{"id":1071,"date":"2010-09-15T09:05:54","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T08:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2019-11-06T17:45:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T16:45:01","slug":"uxbrighton-2010-conference-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/","title":{"rendered":"UXBrighton 2010 Conference Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week I attended the UXBrighton conference, and was very impressed by the size and experience demonstrated by the Brighton UX community. The conference was an extension of the monthly UXBrighton<\/a> meetings, who moved for the first time to a bigger venue \u2013 necessitated by the prestige of their special guest Rory Sutherland, as documented by James Page<\/a>. The conference can be called an undeniable success for the local community, with 250 people in attendance, and a full day of interesting and enlightening talks.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Nuremburg\"

attendance was looking good<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\nThe day was bookended by presentations from Eric Reiss, and Rory Sutherland. Both speakers were charismatic and good choices as the key speakers of the day. Reiss\u2019s talk, on \u2018Web Dogma\u2019, introduced a high level overview to some of the key concepts of the day \u2013 advocating the idea of \u2018user driven design\u2019 at every stage of a project, and introducing his list of 10 basic rules for web communication. These rules aim to separate best practices from technology and fashion, and hence avoid the fate of the Dogme95 movement which inspired their creation. Although possibly too \u2018high-level\u2019 for a UX specific conference, Eric Reiss\u2019s presentation was fun, full of character, and engaging, since he treated his presentation as an independent being imbued with a personality of it\u2019s own (more on this later!). Eric Reiss\u2019s full list of rules for web design have been widely adopted across the net, and can be seen here: Web Dogma<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rory Sutherland\u2019s talk \u2018Of Clouds and Clocks\u2019 was a fun ending to the day, and expanded the day\u2019s discussions beyond the realm of just user experience. Sutherland based his talk around Karl Popper\u2019s idea that most things are either clocks, and hence act predictably and mechanically, or clouds, which are much more complex systems and hence less easy to adjust. Popper said that the worst mistakes are made by people treating clouds like clocks (such as terrorists attempting to fix society with a bomb), and Sutherland points out that this applies to traditional interpretations of business. Instead of focusing on grand actions to change business, it is instead the accumulation of small actions, and an oblique approach to fixing a problem, that often proves successful. Sutherland\u2019s infectious humour and personality shone through his presentation, and he provided an inspiring \u2018wake up\u2019 rally at the end of a long day! Rory Sutherland\u2019s TED talk can be seen here<\/a> <\/p>\n

Other highlights of the day included Harry Brignull\u2019s talk on the evil tricks designers use to control of your actions. Brignull has started to document these on his very interesting darkpatterns.org website<\/a>, and used his talk to propose a code of ethics to help combat these tricks.<\/p>\n

Graham McAllister presented some of Vertical Slice\u2019s methods of biometrics research within games, which I\u2019ve written about before<\/a>. His talk seemed well received by the crowd, and gave an interesting example of the application of UX principles outside of websites.<\/p>\n

Jeroen Van Goel, of Johnny Holland Magazine<\/a> gave a fun presentation of the personality inherent in products, such as his washing machine, and how we as UX designers need to consider the personality of websites as we make them. By learning from the established field of branding, we can overcome the constraints set by design patterns and simple usability testing, to create ‘likeable’ products.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Washing

My own washing machine has seen unimaginable horrors...<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Bunnyfoot\u2019s Jon Dodd showed us how the teachings of advertising guru David Ogilvy still apply in the 21st century. His insights, revolutionary in the world of advertising, including using metrics, a\/b testing, and talking to customers, and are all key aspects of creating successful user experiences. Dodd’s talk has inspired me to re-read Ogilvy\u2019s classic \u201cOn Advertising\u201d. Dodd also recommended Ogilvy\u2019s ,\u201cTheory and Practise of selling the Aga Cooker\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Further talks, from James Page, Sabrina Mach, Claire Rowland and Julian Hirst, covered a diverse range of topics, from the nature of creativity, to the introduction of UCD into the methodology\u2019s used in large businesses<\/a>, to the advantages of remote user testing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UX Brighton proved that the Brighton UX community can fill a conference venue, and put on a day of interesting and relevant talks. It was especially interesting playing \u2018spot the twitterer\u2019, as I spotted many people I\u2019ve been twitter stalking for the first time. I\u2019m sure after the success of 2010, the organisers will be looking to put on a UXBrighton 2011, and I\u2019m already looking forward to the discussion of next year’s hot topics! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I attended the UXBrighton conference, and was very impressed by the size and experience demonstrated by the Brighton UX community. The conference was an extension of the monthly UXBrighton meetings, who moved for the first time to a bigger venue \u2013 necessitated by the prestige of their special guest Rory Sutherland, as documented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-1071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-user-research","tag-agile","grve-entry-item","grve-blog-item"],"yoast_head":"\nUXBrighton 2010 Conference Review - Steve Bromley - User Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UXBrighton 2010 Conference Review - Steve Bromley - User Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week I attended the UXBrighton conference, and was very impressed by the size and experience demonstrated by the Brighton UX community. The conference was an extension of the monthly UXBrighton meetings, who moved for the first time to a bigger venue \u2013 necessitated by the prestige of their special guest Rory Sutherland, as documented […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steve Bromley - User Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-15T08:05:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-06T16:45:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/nuremburg.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Steve Bromley - User Research\",\"description\":\"Usability and User Research for Websites, Software and Games\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/nuremburg.png\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/\",\"name\":\"UXBrighton 2010 Conference Review - Steve Bromley - User Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-15T08:05:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-06T16:45:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/\",\"name\":\"UXBrighton 2010 Conference Review\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\"},\"headline\":\"UXBrighton 2010 Conference Review\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-15T08:05:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-06T16:45:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#webpage\"},\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"keywords\":\"Agile\",\"articleSection\":\"User Research\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/uxbrighton-2010-conference-review\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\",\"name\":\"Steve Bromley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dfbbfc5a00187fd6f5fd405361347b2698a65a866f49de07f9486895b6c7029?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steve Bromley\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#personlogo\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1071"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2366,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071\/revisions\/2366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}