User Experience

The Cambridge Wireless User Experience Special Interest Group (UX SIG) focuses on how we can drive progress in the wireless value chain by emphasising ways of bringing direct value to end users through techniques, technologies and processes that ensure customers can access the content and functionality they require as easily and intuitively as possible.  The mobile revolution has brought us richer and more powerful platforms, devices, applications and services that promise interaction on par with, or perhaps even exceeding, what can be achieved on desktop computers while also taking account of contextual information such as time and place.  However, relatively small displays and constrained input modalities combined with these contextual requirements results in significant new challenges that must be met to provide the  user experience that is required for customers to fully embrace the range of innovative possibilities that are offered by emerging mobile and wireless technologies.
 
The SIG aims to address these challenges and issues in a number of ways:
  • Provide a forum for open discussion of current developments, challenges and trends in the field of User Experience
  • Showcase the state of the art in user experience design.
  • Explore innovative interaction techniques such as touch, motion, 3D, gesture, voice and augmented reality and examine how they can be used to enhance the mobile experience.
  • Examine processes and techniques for taking more explicit account of user needs and involving or engaging users in the design process.
  • Explore the challenges of creating a common user experience across converging technologies and the use of multiple devices.
  • Explore how the user experience can be better informed by taking account of the range of knowledge and expectations of different users and the variety of contexts of use that need to be supported.
  • Explore how emerging trends such as M2M and the Internet of things may impact user experience.
  • Examine the business benefits that arise from driving innovation through user experience design.

This SIG is championed by:

Geoff McCormick of TheAlloy, Giuliano Maciocci of Qualcomm, David Walker of Philips and Allan MacLean of Amdeo

Recent Event

Cambridge Wireless Inaugural User Experience SIG in Association with CoDE, Anglia Ruskin University "Designing User Experience in the Connected Device Ecosystem", 11th October 2011, Kaetsu Centre, Murray Edwards College
  • Geoff McCormick, Director, TheAlloy will debate "User Experience 101 – what’s so great about UX, and who is doing it well?"
  • Giuliano Maciocci, User Experience Lead, Qualcomm Research and Development, Cambridge will examine "Driving Technology Through User Experience Research"
  • Natasa Milic-Frayling, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge and leader of the Integrated Systems Group will present  “Mobile & Social Double Dare: Managing Social Adoption and Technology Adaption”
  • Phil Burr, UI Product Marketing Director, Mentor Graphics will examine “Developing User Interfaces in Multimode Product Portfolios”
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    Next Event        

    User Experience SIG: 'New Forms of Interaction – Don’t Touch!'

    This half-day event looks to go beyond the current implementation of the touch interface and focuses on the potential for techniques that do not necessarily require direct physical manipulation. The third event from this popular SIG will look at how this future technology could enhance the User Experience, how these benefits may come to fruition and the pitfalls to be avoided. The event will be taking a balanced approach to the application areas beginning to show early progress and examining their role in helping to create a seamless interaction across converging technologies, culminating in the vital move to the mainstream marketplace. This event will commence with lunch followed by an informative schedule of presentations, debate and panel discussions. Presentations will be heard from: Helena Mentis, Microsoft Research, Steve Taylor, TheAlloy and Neil Garner, Proxama. In addition, Graeme Gibson, AppSherpas and David Walker, Philips Research, will participate in the 'Bring & Share' session.
     
    The last few years have seen great progress in exploring innovative interaction techniques such as near field communication (NFC), motion, 3D, gesture, voice and augmented reality.  While many of these techniques are not fully mature, or are prevalent primarily in niche markets, the superb implementation of the touch interface on the iPhone demonstrated how quickly a form of interaction that was previously met with some scepticism can suddenly become fully accepted and mainstream. 
      
    This third User Experience SIG event, to be hosted by Microsoft Research, will explore some of the new forms of interaction that are currently “waiting in the wings”.   In particular, we focus on the potential for techniques that do not necessarily require the direct physical manipulation of the device being controlled.   We look at the potential benefits promised for enhancing the User Experience, how these benefits might be realised and some the pitfalls we will need to avoid.  We will explore and discuss issues such as the current state of the art in some of these approaches, application areas where they show particular promise, their role in helping create seamless interaction across converging technologies, and what it might take to move them to the mainstream. 

    Presentations will be heard from:

    This SIG is championed by Geoff McCormick of TheAlloy, Giuliano Maciocci of Qualcomm, David Walker of Philips and Allan MacLean of Amdeo. We are also grateful to Microsoft for hosting this event and for TheAlloy for sponsoring the lunch at this half-day event.
     
    This half day event will commence with lunch followed by a packed schedule of informative presentation, lively debate and panel discussion.
     
    This event is FREE to members of Cambridge Wireless. Tickets for non-members are £175.00 plus VAT. To join Cambridge Wireless as a member and attend future events for free, please visit:

     
    Lunch Sponsored kindly by TheAlloy Kindly hosted by Microsoft Research 
    		12/07/12