Want to learn more about Agile Development and User Experience? Head to Toronto…

Last November, we had a full house for Declan Whelan’s talk on the intersection of Agile and UX. If you’re hungry for more, check out these two upcoming events in Toronto. Thanks to @meredi, coordinator of the Toronto IxDA group, for bringing these to our attention!

January 19: IxDA Toronto Discussion Panel on Agile & UX

For the latest information, monitor IxDA Toronto’s Google Groups forum.

January 20: Agile Methods and User Centered Design: The Common Denominators

8.00am – 9.30am
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Park Hyatt Toronto Hotel
4 Avenue Road
Cost: FREE
Learn more and register

ThoughtWorks’ User Experience Expert, Dave Robertson, and senior business analyst, John Johnston, will discuss the subject of marrying Agile and User Centered Design best practices.

One of the most important ways to create valuable software is to empower people. Agile practices empower development teams and their customers to create software that delivers real value for the business. User centered design (UCD) practices empower designers to create useful, usable and compelling experiences for people who use software. Agile and UCD are highly complimentary, yet many practitioners still struggle with integrating these practices and there is a common impression that agile and UCD donít work well together. Too many agile projects produce poor user interface and too many user experience projects run over time and budget.

There is a better way. Agile methods and UCD share goals and values — a commitment to iteration, value and quality are examples of common denominators that form a foundation on which designers and developers can integrate these practices successfully. But they must be willing to challenge preconceptions about their methods, deliverables and roles to succeed.

(January 2009) Product Potluck Reloaded

Thursday January 22, 2009
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
Meeting Room #2
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo
[Map]

Event description

Last month, just before Christmas, a few brave souls ventured out to the Accelerator Centre despite the beginnings of a major snowstorm. We swapped stories and got hands-on with some fun and frustrating products — and had such a good time that everyone agreed we should repeat the event in January.

So if you missed December’s get-together, please join us on January 22 for a potluck with a twist: instead of food, we’re asking you to bring a product. Make it a product that you either love or hate, because we’ll be sharing stories with each other about these products. And the juicier the story, the better!

Some guidelines and tips:

• You’ll have a few moments to introduce your product to everyone and describe what you love or hate about it.
• Be prepared to provide a few words or short phrases that describe your experience in using the product. We’ll collect these words throughout the evening and produce a Wordle tag cloud to illustrate the themes that emerged in our potluck.
• If the product you want to share isn’t something you can physically bring to the event (like an airplane, or a printing press, or a website), then bring something that illustrates the product. If you’d like to share software or a website, consider printing a screenshot. Alternatively, a laptop, projector, and Internet connection will be available.

RSVPs requested

If you’re hoping to join us, please send an RSVP to Wanda Eby at Communitech. This helps us to better anticipate turnout and plan accordingly.

Hope to see you there!