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 preperation 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
NEHCLI - Network Executive Health Care Leadership Institute
I was nominated for and accepted into this leadership program sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It's a formalized series of week-long face-to-face sessions and individual coaching sessions. We have a stack of texts to read addressing leadership skills, personal mastery, teaming, and negotiation. Along with the results of personality and strength assessments, these texts prepare us for intense daily-long sessions (during the day, we're allowed no email, no Blackberry, no cell phone, etc.). I will have traveled to Orlando, Burlington, and DC and been cohort to other brilliant leaders and medical practitioners throughout the VA.
SimLEARN - Department of Veterans Affairs
I am involved in the VA's emerging national simulation initiative. 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.
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 last August 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 Wine
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! I'd like to know the story behind what has turned out to be an unexpected brush with usability and accessibility. There's bound to be a high conversion rate--persuasion experience at its keenest. Á votre santé!