SXSW Day 3 – Wrap Up

Wow, day 3 was incredible. Two of the panels were fantastic. One was beyond fantastic. Of course, if you were at the conference you know I”m talking about the panel “UX team of one.”

A UX Team of One by Leah Buley of Adaptive Path

This is a definite do not miss podcast when it becomes available (usually on SXSW site later in week). The panel was more like a passion driven aria, an emotional speech empowered by the frustrations of a single team UX people. There were ideas, examples, Lots of examples, and templates for people to gather and use. There were so many ideas that one could practically use such as: 6 Up Templates, Spectrums, 2×2 grids.

First check out the slide share presentation: Slideshare UG Leah. Then head of to my notes where you can see  in a rough state over here:  UX Team of One UI Design Guide Idea Tree.

At the end of this presentation there were non-stop applause. I have a series of pictures from this panel I’ll post on flickr.

Just to talk a little bit more about this presentation. It was the best and most valuable one I have heard in 3 years of SXSW. Now let’s take a look at all of the rest of the panels I attended.

Journey To The Center of User Centered Design by Jared Spool

I was a bit disappointed with this presentation. I like a lot of Jared’s ideas but we didn’t get to the real meat of the whole topic until the end. I literally mean the last 3 months. There were some valuable incites in this presentation about brand analysis, but there wasn’t much you could take away and “practice.”  In the end that is what made it less memorable. Most people are at SXSW to get some methods they can take back with them try out, practice, and perfect.

When Worlds Collide

This conversation based presentation was all about UI design cycles and AGILE. I made a few points during the conversation, but I think these tend to go off in so many directions the structure can be a bit overwhelming. As a moderator I think it would be more helpful as people list ideas to write them on the board, and then get more feedback about an idea and move on to the next. By doing this you have a lot more practical examples written down that you can take home with adopt, use, and misuse.

These types of panels are so fast paced it is just really hard to get your head wrapped around all of the information.

CSS  3

What can I say about this one? The panel was full so no one could get in. Instead there was a line of 20 – 30 people sitting on the outside trying to get in and waiting in line. I know a little about CSS 3 to get started so I offered the people in line a chance to look at some tutorials and start a discussion. Only 1 person took me up on the offer. It was sad, because people really wanted to just stand in the line and not talk about the very thing inside. The panelists were from Opera, Microsoft, etc. It would have been nice to get inside, but there are other people that have lots of valuable information to offer all over the conference. I also make an effort to impart, and share knowledge. It’s the primary purpose of this blog. People looked at me like I was crazy. I had the CSS 3 info right up on my computer and was walking them through what I knew so far. Besides the presentation would be up online.

Rant mode on.  What harm would there be in learning about things in the line? Crazy huh? The thought about panels is if you are panelist you are an expert. I know for a fact are many people around the conference that are no panelists but have years and  years of experience. The whole point about SXSW is self-empowerment. Sad that this can only be accomplished through attending a panel laden with corporate entities.

How Would MacGyver Do Design

This panel was also a conversation panel. There were some good tips, and definitely some good tools provided. You can check out some of my notes here.  There were several good tips, I noted. Also he spoke about 7 Heuristics. I covered a little bit about this in one of my earlier articles. Though, I distilled them down to 5. The conversation was quite lively in here and I really felt that someone needs to write this stuff down on the board. It helps a conversation if people can see the talking points.

In Closing

This was by far the best day at conference. There are still several panels to come. I wanted to give a little bit more information about each of these panels to try and give the readers out there a better view of SXSW interactive. As promised below are the pics of the day.

Also as a teaser after SXSW the fun doesn’t stop. I have many articles I’m working on. So be sure to check back, register, add me to your rss reader, and tell some friends.

SXSW Day 3 Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7264410@N04/sets/72157615307831931/

Related articles:

1. UI Design News: Vote For My Agile UX Panel At SXSW 2010
2. SXSW 2009 – Day 2
3. SXSW 2009 Interactive – Survival Guide & Tips
4. SXSW Interactive 2009 – Pre-attendance Plans – and Survival Tips
5. SXSW 2008 – Day 2 Summary -