesting, not the same things over and over again. I like having fresh problems to tackle and the feeling that I’m making a difference for our clients.”

Whitney Quesenberry, a UX designer who runs her own agency in High Bridge, N.J., says, “The real perk is meaningful work. Why would anybody want to work on something where you spend the first six months writing about requirements and the next six arguing about them?”

Quesenberry’s advice for becoming a highly prized designer with both technical depth and design breadth? Check out one of the multiple masters’ programs, such as the one at the University of Michigan, aimed at people already in the workforce, or talk your way onto one of the hybrid design teams that are becoming more prevalent within IT departments and learn all you can.

“Connecting” Video on the future of Interaction Design and UX

Theo Mandel — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:31:37 +0000

Thought-provoking video on Vimeo about the future of our field – https://vimeo.com/52861634. The follow-on comments are just as interesting as the video.

Here’s the summary:

The 18 minute “Connecting” documentary is an exploration of the future of Interaction Design and User Experience from some of the industry’s thought leaders. As the role of software is catapulting forward, Interaction Design is seen to be not only increasing in importance dramatically, but also expected to play a leading role in shaping the coming “Internet of things.” Ultimately, when the digital and physical worlds become one, humans along with technology are potentially on the path to becoming a “super organism” capable of influencing and enabling a broad spectrum of new behaviors in the world.

Give Before You Get – Advice for the New Year

Theo Mandel — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 05:10:43 +0000

Great advice from a world-famous Boulder start-up mentor and founder, Brad Feld.

Give Before You Get

5 Ways to Begin Designing Your Life in 2013

Theo Mandel — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 05:00:36 +0000

Happy New Year 2013!!

Here’s a great blog post about integrating your work and your life and living DESIGN! Enjoy!

5 Ways to Begin Designing Your Life in 2013

Your redesign…set the industry standard

Theo Mandel — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 03:00:10 +0000

“I believe that your redesign of the Zoll software application set the industry standard (I am not alone in this opinion) and our big picture goal is to set a new standard.”

Robert Pabst, EMS Field Solutions Integration Manager
Intermedix

He is…an outstanding talent when it comes to designing elegantly usable web pages

Theo Mandel — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 02:00:40 +0000

After knowing Dr. Mandel for over fifteen years, and working closely with him for the past three years now, words simply fail me in giving Dr. Mandel the recommendation he deserves, but I’ll try anyway. He is not only an outstanding talent when it comes to designing elegantly usable web pages, but he is one of the finest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He has a rare combination of being thoroughly professional, talented, gracious, erudite, humble, optimistic, thoughtful, and cheerful. His integrity is impeccable, and I can, without hesitation or reservation, give him the highest recommendation I’m capable of giving!”

Dave Whittle, Founder & CEO
CoolHotNot