Recent
Goings On
There's always something to engage my little gray cells (tempting me away from what I should actually be doing!). I think you'll find interesting some of the latest creative user experience, IA, and educational goings-on that occupy my time. Also, I have put some examples of my work on the Portfolio page, including an example of personas.
Current Reading
Content preparation guidelines for the web and information appliances; Cross-cultural comparisons
&Salvendy, CRC Press, 2010
Content preparation is an integral part of the usability equation: it answers the question of what information is needed for effective decision making. the book provides theory and operational tools, addressing the impact of culture on content usability.
Recruiting better research participants
From UX Matters web site
A tidy primer for the ins-and-outs of gathering and screening usability participants. A nice refresher for those of us who do this on a sporadic basis.
Professional
SimLEARN - Department of Veterans Affairs
I am involved in the VA's national simulation initiative SimLEARN. My role so far has involved an immersion in the practice, theory, academics, and equipment involved in simulation training in the medical field. I have been able then to take this information and make it usable and meaningful for learners and instructors who undertake simulation in their programs.
One example is the Women Veterans Health Care initiative, specifically urgent care and emergency medicine (UC/EM). Next month I'll be co-facilitating with the SimLEARN medical director a series of face-to-face sessions with MDs and clinicians involved in UC/EM for women. The goal is to develop instructional simulation scenarios built on specific knowledge, skills, and critical thinking -- scenarios designed to teach health care professionals the diagnostic contexts of women's health care.
Coaching Certificate
I recently took a 2-day coaching seminar involving didactic and scenario-based instruction. The group of 20 attendees learned and practiced (with compounding success criteria) active listening, response, body language, ethics, and leadership, We also reviewed coaching program development and legal issues.
Academic
PhD - Dissertation Phase
I am slowly but surely working my way through my literature review.
Personal
Hospital Usability
A close family member was in a serious accident recently and I have had cause to spend a lot of time in hospital and rehabilitation facilities.The healthcare practices and patient safety processes that theses institutions have established are always interesting to note. Sometimes I look for them with professional goggles on; other times I see them as a visiting family member without even trying. To greater or lesser degrees, equipment, processes, labeling, accountability, and safety measures are all part of a medical ecosystem. Additionally, it's interesting to consider how the integration of these elements in a medical ecosystem can be improved upon.
Section 508 Compliant Products
It wasn't until we got the bottle home that my wife and I realized the Chapoutier 2006 Cote-du-Rhone label "under-imposed" braille within the graphical layout! Since then, we've noticed Braille on a number of other products ranging from cosmetics to hardware store items.
I'm sure each package is Braille-enhanced as per market segment strategies. I'd be curious to know how a sight-impaired consumer base is researched and what stats determined ROI on accessible packaging...