About the Author

Karen is the Manager of the STC Usability and User Experience Community.

STC UUX Community Newsletter
Usability Interface

The Pulse of the Usability Community:
Transformation and UUX

By Karen Bachmann

By now, you should have received your 2005 STC dues renewal notification. Starting this year, you can customize your membership in a way that offers the most value to you. This new benefit is just one indication that the transformation effort that the STC has undertaken is well underway and already providing new benefits to members. If you have not yet submitted your renewal, please do so soon. And be sure to select STC Usability and User Experience (UUX) as one of your communities.

While the renewal form lists our community as the Usability SIG, our new name and mission statement has been officially approved by the STC board. We are in the process of updating our website, newsletter, and other materials to reflect this change. The re-chartering process was just the first step, however. Your input into that effort and your suggestions will help guide new and expanded services available through this community. In keeping with the theme of the newsletter, some of the coming changes will take advantage of newer technologies such as blogs and wikis to provide more dynamic and interactive information sharing and learning opportunities.

We will be looking for members to actively participate and lead these new programs. To point out the obvious, I firmly believe that the more you put into a community, the more you get out of it. That has been true in all STC communities I’ve participated in and in those where I’ve been less active.

We will also continue the programs that have been successful and inform you of others. This includes active participation in the upcoming annual conference in Seattle on May 8–11. Whitney Quesenbery and Allen Rotz are finalizing an excellent Usability and Information Design stem. The preliminary program will be available soon; bookmark the conference website for the latest information.

Last year’s discussion about the transformation effort as well as a broader discussion about trends in the profession laid the groundwork for our rechartering work. Guest Ben Shneiderman shared his ideas for helping our community succeed and grow. As an added bonus, Ginny Redish’s homemade cookies were a real treat. Plan to attend this year’s meeting, and share in the discussion and the fun of meeting in person your fellow UUX members.

One of the most important activities for members of the broader STC community is coming much sooner than May: STC board elections. Only members who have renewed by February 28 will receive election materials. The importance of voting and its role in building communities that truly benefit its members has captured worldwide headlines and engaged many who thought their vote did not really matter. In America, we saw record numbers of voters turn out for the November presidential election. In Afghanistan and Iraq, citizens risked their lives to embrace this opportunity to create, for the first time, countries and the communities that benefit the majority rather than only those in power. In the Ukraine, citizens refused to allow corruption to undermine their right to elect the candidate favored by the majority.

While the STC elections do not command the attention that national elections such as these do, on their much smaller scale, they offer us a voice in how our professional society will serve our needs and who should lead that effort. I hope that you will take a few moments to vote. To learn more about the candidates, read their statements, available on the UUX site home page.

I also urge you to approve the referendum to change our governance structure. It is just one step in a series of efforts by the Board to create a leadership that best represents all members, regardless of their community affiliations.

The year 2005 promises real growth for UUX and STC as a whole. I look forward to taking part in it and encourage you to get involved. If you would like more information about the activities mentioned here or just have feedback or ideas about what you want to see, please email me at karenlynn@mindspring.com.