Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Time: 6:00pm
Place: TheCodeFactory, 246 Queen St., Ottawa

Abstract:

Over the last decade, the Agile movement has been sweeping the world of software development by storm. Agile is more than a methodology – it’s a mindset that emphasizes cross-functional teamwork over following a process, working software over comprehensive documentation, and responding to change over up-front planning.

Given this radical change of focus compared to traditional software development methods, user experience and usability professionals working with Agile development teams are faced with the task of adapting their activities, deliverables, and even their own role to this new worldview.

Many Agile principles, such as continuous user feedback and iterative development, are familiar to UX professionals. Others, such as the focus on efficiency and time-boxed iterations, the lack of explicit accommodation for up-front research and design, and the often ill-defined role of the Customer, can present challenges.

In this talk, Dmitry will examine these challenges in the context of his own experiences working as a user experience designer alongside Agile development teams. He will also present a set of simple guiding principles for enabling UX professionals to engage in high-quality collaboration with development teams within the framework of an Agile development process.

Speaker Bio:

Dmitry Nekrasovski is currently a user experience designer with Open Text, Canada’s largest independent software vendor. Since 2006, he has worked in a UX capacity on projects involving Agile development teams, successfully driving significant user experience improvements in the process. His own experience with Agile dates back to 2002, when, in his former life as a software developer, he attended one of the first Agile workshops. Dmitry holds a M.Sc. in HCI from the University of British Columbia and a degree in computer science from Carleton University.

When and Where:

This event will take place on Tuesday, April 20, 6:00pm at TheCodeFactory, located at 246 Queen Street, between Bank and Kent, (on the second floor) above the Green Papaya Restaurant.

Note: there is no cost for attending this event and prior registration is not required. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. An informal social gathering will follow at a nearby pub.

Who:

CapCHI is a social and professional society of people who work as user interface designers, researchers, educators, software developers, web designers, graphic designers and human factors engineers in and around Canada’s National Capital Region. Founded in 1991, CapCHI’s goal is to bring together local professionals interested in how humans and computers interact, in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Time: 6:00pm
Place: TheCodeFactory, 246 Queen St., Ottawa

Abstract:

This case study will provide a rare look behind the firewall at one of the most ambitious and exciting initiatives to come out of Canada this year. GCPEDIA, an open wiki for collaboration and the GCCONNEX professional networking platform are enabling culture change and workplace renewal amongst 250,000 employees across 100’s of legislated silos within the Canadian Federal Government.  The presentation will cover why and how it was done, the “spaghetti” strategy, starting small and growing big, and the approach of viral adoption and the perpetual beta. The policy implications involved creating an architecture of participation – providing the guardrails for appropriate behaviour without stifling innovation, and providing practical information management. The effect was turning the light on in a dark room – how social media increases the need for policy adherence as everything is done in a more transparent and open environment. It is about culture not technology, flying under th
e radar, and asking permission and begging forgiveness. We learned what engagement really means, and that changing culture requires one conversation at a time; but trust is hard for institutions. We can report on where we are seeing business value, the evidence we have collected, and metrics that involve measuring what people actually care about.

Speaker Bio:

Thom Kearney loves to solve problems.  In the 80’s he built one of Ottawa’s premiere ad agencies and then went on to teach and coach young adults.  More recently he’s been a leader, analyst and change agent for a range of technology intensive but business needs driven projects. A professional communicator by trade, Thom’s eclectic background makes him a rare “expert generalist”, someone that can cross the boundaries between the technical and business side of change, mediating for the benefit of both.  Thom thinks strategically but acts tactically, always seeing the end game, without losing sight of the practical reality we live in.  Thom’s unique perspective and forthright opinions have earned him the status of trusted advisor for organizations like the Government of Canada and Mitel Networks. Thom also teaches in the Bachelor of Information program at Carleton University.  Thom is fresh from a three year assignment as an executive with the Chief Information Officer Branch of the Treasury Board Secretariat, (the Feds), where he led the introduction of GCPEDIA, GCCONNEX and other elements of an Open Collaborative Workplace for Canadian Public Servants.

When and Where:

This event will take place on Tuesday, March 16, 6:00pm at TheCodeFactory, located at 246 Queen Street, between Bank and Kent, (on the second floor) above the Green Papaya Restaurant.

Note: there is no cost for attending this event and prior registration is not required. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. An informal social gathering will follow at a nearby pub.

Who:

CapCHI is a social and professional society of people who work as user interface designers, researchers, educators, software developers, web designers, graphic designers and human factors engineers in and around Canada’s National Capital Region. Founded in 1991, CapCHI’s goal is to bring together local professionals interested in how humans and computers interact, in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

Time to have a real sit-down chat with other members of the community and maybe teach them a thing or two in the process.

Everyone interested in the gaming community of Ottawa is invited — it’s a great opportunity to meet members of your community, so please pass this invitation on to anyone else who you think would be interested.

Where: Carleton University, rooms specified below

When: March 2nd – arrive from 6:30 pm, tables begin at 7:00 pm, we get kicked out at 9:00 pm.

How many: Maximum of 15 people per table, so sign up early!

How much: Its free, as are the refreshments.

How to register: Email heather.maclaren [at sign] snowedin.ca — list your name, company/university, table of choice (and backup if you have one)

Questions? Email heather.maclaren [at sign] snowedin.ca

What’s on Offer:

“Story Driven Game Design”, Mod: Anthony Whitehead, Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Room: Paterson Hall, rm 111.

“Growing Social Media through Game Design”, Mod: Treena Grevatt, Product Evangelist & Community Manager, Betidings, Room: Paterson Hall, rm 118.

“Managing Your Way through a Project Lifecycle”, Mod: Antonio Santamaria, Head of Engineering, Artech Studios, Room: Paterson Hall, rm 129.

“Traditional AI vs Game AI”, Mod: Ali Arya, Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Room: Tory Building, rm 219

“Issues Facing Indie Game Studios”, Mod: tba, but at least 2 very knowledgeable volunteers so it will definitely happen, Room: Paterson Hall, rm 234.

This event is sponsored by GlitchSoft (glitchsoft.com). Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, GlitchSoft Corporation is in the business of developing downloadable interactive entertainment software. With a focus on fun, creativity, innovation, and quality, the company produces original video games for consumers worldwide. Established in 2009, GlitchSoft is developing original games for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Original post: http://www.igda.org/ottawa/igda-ottawa-roundtables

The International Game Developers Association is the independent, non-profit professional organization for developers of digital games. We work to build the development community and serve as its voice.

Date: Tuesday February16th, 2010
Time: 6:00pm
Place: TheCodeFactory, 246 Queen St., Ottawa

Abstract:

Technology has taken much of our humanity.  Hard data and quantitative measurement while important have begun in many ways to dominate the choices we make in both business and government.  And yet, we are trying to communicate through design and other forms of technology to people, not other machines.  We are all Social Animals.  Our very nature and reason for being is based in feelings and individual realities from the culmination of a life time of experiences.  In short, no equation or set of data can sum up the “user” because they are the ultimate “X” factor in everything we design.

Jeff will share experiences from interviewing and learning from thought leaders in Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Interaction Design, and Human Factors on every continent over the last five years. He will share insights from Jesse James Garrett, Jon Kolko, Peter Morville, Daniel Szuc, Indi Young, Eric Reiss, and others.  Jeff will also share some of the most powerfully emotional stories told at conferences and involve those in attendance to demonstrate the ways in which we can all become more effective in balancing both hemispheres.

Speaker Bio:

Jeff Parks is the President of i.a. consultants and the Canadian Lead for the European based User Experience firm, FatDux.  He has been called the voice of Information Architecture and User Experience for his work in producing Radio Johnny, Boxes and Arrows, as well as the i.a. podcasts, syndicated through iTunes; with a global audience numbering in the tens of thousands.  A world-renowned conversationalist, Jeff has interviewed some of the most influential minds from Google, IBM, Apple , ClickTale Web Analytics, Apogee, Adaptive Path, Cisco, and more. Jeff is also working with colleagues in New York and Washington in the creation of The UX Workshop http://www.theuxworkshop.tv; is the lead for the Ottawa chapter of the UX Book Club; and is a mentor in the Information Architecture Institute.

Prior to entering the world of IT, Jeff was a cognitive rehabilitation therapist for individuals suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) working with the leading minds in Neurology, Speech / Language Pathology, and Physiotherapy.  This work also lead to his working with pre-kindergarten children with learning disabilities and behavioral issues that put such children at risk for the public school environment.

When and Where:

This event will take place on Tuesday February16th, 2010, 6:00pm at TheCodeFactory, located at 246 Queen Street, between Bank and Kent, (on the second floor) above the Green Papaya Restaurant.

Note: there is no cost for attending this event and prior registration is not required. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. An informal social gathering will follow at a nearby pub.

The Student Research Competition is a forum for undergraduates and graduate students to share their research results, exchange ideas, and improve their communication skills while competing for prizes at CHI 2010.

Students submit a short (6 pages max.) paper describing their research. Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of experts, and evaluated based on

• Quality of work
• Novelty of approach
• Significance of the contribution to the field of HCI
• Clarity of written presentation

Up to twenty-five students (15 undergraduate and 10 graduate) will be chosen to participate in the competition at CHI 2008.

Students accepted to the competition are entitled to a travel grant covering expenses for travel to CHI, including conference registration, transportation, lodging, and meals, up to a limit of US$500. Students must be members of ACM to qualify for these awards.

For any Ottawa-area students who are chosen to participate in the competition in Atlanta, CapCHI will award and additional CAN$500 travel grant (one student per paper) towards incurred expenses.

At the CHI 2010 conference, students will be competing for cash prices of US$500, US$300, and US$200 for first, second, and third place (separate categories for undergraduate and graduate students).

More information on the competition can be found at

http://www.chi2010.org/authors/cfp-src.html

Title: User-Centred Design: A Cultural Challenge
Date: Tuesday January19th, 2010
Time: 6:00pm
Place: TheCodeFactory, 246 Queen St., Ottawa

CapCHI Presentation Jan 2010c

Abstract:
The quality of interactive experience with technology is produced in a particular cultural context and only determined or evaluated in the context of use. Incorporation of cultural factors in design thinking and design processes is critical to achieve the high quality of human-technology interaction that enables our experience with the technology to be effective and convivial.

Michelle will present her recent experience working for a non-profit organization in South East Asia.  The focus of her presentation will be the impact of cultural issues on interface design, and the challenge of applying a user-centred design (UCD) process to manage projects in a third-world Asian country.  Michelle will demonstrate the impact of cultural issues on the UCD approach with an example archival digitization project in which she managed and helped re-design a digitization software interface.  The discussion of cultural issues will provide valuable implications on design approaches and usability test methods to product designers and researchers.

Speaker Bio:
Since 2006 Michelle Gauthier is a Human Factors consultant for CAE Professional Services Canada.  In this role, Michelle provides human factors support to various military, energy, academic, and commercial projects.  She took a one-year sabbatical to work for a non-profit organization in Laos, South East Asia in 2008-2009.  Since returning from South East Asia, Michelle intends to re-focus her human factors skills on more socially responsible projects.  Michelle is currently a member of the National Capital chapter of ACM SIGCHI.  She received her M.A. in psychology with a specialty in human-computer interaction from Carleton University, Ottawa, in 2005.

When and Where:

This event will take place on Tuesday January19th, 2010, 6:00pm at TheCodeFactory, located at 246 Queen Street, between Bank and Kent, (on the second floor) above the Green Papaya Restaurant.

Note: there is no cost for attending this event and prior registration is not required. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. An informal social gathering will follow at a nearby pub.

Junior Developer — Momentous

Are you a junior developer eager to get your foot in the door in a thriving company? Momentous is looking for enthusiastic technical resources who are passionate about web development. Your strong creative and technical background will help you excel in this position. You will work as part of a Development team to enhance existing product functionality and to contribute to new projects that integrate into Momentous websites and back-end systems.

You bring:

• Experience in web programming for an online consumer product or service;
• Strong knowledge of object-oriented programming principles;
• Web application programming experience using ASP.Net and or PHP;
• Strong knowledge of database programming, particularly using MS SQL Server;
• Experience interacting with internal departments to help define and refine product requirements, and then take these requirements through to implementation;
• Experience with Linux/unix is considered a strong asset;
• Experience with MS Visual C++ would be a strong asset;
• Experience unit testing would be an asset;
• Must have a passion for technology and problem solving;
• Excellent team player;
• Strong communication skills both written and oral.

Education and Experience:

• Degree in computer science or equivalent;
• 1-3 years professional web development experience an asset, preferably in e-commerce.

If you are looking for an innovative workplace than come take a walk in our shoes.

Non-Smokers Only Please.

Apply today! www.momentous.ca/careers.asp

Quality Assurance Analyst

Working with the Zip.ca Development Team, the candidate will focus on developing and deploying both automated and manual test plans to improve the quality and reliability of Zip.ca and related services.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, document, develop and deploy new test plans / test cases for web applications written in ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL Server
• Automate new and existing test scenarios.
• Help maintain and enhance the existing technology in partnership with the Development team
• Ensure that functionality of the site and related technology accurately meet the technical, end user and marketing requirements
• Provide support to the internal business staff or external client on the functionality of the site and related technology
• Guide the Development team in improving the usability & reliability of the site and related technology
• Be and internal advocate for quality across all dimensions

Experience, Knowledge and skills:

• Dedication to improving the User Experience
• Ability to develop a test plan, from defined requirements where available, that includes unit testing, integration testing and performance testing
• Experience with Borland Silk Test is highly desirable
• Experience with C# and /or VB.NET as well as ASP.NET based testing tools such as NUnit and WatiN are considered an asset
• Strong SQL Server experience
• Ability to automate test scenarios
• Ability to write unit tests an asset
• Ability to efficiently and effectively work with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Visio.
• Understanding of basic design document structure and data flow diagrams, knowledge of UML an asset
• Excellent organizational, multi-tasking and planning skills and the ability to effectively prioritize tasks to meet deadlines
• Motivated, energetic, and inventive self-starter
• Excellent English communication skills, both written and verbal
• Must be able to work effectively both within a team and independently in a high-demand, short deadline environment
• Ability to think abstractly and work in a technically complex and ambiguous environment

Education and Training:

• Bachelor’s Degree, Certificate in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
• 1-3 years Quality Assurance experience in a commercial database-driven web development environment.

Apply today! www.momentous.ca/careers.asp

Abstract:
Even before Microsoft announced the Surface system in 2007, the Human-Computer Interaction community was actively researching digital tabletop technologies since Pierre Wellner proposed the DigitalDesk in 1991. Yet only very recent and emerging hardware and software advances have begun to make digital tabletops a feasible technology for real-world markets. Innovations in operating systems (e.g. Microsoft 7), development environments (e.g. Windows Presentation Foundation), and input technologies (e.g. FTIR and TouchCo “multitouch” technologies) are enabling a move beyond proof-of-concept tabletop systems, beyond demonstrations of simple applications that show new interface metaphors and interaction techniques for manipulating and sharing digital photos. Though we are still a few years away from consumer-grade interactive tabletop systems being sold at Best Buy, more specialized markets are emerging and early-adopter markets are on the horizon. This talk will overview some of the digital tabletop research being conducted in the Collaborative Systems Laboratory at the University of Waterloo in two specific application areas: military command and control operations, and digital board gaming.

Speaker Bio:
Stacey D. Scott, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Human Systems Engineering in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, ON, Canada. Dr. Scott received her Ph.D. in Computer Science (specializing in Human-Computer Interaction and Computer-Supported Collaboration) from the University of Calgary in 2005. She received her B.Sc. in Computing Science and Mathematics from Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) in 1997. She completed two years of postdoctoral studies in the Humans and Automation Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA, USA) from 2005-2007, where she developed awareness technologies to facilitate collaborative decision-making in time-critical military command and control operations. Dr. Scott’s graduate research focused on understanding collaborative tabletop work practices with traditional media and developing interface design requirements for digital tabletop platforms. She is now combining this previous
theoretical and high-level requirements work with the applied research experience gained in her postdoc to pursue the development of digital tabletop systems that support real-world collaboration in complex task domains. In general, her research interests include computer-supported collaboration, large-screen displays, interface and interaction design, and information visualization.

When and Where:

This event will take place on Tuesday Dec 15th, 2009, 6:00pm at TheCodeFactory, located at 246 Queen Street, between Bank and Kent, (on the second floor) above the Green Papaya Restaurant.

Note: there is no cost for attending this event and prior registration is not required. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. An informal social gathering will follow at a nearby pub.

Date: Tuesday Nov. 17, 2009
Time: 6:00pm
Place: TheCodeFactory, 246 Queen St., Ottawa

Abstract
Secure socket layer (SSL) certificates have been deployed to provide security for web-based transactions, which allow information to be transmitted securely as well as provide information about the party a user is transacting with. There has been a loss of confidence in the security provided by SSL certificates and browser interfaces in the face of various attacks. As one response, Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates have been proposed, which are intended to restore confidence among users that a website operator is legitimate. Unfortunately, EV SSL certificates may complicate the already difficult design challenge of effectively conveying certificate information to the average user. This talk describes a user study that explored the interfaces related to SSL certificates in the most widely deployed browser (Internet Explorer 7), proposed an alternative set of interface dialogs, and compared their effectiveness through a user study involving 40 participants. The alternative interface was found to offer statistically significant improvements in confidence, ease of finding information, and ease of understanding. Such results from a modest re-design effort suggest considerable room for improvement in the user interfaces of browsers today. This work motivates further study of whether EV SSL certificates offer a robust foundation for improving Internet trust, or a further compromise to usable security for ordinary users.

Biography
Tara Whalen is a post-doctoral research associate at Carleton University, who received her PhD in the human factors of security in 2008 at Dalhousie University. She previously worked in network security at the Communications Research Centre Canada. Her current research interests include usable security, privacy, and the social implications of technology.

When and Where:

This event will take place on Tuesday Nov. 17, 6:00pm at TheCodeFactory, located at 246 Queen Street, between Bank and Kent, (on the second floor) above the Green Papaya Restaurant.

Note: there is no cost for attending this event and prior registration is not required. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. An informal social gathering will follow at a nearby pub.