Web Directions » testing http://www.webdirections.org Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:02:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Scott Bryant & Simon Wright — Designing for change and disruptionhttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/scott-bryant-simon-wright-designing-for-change-and-disruption/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/scott-bryant-simon-wright-designing-for-change-and-disruption/#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:33:13 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=3835 Photo of Scott BryantPhoto of Simon WrightChange is never a smooth process. How do know when disruption is useful and how do you cope with the feedback on it?

]]> Web Directions South 2011, Sydney, October 13th.

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Session description

Change is never a smooth process. How do know when disruption is useful and how do you cope with the feedback on it? Recently news.com.au, a national news website with large numbers of daily visitors, underwent a major upgrade which tore down existing and perhaps “expected” ways of presenting news. At the heart of the redesign was a desire for change that motivated and challenged every aspect of the team’s design thinking and process.

In this co-piloted session Simon and Scott will fly you over the territories of change they encountered on the project, ones common to many redesign projects. They’ll descend through the experiences that came out of the redesign: fundamentals like stakeholders, requirements and their process for user experience architect and designer working side by side. Sprinkled with some of the twitter and facebook feedback the project received, they’ll touch down on the sticky issues of dealing with feedback and how to suck it up and utilise passionate user and stakeholder feedback.

About Scott Byrant

Photo of Scott BryantScott Bryant is a Senior Experience Architect working on online and cross platform news media and classifieds, most recently for news.com.au within the User Standards and Innovative Technology Team for News Digital Media. He spends his time working across product, design and technology teams utilising design and research to create engaging user experiences for news media.

His career began as a visual artist before working in university and local government libraries, and finally into new media. He completed two Masters Degrees, in Media Art and Information Studies (while working as a Project Manager, Content Producer and IA).

Upon returning from the US working on the Ask Jeeves innovative search interface he concentrated on User Experience, He continues to lecture casually in information and interaction design at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Follow Scott on Twitter: @ScotTheLot

About Simon Wright

Photo of Simon WrightSimon Wright is the Art Director of news.com.au, leading the design and front-end development team. He’s responsible for the brand’s design and development across all digital platforms, and also works closely with journalists on new ways to tell stories online. As someone who’s passionate about design, the web, media and well-designed chairs, being a part of a news website’s a near perfect fit (if it was possible to do this while climbing up a rockface, he’d never leave).

In a previous life Simon was based in Perth and wore the many hats of small business, mostly the propeller-topped one of designer/front-end dev and sometimes the dull beige hat of The Guy Who Does The Finance.

Follow Simon on Twitter: @diversionary

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/scott-bryant-simon-wright-designing-for-change-and-disruption/feed/ 0 Ryan Seddon — Remote debugging landscapehttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/ryan-seddon-remote-debugging-landscape/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/ryan-seddon-remote-debugging-landscape/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:46:46 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=3764 Photo of Ryan SeddonHow do we test the vast array of devices out there? And what tools can help us make this a painless experience?

]]> Web Directions South 2011, Sydney, October 13th.

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Session description

More and more as front-end developers we are presented with new challenges, with the explosion of the mobile web it has created a whole new territory. How do we test the vast array of devices out there? And what tools can help us make this a painless experience?

Testing web apps on mobile devices is a new challenge not yet fully explored. Let’s brush over the beginnings of web application testing and debugging and dive into current solutions for remote debugging. In this session we’ll cover what developers and browser vendors are doing to help tackle this problem, including some of the tools available to use today, and how some of these tools work internally and what the future may hold.

About Ryan Seddon

Photo of Ryan SeddonRyan Seddon is a Senior Front-end Developer from Melbourne Australia who has an unnatural obsession with JavaScript and the many places it runs. He also loves to tinker with any new web technology he can get his hands on and loves diving into specs and code to figure out more.

In his spare time he’s either playing basketball, writing for his blog thecssninja.com or committing code to github.

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @ryanseddon

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/ryan-seddon-remote-debugging-landscape/feed/ 0 Ross Boucher — Quality Control: Testing and debugging your appshttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/ross-boucher-quality-control-testing-and-debugging-your-apps/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/ross-boucher-quality-control-testing-and-debugging-your-apps/#comments Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:41:08 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=3326 Photo of Ross BoucherDevelopers have long been able to use an array of debugging, profiling and other testing tools to ensure application quality and performance. More recently, web developers have started to rely on increasingly sophisticated tools to help test their web sites and applications. But particularly in the mobile space, when developing sophisticated applications with web technologies, testing presents significant challenges.

]]> Web Directions Unplugged 2011, Seattle, May 12th 10:45am.

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Session description

Developers have long been able to use an array of debugging, profiling and other testing tools to ensure application quality and performance. More recently, web developers have started to rely on increasingly sophisticated tools to help test their web sites and applications. But particularly in the mobile space, when developing sophisticated applications with web technologies, testing presents significant challenges.

Ross Boucher, one of the developers of Objective-J, the Cappuccino web application framework, the visual development tool Atlas, and 280 slides knows a thing or two about testing sophisticated applications developed using web technologies. In this session, he’ll share some of those secretes, and help you better test and debug your applications.

About Ross Boucher

Photo of Ross BoucherRoss Boucher is co-founder of 280 North, the organization behind 280 slides and the popular Cappuccino and Atlas frameworks. At 280 North, he splits his time between server and client-side code, including the text system in 280 Slides. He has a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from USC. After graduating, he worked as an engineer at Apple on the iTunes Store. His team was responsible for music recommendations, charting, and search. Ross is currently working with his colleagues to create tools that will help everyone build rich applications.

Follow Ross on Twitter: @boucher

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/ross-boucher-quality-control-testing-and-debugging-your-apps/feed/ 0 Rachel Hinman — Mobile Prototyping Essentialshttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/rachel-hinman-mobile-prototyping-essentials/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/rachel-hinman-mobile-prototyping-essentials/#comments Sun, 29 May 2011 00:15:26 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=3260 Photo of Rachel HinmanWe’ve heard it all before… prototype, prototype, prototype. It’s a standard step in almost any design process — but often the first step skipped in time and budget constrained projects. While prototyping is considered a standard step in any UX design process, it is an *essential* part of the mobile UX process. This talk will outline why prototyping is essential to part of the mobile UX process and how prolific prototyping is a necessary step for designers keen to grow the ruthless editing skills necessary to craft successful mobile experiences.

]]> Web Directions Unplugged 2011, Seattle, May 12th 2:40pm.

Presentation slides

Session description

We’ve heard it all before… prototype, prototype, prototype. It’s a standard step in almost any design process — but often the first step skipped in time and budget constrained projects. While prototyping is considered a standard step in any UX design process, it is an *essential* part of the mobile UX process. This talk will outline why prototyping is essential to part of the mobile UX process and how prolific prototyping is a necessary step for designers keen to grow the ruthless editing skills necessary to craft successful mobile experiences. This talk will also cover common and uncommon mobile prototyping tools, methods and techniques that you can apply to your project work.

About Rachel Hinman

Photo of Rachel HinmanRachel Hinman is a researcher, designer and a recognized thought leader in the mobile user experience field.

Currently, Rachel is a Senior Research Scientist at the Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto, California. There she focuses on the research and design of emergent and experimental mobile interfaces and mobile experiences for emerging markets. Prior to joining Nokia, Rachel was an experience design director at Adaptive Path, and a mobile researcher and strategist for Yahoo’s mobile group.

Rachel writes and speaks frequently on the topic of mobile research and design. She is the creative force behind the 90 Mobiles in 90 Days Project and her perspectives on mobile user experience has been featured in Interactions Magazine, BusinessWeek and Wired. She is currently writing a book entitled, “The Mobile Frontier: A Guide for Designing Mobile Experiences” with Rosenfeld Media. Expected publication is late 2011.

Follow Rachel on Twitter: @Hinman

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/rachel-hinman-mobile-prototyping-essentials/feed/ 0 Closing keynote: Hilary Mason — Machine Learning for Web Datahttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/closing-keynote-hilary-mason-machine-learning-for-web-data/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/closing-keynote-hilary-mason-machine-learning-for-web-data/#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 05:49:04 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=2978 Hilary Mason PortraitMany of us create and work with data that lives on the web. This kind of data has similar characteristics that makes it possible to learn successful techniques and avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ for analysis.

]]> Web Directions USA 2010, Loews Atlanta Hotel, September 24 3.15pm.

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Session description

Many of us create and work with data that lives on the web. This kind of data has similar characteristics that makes it possible to learn successful techniques and avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ for analysis.

In this talk, I’ll give a brief history of the field with a focus on the fundamental math and algorithmic tools that we use to address these kinds of problems, then walk through several descriptive and predictive scenarios. We’ll also discuss the likely future evolution of this type of data and the active research problems that are currently fascinating.

About Hilary Mason

Hilary Mason PortraitHilary is the lead scientist at bit.ly, where she is finding sense in vast data sets. She is a former computer science professor with a background in machine learning and data mining, has published numerous academic papers, and regularly releases code on her personal site, hilarymason.com. She has discovered two new species, loves to bake cookies, and asks way too many questions.

Follow Hilary on Twitter: @hmason

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/closing-keynote-hilary-mason-machine-learning-for-web-data/feed/ 0 Juliette Melton — Remote research: Running effective remote studieshttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/juliette-melton-remote-research-running-effective-remote-studies/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/juliette-melton-remote-research-running-effective-remote-studies/#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:34:20 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=2959 Juliette Melton PortraitIn this workshop-style talk, Juliette Melton will cover recruiting sources, technology tools, and caveats you might not have thought of, including managing time zones and participant distraction. We will also address pros and cons of increasingly popular non-scripted research services.

]]> Web Directions USA 2010, Loews Atlanta Hotel, September 24 10.10am.

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Session description

Remote research can raise the quality and lower the costs of your user research efforts; using a combination of surveys, video, screensharing, and phone, you can connect with a much broader range of users than you could using traditional lab-based usability tests, while using resources more efficiently than you would doing contextual research. In this workshop-style talk, Juliette Melton will cover recruiting sources, technology tools, and caveats you might not have thought of, including managing time zones and participant distraction. We will also address pros and cons of increasingly popular non-scripted research services.

About Juliette Melton

Juliette Melton PortraitJuliette Melton is a user experience researcher and design strategist based in San Francisco. Her background in web development and product management gives her a practical perspective on how to conduct effective user experience research. She advocates building products that delight users while supporting organizational realities.

Juliette holds a master’s in education from the Technology, Innovation, and Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she focused on developing models for innovative networked learning applications. She runs Deluxify, a boutique UX consultancy, writes about her various projects at juliemelton.com, and makes lots of terrariums.

Follow Juliette on Twitter: @j

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/juliette-melton-remote-research-running-effective-remote-studies/feed/ 0 Juliette Melton — Running effective remote studieshttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/juliette-melton-running-effective-remote-studies/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/juliette-melton-running-effective-remote-studies/#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:32:37 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=2905 Juliette Melton PortraitRemote research can raise the quality and lower the costs of your user research efforts; using a combination of surveys, video, screensharing, and phone, you can connect with a much broader range of users than you could using traditional lab-based usability tests, while using resources more efficiently than you would doing contextual research. In this workshop-style talk, Juliette Melton will cover recruiting sources, technology tools, and caveats you might not have thought of, including managing time zones and participant distraction. We will also address pros and cons of increasingly popular non-scripted research services.

]]> Web Directions South 2010, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, October 15 10.45am.

Presentation slides

Session description

Remote research can raise the quality and lower the costs of your user research efforts; using a combination of surveys, video, screensharing, and phone, you can connect with a much broader range of users than you could using traditional lab-based usability tests, while using resources more efficiently than you would doing contextual research. In this workshop-style talk, Juliette Melton will cover recruiting sources, technology tools, and caveats you might not have thought of, including managing time zones and participant distraction. We will also address pros and cons of increasingly popular non-scripted research services.

About Juliette Melton

Juliette Melton PortraitJuliette Melton is a user experience researcher and design strategist based in San Francisco. Her background in web development and product management gives her a practical perspective on how to conduct effective user experience research. She advocates building products that delight users while supporting organizational realities.

Juliette holds a master’s in education from the Technology, Innovation, and Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she focused on developing models for innovative networked learning applications. She runs Deluxify, a boutique UX consultancy, writes about her various projects at juliemelton.com, and makes lots of terrariums.

Follow Juliette on Twitter: @j

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/juliette-melton-running-effective-remote-studies/feed/ 0 Matt Balara — Flogging design: best practices in online shop designhttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/matt-balara-flogging-design-best-practices-in-online-shop-design/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/matt-balara-flogging-design-best-practices-in-online-shop-design/#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:19:54 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=2828 Matt Balara PortraitConsidering how many businesses depend upon the web for their income, it’s shocking how poorly designed most shops are. Not only aesthetically, but also as far as ease of use, retail psychology and user experience are concerned. How can we design better shops? If customers enjoy shopping more, won’t our clients earn more? Can forms be fun? What’s the psychology behind online purchases? How can online and offline buying experiences be harmonised? Matt Balara will share some of his 15 years of experience designing web sites, the vast majority of which have sold something or other.

]]> Web Directions South 2010, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, October 14 2.40pm.

Session description

Considering how many businesses depend upon the web for their income, it’s shocking how poorly designed most shops are. Not only aesthetically, but also as far as ease of use, retail psychology and user experience are concerned. How can we design better shops? If customers enjoy shopping more, won’t our clients earn more? Can forms be fun? What’s the psychology behind online purchases? How can online and offline buying experiences be harmonised? Matt Balara will share some of his 15 years of experience designing web sites, the vast majority of which have sold something or other.

About Matt Balara

Matt Balara PortraitMatt Balara is a freelance web designer, was a child prodigy violinist and is unintentionally bilingual, all of which has been vitally important to his success in designing for the web since 1993. Despite years of experience, he still can’t understand why so many websites are so useless and ugly.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattBalara

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/matt-balara-flogging-design-best-practices-in-online-shop-design/feed/ 0 Rob Mitchell & Mike Williams — Test your JavaScripthttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/rob-mitchell-mike-williams-test-your-javascript/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/rob-mitchell-mike-williams-test-your-javascript/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:13:53 +0000 Guy Leech http://www.webdirections.org/?p=2221 Rob Mitchell PortraitMike Williams PortraitMike Williams and Rob Mitchell will explain why you should test your JavaScript code, what to test, and how to go about it. They’ll talk about full-stack browser-based tests, as well as true unit tests, and explain where each are appropriate. They’ll also discuss integration of your tests into an automated build, and you’ll leave with a burning desire to try it out on your own projects.

]]> Web Directions South 2009, Sydney Convention Centre, October 9 2.40pm.

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Session description

Increasingly, web-application behaviour is split between logic running on the server, and JavaScript logic running in the browser. Automated testing of the server-side component is fairly common, but too often the browser-side logic is left out in the cold.

Mike Williams and Rob Mitchell will explain why you should test your JavaScript code, what to test, and how to go about it. They’ll talk about full-stack browser-based tests, as well as true unit tests, and explain where each are appropriate. They’ll also discuss integration of your tests into an automated build, and you’ll leave with a burning desire to try it out on your own projects.

About Rob Mitchell

Rob Mitchell PortraitRob Mitchell was exposed to Agile Software Development in 2001 and since then has been a strong advocate of automated testing of software, allowing quick feedback. He has extensive experience in writing and testing web applications as well as leading teams to deliver quality software.

Follow Rob on Twitter: @rob_mitch

About Mike Williams

Mike Williams PortraitMike Williams has been developing software for about 20 years, in New Zealand, the UK and Australia. He became interested in eXtreme Programming and Test-Driven Development in 2001, shortly after moving to Australia, and has been promoting agile approaches to software development since then. Mike was an early contributer to Selenium, a popular web-application testing tool.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @woollyams

]]> http://www.webdirections.org/resources/rob-mitchell-mike-williams-test-your-javascript/feed/ 0 Daniel Burka — Changing successfully: Adapting your interface over timehttp://www.webdirections.org/resources/daniel-burka-interaction-design-case-studies/ http://www.webdirections.org/resources/daniel-burka-interaction-design-case-studies/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:34:22 +0000 jessie http://www.webdirections.org/?p=941 Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 1.40pm.

Daniel Burka PortraitUser interface design is an iterative process — the design of Digg and Pownce have been a study in evolution and adaptation. This talk will inspect the why and how of these iterations by looking at specific case studies from the two projects as well as previous client work Daniel has tackled.

The case studies will examine specific user interface challenges that have arisen and will chop them up into their various bits. How do I identify a challenge? What is the best approach for getting started? How do I solve the problem conceptually and technically? How will I know if I solved the challenge successfully? Case studies have been selected that are especially pertinent outside of their specific contexts to help you in your everyday UI design.

The presentation will focus on design inspiration, decision-making processes, technical solutions, and learning from missteps as part of a designer’s iterative process.

]]> Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 1.40pm.

Presentation slides

Session description

User interface design is an iterative process — the design of Digg and Pownce have been a study in evolution and adaptation. This talk will inspect the why and how of these iterations by looking at specific case studies from the two projects as well as previous client work Daniel has tackled.

The case studies will examine specific user interface challenges that have arisen and will chop them up into their various bits. How do I identify a challenge? What is the best approach for getting started? How do I solve the problem conceptually and technically? How will I know if I solved the challenge successfully? Case studies have been selected that are especially pertinent outside of their specific contexts to help you in your everyday UI design.

The presentation will focus on design inspiration, decision-making processes, technical solutions, and learning from missteps as part of a designer’s iterative process.

About Daniel Burka

Daniel Burka PortraitDaniel is the creative director at Digg, a founder of Pownce, and a founder of the Canadian web firm silverorange.

At silverorange, Daniel worked with a wide range of clients including Mozilla, Ning, Revision3, and Sloan. He’s since been lured to San Francisco after Kevin Rose dangled the prospect of In ‘N Out burgers and the opportunity to develop the user experience for the social news website Digg. As Digg’s creative director, Daniel has helped the site grow from a niche technology news site into one of the leading media services on the web with a massive and passionate community. Recently, along with Leah Culver and Kevin, Daniel helped found Pownce — a social network that lets you share files, events, messages, and links with your friends. Daniel works on feature development and the user interface of Pownce.

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