Saturday, October 21

Using scenarios to drive design

Tektronix, Inc.
Building 38, Calgary/Atlanta Room
14200 SW Karl Braun Drive
Beaverton, OR 97077
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Discounted member admission applies to members of CHIFOO and partner organizations, including government and non-profit groups.

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This half-day tutorial will teach students about the ways in which scenarios are both a crucial conceptual design and vital communication tool for the successful practice of interaction design. The instructors are versed in the scenario-based approach to interaction design as practiced in the Cooper Goal-Directed Design methodology.

Beginning with the concept of personas, we will work through design examples and exercises to illustrate the power of scenarios. Class participants will develop scenarios, from the high-level context scenario wherein requirements are identified, through the detailed key path scenario wherein interaction design solutions are formulated. We will also describe how to use communication scenarios to articulate design to the rest of your stakeholders and product design and development teams. The tutorial will also discuss the professional work experiences we've all had with scenarios, both in terms of success stories and times when scenarios have failed.

Rather than creating specific interaction design solutions, please note that the teachings and activities in this class will focus on the use of scenarios to drive the design process, to collaborate effectively with colleagues and clients, and to communicate product design solutions. These activities comprise the core of interactive product definition as performed early in the product lifecycle. Moving from personas and scenario development into detailed interaction design work deserves a whole separate course of its own.

This tutorial targets people who:

• Wish to understand how to make personas an effective design and communication tool
• Want to better lead and control the design process in their organization
• Want to expand their practices using a powerful scenario-based methodology
• Have seen scenario-based approaches to product development fail in the past

About the speakers

Steve Calde is a Principal Design Consultant at Cooper, where he's been helping to make the digital world a safer place for users since 1998. Steve has worked on scores of design projects in diverse domains such as golf course irrigation, IT administration, online radio, enterprise resource management, intravenous medication delivery, telecommunications, and more. Steve also teaches Cooper's Interaction Design Practicum and Communicating courses. In a previous life, Steve was a technical writer for Rational Systems and GW Associates (semiconductor factory automation).

Elizabeth Bacon, M.A., is a senior interaction designer at St. Jude Medical. She received her “post-grad” education in interaction design at Cooper, where she worked for three inspiring years designing interactive systems and helping refine methodology and practice. She has worked for the past four years at St. Jude Medical, where she is a founding member of the New Product Planning team, designing solutions for implantable medical devices that satisfy and delight customers. She also is an active member of the Interaction Design Association, and is the IxDA Liaison/Member-at-Large of CHIFOO. Above all, she is passionate about improving the world through the practice of interaction design and sharing perspectives with fellow practitioners.