Socializing and snacks at 6:00. Talk starts at 6:30.

Co-sponsored by the GT GVU Center, the GT MS-HCI Degree, CHI*Atlanta, and IXDA Atlanta.

A user interface is ultimately a conversation between users and technology, so well-designed interfaces use the language of UI to communicate to users efficiently, naturally, and intuitively. Focusing on effective human communication removes much of the mystique, subjectiveness, and complexity from user interface design, and helps you make better design decisions with confidence.

In this talk, Everett McKay presents the core principles of communication-focused design, shows how they apply to intuitive interactions and task flows, provides some communication-based design tools and techniques, and applies these principles and tools to several design makeovers. In the end, you will have a new perspective that will help you make better design decisions more quickly and confidently.

Everett McKay will also be giving away several copies of his book during the talk.

Bio

Everett McKay (Twitter @UXDesignEdge) is Principal of UX Design Edge, a user experience design training and consulting company for mobile, web, and desktop applications based in Vermont.

Everett's specialty is UX design training for software professionals who aren't experienced designers through onsite and public courses and workshops. His new book is UI is Communication: How to Design Intuitive, User Centered Interfaces by Focusing on Effective Communication, published by Morgan Kaufmann. Previously, Everett was a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft Corporation on the Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server teams. Before joining Microsoft, he was a programmer, specializing in designing and developing Windows and Macintosh user interfaces.