July Newsletter – User Experience (UX)

Some architects consider this topic to be critical, some others consider that only UX specialists must deal with it.

Sign up for other newsletters | Unsubscribe | Update your profile User Experience July 2009   User Experience Month Dear Architect, We want to start by thanking you for all the submissions you sent in for the SOA issue (to be released in September). The selection process was hard difficult with so many amazing proposals. We even had to postpone the announcement day for a week as we needed more time to review! The good news is that have more guest columns and for the very first time, some short videos of about 5 to 10 minutes in length. This month’s issue is devoted to User Experience (UX). Some architects consider this topic to be critical as it's considered strategic in terms of broaden the audience for software adoption, customer satisfaction and, as a desired consequence, company revenue. Some other architects consider that UX is a cross-cutting aspect that only UX specialists must deal with, so they must just focus on architecture definitions. These positions don't necessarily contradict each other, and the conclusion is that, while the architect is not directly responsible for the overall UX, there is certain background she must keep in mind as a stakeholder of the overall project. Sooner or later she will have to take decisions based on UX constraints. Just to mention a couple: RIA or plain HTML interface? What about allowing certain reports in a spreadsheet so the user can later massage the information to extract further results? We selected an assortment of updated resources of varying depth. As usual, we offer both MS and non-MS views. We hope you enjoy this input. Remember that you can always send us your opinions by emailing us to archjrnl\@microsoft.com. Sincerely, Diego Dagum Editor-in-chief UX Resources for Architects: Editor's Choice   Usability in Practice: The Human Face of Software End users want design that's easy to learn and use and that fits their workflow. This MSDN Magazine column shows you how to deliver such designs. -Usability in Practice: The Series (MSDN Magazine)   How To Quantify The User Experience Analyzing how effectively a Website provides for a net positive user experience can often turn into a subjective affair, rife with opinion and short on objectivity.   Advance Your Design with UX Design Patterns UX design patterns and a common design vocabulary to help facilitate collaboration among peers. -Lou Carbone: Go Beyond Best Practices. Evolving Next Practices to Prosper in the 21st Century   Agile Development Projects and Usability Agile methods aim to overcome usability barriers in traditional development, but pose new threats to user experience quality. -More articles by Dr. Jakob Nielsen, usability expert   Agile Methods and User Centered Design In this presentation, the speakers explain what the Agile and User Centered Design’s (UCD) common denominators are.   Ten Ways to Ensure RIA Failure Lessons learned and pitfalls of inefficient workflows, worst practices, and poor communication that will ensure the demise of any software project. -Simple tiered application development with .NET RIA Services -Just launched: community site for Web and RIA design and development   Q&A: Microsoft's Scott Guthrie Breaks Down Silverlight 3 for Enterprise Developers -What's New in Silverlight 3 -Is Silverlight 3 Ready for Business? -Case Study: Digital Publisher Creates New Business Opportunities for Online Content Delivery   Build WPF and Silverlight Clients to Last and to Change Prism's library and reference implementation helps you build modular applications that respond to changing business requirements. -Download this guidance Other news: • Forrester: Worst May Be Over for IT Market • Microsoft Azure Could Curb Enterprise Fears About the Cloud • Survey Finds BPM Projects Lack Architecture • Press Releases and More from Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 Get the Latest Journal Turbulent Times MSDN Magazine, July Resources for Developers TechNet Magazine, July MS Platform best practices To cancel your subscription to this newsletter, reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject line. You can also unsubscribe at the Architecture Journal web site. You can manage all your Microsoft.com communication preferences at this site. Legal Information. This newsletter was sent by the Microsoft Corporation 1 Microsoft Way Redmond, Washington, USA 98052 Sign up for other newsletters | Unsubscribe | Update your profile © 2009 Microsoft Corporation  Terms of Use | Trademarks | Privacy Statement