Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2012 matching your filters

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• Designing for Context

  by Ben Fullerton, Leah Buley, Nate Bolt, Ryan Freitas and Andrew Crow

  As designers take on new problems of convergence and ubiquity, we find ourselves facing new challenges. The products we create are accessed through multiple devices, different channels and a wide audience. How do we accommodate the context of use?

  Whether you design mobile apps, services or web experiences, you know that people have different needs and desires. Those issues are complicated further by a landscape of technology.

  This discussion will highlight these new challenges and offer solutions based on years of design experience. Topics include:

  • What should you be aware of when designing a product or service for use in various locations and environments?
  • How does motion and distraction affect interaction and content design decisions?
  • Do you provide for casual use vs. urgent need?
  • How does the form factor or input method of your device steer your design efforts?
  • What happens in an ecosystem of products?
  • How does social and cultural context play into the strategy of your design?

  • Context
  • Design
  • Ubiquitous Computing
  • User Experience

  At 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Friday 9th March

  In Town Lake Ballroom, Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin-Town Lake

  Coverage audio clip note slide deck

• Teaching Touch: Tapworthy Touchscreen Design

  by Josh Clark

  Discover the rules of thumb for finger-friendly design. Touch gestures are sweeping away buttons, menus and windows from mobile devices—and even from the next version of Windows. Find out why those familiar desktop widgets are weak replacements for manipulating content directly, and learn to craft touchscreen interfaces that effortlessly teach users new gesture vocabularies. The challenge: gestures are invisible, without the visual cues offered by buttons and menus. As your touchscreen app sheds buttons, how do people figure out how to use the damn thing? Learn to lead your audience by the hand (and fingers) with practical techniques that make invisible gestures obvious. Designer Josh Clark (author of O'Reilly books "Tapworthy" and "Best iPhone Apps") mines a variety of surprising sources for interface inspiration and design patterns. Along the way, discover the subtle power of animation, why you should be playing lots more video games, and why a toddler is your best beta tester.

  Questions answered:
  1. How should UI layouts evolve to accommodate the ergonomics of fingers and thumbs?
  2. Why are buttons a hack? Why aren't they as effective as more direct touch gestures?
  3. How can users understand how to use apps that have no labeled menus or buttons?
  4. What's the proper role of skeuomorphic design (realistic 3D metaphors) in teaching touch?
  5. How can animation provide contextual help to teach gestures effortlessly? How does game design point the way here?

  • Gestures
  • iPad
  • Mobile UX
  • Touchscreen UI
  • User Experience

  At 3:30pm to 4:30pm, Friday 9th March

  In Ballroom A, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage write-up write-up audio clip note write-up