If you’re in Australia, New Zealand – or would like an excuse to visit – the Oz-IA 2007 conference registrations have opened! The conference/retreat is on 22-23 September (not much time, I know), in Sydney. There’s an interesting and eclectic mixed of presentations & workshops, including one by your’s truly.
Last year’s event was a treat – around 90 people attended the weekend – and this year’s promising to be at least as good.
I’ve just gotten home from judging the first FullCodePress competition (see the site for details, the winners, and all the action). Two teams – from NZ and Australia – worked for 24hrs straight to design & develop a complete Web site for two different (one each) not-for-profit organizations.
The judging covered 10 characteristics of a Web site:
I was judging the Purpose, Content, and User Experience categories (everyone puts in a score in the Overall category).
It was really, really interesting to see how the two teams approached their task, including the use of some very focused, tactical IA/UxD work. The NZ team appeared to be the more process-oriented of the two teams, producing thumbnail-sketch personas, wireframes, site map etc; the Australians worked in a more collaborative, iterative fashion, concentrating on site maps & wireframes.
Without users to interact with, both teams worked closely with their respective clients, relying on their knowledge & empathy with the audience groups to define appropriate site structures, content, functionality &etc.
I was very impressed with the quality of the end result from both teams: they should both feel proud of the work they’ve done this weekend.
Also, kudos to the organizers – WebStock & WIPA – for a great idea, and a really well-run event. The coverage was also awesome, incorporating live blogging, twitter, videos on youtube, and photos on flickr.