Tue, Dec 6 – Kelsey Ruger presents on “How To I.N.S.P.I.R.E.”

Tuesday, December 6, Houston Experience Design will host a presentation from local UX guru, Kelsey Ruger at Caroline Collective from 7-10 pm.

We’ll have spring rolls and drinks, plenty of space, plenty of great people to meet, and a great presentation on how to communicate with clients, bosses, and team members through stories.

About Kelsey

Kelsey’s consulting, design and web roots provides him with a unique perspective that allows him to bridge the gaps between strategy, creativity and execution when creating digital solutions for his clients and their customers. Kelsey is currently the Vice President of Operations for Houston based Chaione where he oversees the company’s overall strategic & creative vision, directs its corporate operations, and oversees delivery for North America and India.

About the presentation

When it comes to communicating an important message, people really don’t care about the facts. They care about the things that touch, move and inspire them. Facts just can’t do that.

Stories have been used since the beginning of time to share knowledge, human history, and ideas. Sure theycontain facts, but that’s not what makes them work. Stories work where facts don’t because humans don’t always make rational decisions. We generally make decisions based on emotion, and then look for the facts that support those decisions.

If you want to communicate powerful messages in business, there are two things to keep in mind. First, you should use stories to craft engaging and personal experiences that relate to the overall point you are trying to make. Second, don’t rely only on facts. Remember, facts matter most when the audience is rationalizing a decision that has already been made on an emotional level.

The agenda

7:00	Food, drinks, and meet-n-greets
7:30	Presentation: How to I.N.S.P.I.R.E.: How Star Wars Taught Me To Connect Through Stories
8:30	More food, drinks, and meet-n-greets

What to bring

Everyone should bring business cards. And some appetite and a little thirst.

The location

Caroline Collective is located at 4820 Caroline St. in the museum district. Ample parking is available on the street, as well as in the dedicated parking lot in back.

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Who should come?

Kelsey’s talk will help consultants of all types as well as user experience professionals, managers, designers, and those in advertising. If you’re job involves pitching or communicating ideas, Kelsey’s presentation will give you valuable tips on communicating more effectively.

For more information

For more information, email ag@agux.co, or follow @HoustonUX on Twitter.

Thu, Nov 10 – How to Think Like (and Design for) Your Customer: User Experience Fundamentals Workshop

Normal Modes is running a fast-paced, hands-on, two-day UX boot camp specifically designed for team members who are NOT experienced UX designers: website and application back-end developers, visual designers without UX training, project managers, product managers and related stakeholders.

The early bird discount for $200 ends Friday, so register now.

Check the Normal Modes blog for more info: http://www.normalmodes.com/blog/2011/09/27/ux-fundamentals/

Tomorrow! Startup design workshop at Caroline Collective

Don’t forget, our second event, the Startup Design Workshop is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11 at Caroline Collective.

We’ll have food and drinks to quell the dinner munchies, plenty of networking, and presentation and activities on design critiques.

Full information about the event is available on the event post:
http://houstonexperiencedesign.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/tue-oct-11-houston-startup-design-studio-workshop/

Email me at ag@agux.co if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Tue, Oct 11 – Houston startup design workshop

Tuesday, October 11, Houston Experience Design will host a startup design studio and workshop at Caroline Collective from 7-10 pm.

We’ll have food and drinks, plenty of space, plenty of great people to meet, and a great technique to learn about that’s as useful to designers as it is to developers and entrepreneurs.

The way it works

First, we’ll have some milling and mixing about over food and drinks. Then we’ll have a short 20-30 minute presentation on how to give and receiving objective, constructive design critiques.

Then, everyone with software who desired feedback will pull out sketches or mockups or prototypes or working code. Designers will then rotate around the room offering
constructive critiques on how to improve usability or engagement, etc.

The agenda

7:00	Food, drinks, and meet-n-greets
7:30	Presentation: Design critiques
8:00	Activity: App grounding (identify objectives for the screens they want critiqued)
8:15	Activity: Critiques (designers rotate critiquing screens)
10:00	End

What to bring

If you have an interface you’d like critiqued, bring sketches, mockups, screenshots, prototypes, or working code of the screens you would like feedback on.

Everyone should bring business cards.

The location

Caroline Collective is located at 4820 Caroline St. in the museum district. Ample parking is available on the street, as well as in the dedicated parking lot in back.

View Larger Map

What’s in it for entrepreneurs and developers

Entrepreneurs and developers learn the basic, UX grounding techniques they need to help ensure their software fulfills customers needs. The critique process we’ll introduce is directly  inline with lean startup and customer development thinking by Eric Ries and Steven Blank, and you will be able to go to work Wednesday morning with a tool you can start using on your own immediately.

In addition, the grounded critiques by user experience experts will offer specific feedback you can implement immediately. It’s like 10, low-fidelity usability tests in an hour!

What’s in it for UX designers

Knowing how to ground critiques around business and design objectives removes aesthetic subjectivity from the discussion and focuses on well the design functions.

In addition to learning how to ground critiques, we’ll learn how to give and receive critiques. And most importantly, how to introduce critiques as a regular part of your organization’s product development culture.

You’ll go to with an easy-to-implement and valuable tool you can use on Wednesday.

For more information

For more information, email ag@agux.co, or follow @HoustonUX on Twitter.

Rosenfeld Media books giveaway at the meet-n-greet

If you’re a book fiend like me, and you’ve been wanting to get your hands on some of the sweet titles from Rosenfeld Media, take a gander:

Now, I know you probably already have a couple, so Wednesday night, we’re going to split the Rosenfeld library into two giveaways. Two lucky attendees will each walk away with four titles each.

We’ll do the giveaway at 7pm. That way everyone has a chance to get there, and you don’t have to stay till 8:00 pm.

Check the event post for more information about our inaugural meet-n-greet.

Wed, Sep 14 – Back-to-school meet-n-greet

We’re having a meet-n-greet for Houston’s inaugural meeting of the Houston Experience Design community. Come meet local interaction designers, social media mavens, and other user experience professionals.

We’ll be there from 5:30 to 8:00 pm, so drop by after work.

Come have a free drink, and two attendees will walk away with books from Rosenfeld Media.

Join us at the Nouveau Antique Art Bar in midtown: 2913 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002. See where the Art Bar is located, or get directions from Google maps.

Wed, Sep 21 – Legendary designer Pablo Ferro speaks at the MFA

In collaboration with AIGA, and The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Film Department, The Rice Design Alliance will present a talk by legendary graphic designer and film-titles designer Pablo Ferro on September 21, 2011 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Ferro, hailed as a genius by well-known director Stanley Kubrick, is lauded for his unique and influential visual style in films like Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, and more recently, Good Will Hunting and Napolean Dynamite, as well as in television, animation, commercials, novels and now children’s books. Ferro is best known for quick-cutting, using multiple images within one frame, and his trademark hand-drawn lettering.

The event is open to the public.

For more information, check out the event details on AIGA Houston’s website:
* http://aigahouston.org/events/2011/09/67260838