Cooper is excited to announce a partnership with WEA, the Women's Earth Alliance, for our upcoming UX Bootcamp in late July. WEA is a Berkeley-based non-profit who partners internationally with grassroots organizations to provide financial resources, training, advocacy and peer support for women leaders who are addressing acute environmental and climate challenges in their communities.

"Women — caretakers, mothers, community leaders, healers, farmers, artisans, and resource stewards — around the world are making purposeful commitments to transforming the quality of their lives and their environments. Their efforts to sustain and protect their families, cultures, and natural resources are nothing less than heroic." — WEA web site

 

The Challenge
The UX Bootcamp is part intensive design course, part friendly design competition. In this four-day workshop, Cooper's industry experts will guide you through the goal-directed design process we use to create useful, meaningful, impactful digital products and services. You will partner with designers, engineers, and product managers from around the globe to re-envision WEA's web platform and create ideas for a mobile platform, both of which educate a global audience about women-led global endeavors in Africa, India, and the USA. Cooper U educators and WEA representatives will review final design concepts presented by small teams, and we will donate $1000 to the nonprofit in the name of the winners. In this engaging competition you will learn critical leadership, communication and collaboration skills while designing for positive change in the world!

Event Facts and Links
Workshop and Design Challenge Dates: July 30 - August 2, 2012
Event Location: San Francisco, California
Register Now!

Want a Taste of What UX Bootcamp Is Like?
In April, Cooper U hosted our inaugural UX Bootcamp in partnership with The American Red Cross of Greater Columbus. Designers, engineers and product managers joined forces in Columbus, Ohio to learn about user experience design while creating mobile app concepts for ClubRED (a young professional's volunteer group within the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus). To get a glimpse of what that UX Bootcamp was like, check out the final concepts pitched by the teams, this post by our student, Amber Howard, or these photos of the magic in action.

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The American Red Cross of Greater Columbus Shares Their Experience of UX Bootcamp

Last month, 26 designers, engineers, and product managers crammed their brains with Cooper's design methodology and put those learnings into practice designing mobile app concepts for volunteers of the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus. The nonprofit was involved all four days, let our students conducts design research interviews with their volunteers, and gave stellar critique during the final presentations of the teams. We asked Sarah Lewan, Coordinator of Volunteer Resources for the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, to tell us about her team's experience of our inaugural UX Bootcamp. Here's what she shared with us...

What was most surprising about this experience?

The most surprising thing to me and my team was how involved the students would actually be in developing a solution for an app.  We had no idea the scope of this project and Bootcamp until the actual workshops began.
 

What did you learn about the design process as you watched the students go through UX Bootcamp?

I am not a designer.  I am a volunteer coordinator.  So this was definitely VERY exciting for me.  I learned so much about techniques and tools to use in the UX process.  I believe that I can use some of these techniques in the development of other projects and processes that do not have to deal with design as well.
 

What stood out to you about the mobile application concepts that the teams came up with?

All of the teams worked VERY hard on their designs.  It was interesting to see the difference on the designs, based on the demographics of the team.  I loved the fact that all of the teams came to the Bootcamp knowing little to none about the American Red Cross and our programs, but left becoming advocates for the organization. 
 

Did the concepts the teams presented inspire any ideas?

We were all inspired by the plans that the teams developed.  We think that there are many portions of all three that we can adapt and use within the Red Cross.
   

What stood out to you about the final presentations and judging portion of the event?

The final presentations were awesome!  It was so amazing to watch these teams come together from day one and finally end up with a finished produce.  I saw so many transformations in the design and initial concepts.  I witnessed teams grow and learn from each other.  I witnessed adults learn to think "outside of the box". 

The judging was particularly difficult.  All of the teams worked so hard.  But in the end, there was one that just captured the essence of what ClubRED (the Red Cross of Greater Columbus volunteer organization) was all about. 
 

Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience?

This was one of the most amazing education experiences I have witnessed.  I didn't want the week to end.  I would love to be involved in more experiences like this!
 

If you're curious to know more about that inaugural UX Bootcamp...

Check out the final concepts pitched by the teams, this post by our student, Amber Howard, or these photos of the magic in action. We'll be announcing a new bootcamp soon; email us at CooperU@Cooper.com if you'd like information.

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"Build a design that empowers ordinary people to do the extraordinary."
"Learn better ways to promote design concepts to partners."
"Challenge my process and how I work." 
"Nurture my creative side." 
"Learn techniques to better understand end-users." 
"Build friendships and connections."
"Learn ways to collaborate with coworkers." 
"Practice, practice, practice."

These are just a few of the reasons that 26 designers, engineers, and product managers joined forces in Columbus, Ohio last week for our inaugural UX Bootcamp competition. Their mission was to learn user experience design and use their new skills for social good. Over four intensely-packed days, they crammed their brains with Cooper's design methodology, broke into three self-selected teams, and put those learnings into practice to solve a real-world challenge for the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus. Each team pitched a concept for a mobile application that would empower and inspire members of ClubRED (a young professional's volunteer group within the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus). Cooper donated $1000 to the nonprofit in the name of the winning team, ClubRED Connect.

The winning team (ClubRED Connect), our friends from the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, and one oversized check.

Inside UX Bootcamp

It's called bootcamp for a reason. We asked our students to perform within a tight timeline, and they took on our challenge like champs. We were mighty impressed when teams showed up an hour before the workshop one morning to get a head start on their designs (can you say, "extra credit?"). Although it was an intensive course, the teams kept great attitudes throughout. In fact, at one point, all the groups decided to set aside competition to work together to gather and share research data, knowing everyone's work would be better as a result. And they bravely stood up in front of a panel of tough, Dancing-with-the-Stars-esque judges to pitch their concepts at the end of the four days. We heard things like, "My brain muscle got quite a workout!", "You took me on a scary journey, but I came out smiling," and "The transformation was unanimous."

The judges scored teams in four categories: how well their concept addressed user and business needs; perceived impact; "wow" factor; and presentation skills. (Photo: Paul J Hart)

UX Bootcamp In Pictures

Get a taste of what it was like to be immersed in our crazy UX Bootcamp world by checking our our photo set on Flickr, or this nifty video montage:

The Final Pitches: What Teams Designed In  Four Jam-Packed Days

Winning Team: ClubRED Connect

Concept:

ClubRED Connect gives volunteers the ability to turn existing social experiences into fundraising micro-events for the American Red Cross...with very little effort. Here's how it works: designate a location for friends to gather (Let's meet for happy hour!), take photos of interesting moments, share them with your friends via the app, and make a correlated donation to the nonprofit on the spot. Your friends are challenged to one-up your donation by sharing a "Red Cross Moment" of their own and making a contribution themselves. In this way, your small contribution is amplified by your friends, your friends' friends and more.

Presentation Deck: TeamClubREDConnect_Pitch.pdf

Snapshots of the design process:

Developing Scenarios (Photo: Paul J Hart)

Developing Framework (Photo: Paul J Hart)

Mock-up of concept (Photo: Paul J Hart)

Team: I+CBUS

Concept:

I+CBUS removes barriers to volunteerism by offering lightweight ways to get involved in your local Red Cross chapter. Participation can be as simple as pushing a button to donate, scheduling a time to donate blood, pass crisis information on to your social network, sign up to attend social events, or learn about other simple ways you can pitch in. The tool gives the American Red Cross an easy way to push needs, alerts and calls-to-action to the public, while giving volunteers a simple way to amplify their participation and have greater impact.

Snapshots of the design process:

Brainstorming (Photo: Paul J Hart)

Branding explorations

Concept illustrations (alert and user flow)

Team: Save the Day

Concept:

Recognizing that we are all motivated differently, the Save the Day app gives people the ability to help at times of crisis in a way that makes sense for their lifestyle, personality, and skills. Some people prefer to assist at the scene with blankets and food. Others feel most effective and valuable by rallying their friends to fundraise. Some are best at getting the word out to their networks. The Save the Day app maximizes participation by acknowledging that it takes all types of contributions to get through crisis, and lets individuals respond to events in their way.

Snapshots of the design process:

Brainstorming session (Photo: Paul J Hart)

Scenario exploration and app design

What's Next for UX Bootcamp

Creating a space for so many diverse, talented people to engage with one another, learn new skills, and apply them to a meaningful challenge was incredibly gratifying. As you can imagine, it just fueled our already passionate-desire to take the bootcamp to other places. We're solidifying the spot and nonprofit partner for the next UX Bootcamp adventure - stay tuned! (If you want to be notified directly of where we'll set up shop next, shoot us an email at CooperU@Cooper.com.

A special thanks to Kendra Shimmell for envisioning the UX Bootcamp and leading the curriculum development effort. We also want to acknowledge Constanza Miranda and Teresa Brazen for bringing their unique content ideas to the coursework. Kendra did a stellar job leading the workshop, with the support of co-instructors Teresa Brazen and Brian Stone. A special thanks to Brian for connecting us with our fantastic, engaged nonprofit partner. Speaking of which, we appreciate all the support the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus provided throughout, like having staff onsite throughout for questions and critique, and bringing in ClubRED volunteers for research interviews. And, last but not least, thanks to Sparkspace for providing a truly inspiring place to learn, teach, and play.

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As (a very excited!) Alan Cooper says in the video above, today is a big day for us at Cooper U: A small group of designers, engineers, and product managers are joining forces in Columbus, Ohio for our very first UX Bootcamp competition. They will have four days to learn Cooper U's design methods, break into teams, and design mobile application concepts that will empower and inspire members of ClubRED (a volunteer organization within the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus). The final concepts will be presented to the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus on Thursday, and we will donate $1000 to the nonprofit in the name of the winning team.

We developed UX Bootcamp in response to the need for practical design education programs in areas of the country where technology and design are on the rise. As our very own Kendra Shimmell, Director of Cooper U, best explains, "We realized that the skills we are teaching in San Francisco aren't as readily available in other parts of the country. The user experience design industry is exploding, and there is so much opportunity to give people in other regions more access to this growing field and have a positive impact on their local economies. So, we decided to create a traveling workshop where students collaborate directly with a local non-profit partner to solve a real world need. What could be more gratifying that learning new skills within that context?"

ClubRED volunteers and American Red Cross of Greater Columbus staff will be on hand throughout the workshop for research interviews and feedback, to ensure that the final design concepts are rooted in real needs, desires and goals of ClubRED volunteers. As Alan says, "The foundation of user experience design and our approach to teaching lies in a commitment to designing things that people really need and use. To do that well, you have to make time to learn about the people you design for, and that is part of how we've designed this workshop."

Another unique aspect of our approach to UX Bootcamp is an emphasis on teaching the softer skills that impact the success of design within organizations. Most design schools will teach you how to design, but they don't teach you how to be a successful designer in the real world. When students enter the workforce, they often have to figure out how to work with cross-functional teams or how to sell their designs internally. We're trying to speed up that learning process by integrating these kinds of concepts into our curriculum.

So, what's next for Cooper U's UX Bootcamp? After this workshop, we're going to refine the curriculum to reflect what we learn from working with this group of students, ClubRED, and the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus. Then, we're going to cultivate more of these kinds of partnerships in other regions. We'll be looking for interesting new problems to solve that could have a real impact on local communities. So, if you know of one, let us know! Ultimately, we'd like to expand this team-based approach to real-world challenges globally.

We'll share the design solutions our students come up with soon. Stay tuned!

PS: If you'd like to be notified when our next UX Bootcamp is lined up, send your email address to CooperU@cooper.com.

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Grab the last seats for the Communication & Collaboration course. We geared this course for practitioners who want to take their effectiveness working within design groups and spread it to their larger product and stakeholder teams. We've packed years of experience as consultants into a fun, engaging two-day intensive. The class delivers lots of information with the intent of reframing the focus of your work and many hands-on exercises to get practice before applying your new skills back home.

Some topics include:

• Learn how adopting a new approach to engaging with others improves responsiveness, feedback and support for your work
• Practice new methods for collaborating with your teams which lead to more productive meetings and better working relationships
• Discover ways to empower your organization with tools which will focus work, improve cross-functional partnerships and support more strategic discussions

You'll leave excited and eager to bring this new approach to communicating and collaborating with others. In addition to the course materials you'll receive a sharp set of Communication and Collaboration Method cards to keep in your back pocket for when you need a refresher.

We've got less than 10 seats left, you can register now.

UX Bootcamp Midwest added 10 more spots!

The inaugural UX Bootcamp Midwest in partnership with Red Cross of Columbus filled so quickly we added 10 spots, increasing the class size to 30. Space is limited to ensure one-on-one attention.

Rock Health classes off to an exciting start

We're proud to be working with Rock Health's 2012 class of start-ups. We're delivering a lightning round of design classes and hosting regular office hours for deep collaboration. Two weeks in and we're really excited by the great ideas, super motivated teams, and new approaches to improving healthcare.

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The Association of Alternative Newsmedia's 2012 Web Conference was held in San Francisco and attended by publishers, editors, and owners from over 130 of North America's alternative news organizations. Stefan Klocek spoke about how alternative news organizations can bring their content to the emerging platform of tablets in "The Revolution will be Portable: Understanding the Tablet Opportunity" session. He highlighted unique qualities of the tablet for local news consumption and gave an overview of how organizations with a cultivated and established brand presence can deeply engage with their audience. View Stefan's presentation below or download it.

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This article was written by Aaron Ganci, who recently received his Master of Fine Arts in Design Development from The Ohio State University's Department of Design.

Alan Cooper and Kendra Shimmell recently took a trip to the Midwest and stopped by The Ohio State University for a visit. This trip served double-duty as both a chance for Kendra to spread the word about Cooper's new Midwest-centric activities and for Alan to give the keynote address at Ohio State's Center for Enterprise Transformation and Innovation (CETI) Industry Day. More importantly, both Kendra and Alan spent a lot of time throughout the week engaging in discussions with the students and faculty at Ohio State, and with professionals in the local community.

A few highlights from the week:

Alan and Kendra chatting with a small group of educators and local business leaders.

Cooper's UX Bootcamp

Kendra, a native Midwesterner, arrived in Ohio a few days early to lay the groundwork for Cooper's upcoming UX Bootcamp. Throughout their visit, Kendra reiterated that Cooper plans to spend a lot more time and energy in the Midwest. "I really think that big changes are going to happen in this part of the country in the next couple of years," she explained.

Cooper is partnering with the American Red Cross of Columbus for their UX Bootcamp, where training in user experience design, digital product definition, and research will take place. Participants will learn the process and thinking behind designing products and services that have that spark of magic, all while doing something good for their community. The output of the bootcamp will be given to the American Red Cross of Columbus disaster preparedness and intervention initiatives.

Kendra, dry-erase marker in hand, discusses (and sketches) the values of the UX Bootcamp.

Next, the Cooperistas joined a group of students for a long, thoughtful discussion. The group was comprised of graduate students in various design and engineering fields. The students were given a rare opportunity to sit down with Alan and Kendra to discuss what was on their minds.

"I do not believe that making money should be your primary goal," Alan postulated. "The people who set out to make money are not nice people, they are not our friends. The people who set out to do great things in this world...that's who we should respect. They'll make money while doing good."

Student Advising Session

A small group of graduate students and faculty from design, engineering, and business chat about the benefits and challenges of working together.

Ohio State, a large university with an enrollment of over 60,000, should be an ideal environment for collaboration to take place. But students said they often found it hard to get collaborative projects up and running. They turned to Kendra and Alan for some advice.

This opened up a lot of discussion about how to build and maintain collaborative teams. Alan told the students that collaboration is a "socialization issue," and that you have to build a corporate culture of respect in order to get true collaboration.

Kendra agreed, and went into more detail, explaining that good teams are really "using design as a facilitation tool. Everyone on a team is really individually designing in some way...but you have to get everyone to start caring about the end product or service; then you have a group that starts to feel a sense of responsibility for the whole instead of just their piece."

With this in mind, they discussed some ways to keep the team focused on the bigger picture. An important aspect, Alan said, is to "not focus on deadlines as your key motivator. Nothing demotivates like telling someone that this needs to be completed by such and such date for a shareholder meeting. Instead set everyone on a course toward achieving a meaningful goal and the deadline will becoming meaningful too." Both Alan and Kendra then went on to emphasize the importance of working together in lightweight mediums, like whiteboards. They explained that working in this way would help the team stay focused on the big picture and not get bogged down in the details of production.

CETI Keynote

"Embrace diversity...the team has to bring all of the skills needed for success. The key is that the team needs to align to the same purpose. Not everyone has to be a rock star, but everyone does have to feel a sense of accountability to (the mission)." -Alan Cooper

The next day, Alan gave his keynote address to standing-room only crowd of CETI students, faculty and professionals. CETI is a group at Ohio State that combines the expertise of several academic departments to work on Industry-driven, "real world" technology-based projects. Alan took the opportunity to share some very provocative insights on Post-Industrial state of software development. He talked in great depth about both collaborative team building and fostering innovation, two important aspects of CETI.

The CETI event drew a multidisciplinary audience.

Alan charged the audience to not focus so much on the bottom line. "It isn't wasteful to invest in ideas that may be stupid," he said, trying to hit home the idea that teams have to be given the freedom to explore new solutions. He went on to explain that being free to fail during the design process is important when trying to innovate. Along the same lines, he stressed the power of building trust and communication amongst teammates. "Good ideas sometimes look like bad ideas," he said, "together, you have to learn to separate them." But being successful in separating them can only come when you trust in the competence of your teammates.

The students in attendance also got some wonderful advice to use moving forward as practitioners: young Designers need to "get out of building" and practice empathy (spend time with people and learn about their aspirations and needs), young Programmers need to "seek diversity" and embrace teamwork, and young Managers, who have "a much more difficult job" need to make sure that everyone on the team keeps focused on the big picture.

Alan giving his keynote address.

Cooper's journey in the Midwest was a productive and thought provoking experience. Kendra and Alan's trip definitely laid the great foundation for a lot more involvement in the misnomered flyover states. Stay tuned Midwest!

Please join us for Cooper's UX Bootcamp on March 26-29, 2011! This article was written by Aaron Ganci. Aaron recently received his Master of Fine Arts in Design Development from The Ohio State University's Department of Design. Lately, he has been designing digital user experiences for educational and library discovery tools.

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As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today’s personas are Antone and Vladimir.

Antone D’Entremont, tortured soul

Background:

Antone grew up in southern Louisiana in the late 1700s, the son of a wealthy landowner. After his childhood sweetheart died, he gave up all hope for life. He told his troubles to a young gentleman who came through town, who promised him an end to Antone’s misery. Instead, he was turned to a vampire, and forced to live a life of eternal suffering, unable to visit his family ever again. Today he broods away his evenings in his family’s decaying plantation.

Challenges with technology:

• Preferring the quill and ink of his childhood, Antone has never gotten the knack of using a keyboard.

How we can help Antone:

• Provide a social interface for finding like-minded souls
• Offer an intuitive interface that does not require calls to tech support (he can’t really call during normal business hours)
• Automatic alerts when his loved ones are in harm's way

Vladimir Korzha, bloodthirsty bat

Background:

Vladimir, known as “Vlad” to his vampire offspring, grew up as a Romanian prince in the early 1400’s. After the tragic killing of his entire family by vengeful serfs, he vowed to devote his life to avenge their death. Vlad was turned to a vampire by a Romani witch during one of his bloody killing sprees. He was thrilled when he realized that his new powers would allow him to continue his killing spree through time immemorial. Today he works as a night watchman in a hospital.

Challenges with technology:

• Vlad gives in to his passions quickly, which takes him away from technology. Any interface must offer quick hits and just-in-time, glanceable information.

How we can help Vladimir:

• Provide a locational interface for locating “willing” prey
• Offer a non-reflective screen, so his co-workers will not realize he has no reflection
• A small, portable interface that fits underwing and works in low light conditions

Next persona Zombie, Zombie, & Emily
Prior persona Romulus: North American Woodland Ape
Unwilling victims: Jim Dibble and Greg Schuler.

Special thanks to Flickr user craigCloutier for the CC use of this image
and to Flickr user Alex Holzknecht for the CC use of this image

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As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's persona is Metansiptah.

Background:

Metansiptah was not a well-liked ruler. He was poisoned by his Chief of the Scented Oils during his morning ablutions with a paste of arsenic trioxide. The priest reciting his Book of the Dead prayers skipped several spells in order to trap Metansiptah's soul within his mummified remains. His tomb builder placed the correct curses against disturbance, but then left deliberate clues to the location of its entrance. For the past three thousand years, Metansiptah has been awakened from his unending twilight every few decades by the greedy and the foolhardy.

How we can help Metansiptah:

• Accommodate non-ASCII text types
• Use "magical" interaction metaphors to match his Middle Kingdom mental model
• Don't expect speed
• Utilize ubiquitous, location-aware technology to aid his hunt
• Metansiptah has plenty of time, so err on the side of information clarity rather than density

Next persona Romulus: North American Woodland Ape
Prior persona Sammy Bishop, AKA Destro: Gremlin
Egyptologist: Chris Noessel

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As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's personas are either zombies, or about to become so.

That zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover

Background:

That zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover was resting peacefully in his grave when he awoke with a powerful hunger. In spite of his mostly-decayed flesh, he was able to push his way to the surface to begin his (second) life of mayhem.

The bulk of this zombie's time is spent gathering brains to eat. What should be a simple activity is complicated by the fact that most humans are reluctant to share.

When not eating brains, this zombie spends the bulk of his time shufflin’, shufflin’.

How we can help the zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover:

• Use flashing lights and recorded human sounds to guide him in the right directions
• Provide interaction cues that are hard to miss. Really hard to miss.
• Make it possible to interact with very crude gestures and two, one, or no arms.

That scary fast zombie in the sweater

Background:

While still alive, that scary fast zombie in the sweater was a well-respected zombie fighter, once taking out a small mob of 20 zombies single-handedly. Unfortunately he was bitten during a careless moment relieving himself in the woods, and he quickly succumbed to the zombie virus. Ever the over-achiever, he went on to destroy 2/3^rds of his former zombie hunter colleagues within the first four hours.

These days that scary fast zombie in the sweater is a victim of his own success. In his local area human flesh–his preferred meal–has become scarce. Animal meat is available but is more difficult to catch. As a consequence, he must hunt ever farther distances, staying alert for any sign of human activity.

How we can help that scary fast zombie in the sweater:

• Augment his reality with the weak points and hidden and unguarded entry points of buildings
• Keep messages focused, directed, and delivered as soon as possible
• Provide tools to make detecting the weakest–yet uninfected–humans easy

Emily

Background:

Emily received a zombie bite during the struggle as her small band of humans attempted to relocate from a boarded-up restaurant to a more easily-defended former mental asylum. Since then she has felt the inevitable progression of zombification. She has worked hard to keep the infection a secret from the other humans, especially her younger brother who is barely holding on emotionally as it is. She knows her brother won’t have the strength to kill her once she has become fully zombie, so she knows suicide is her kindest option. But she can’t help but hold out hope that somehow, some way, her life will be spared.

How we can help Emily Lashinger:

• Help her monitor trending and critical biometrics during her descent into zombism.
• Keep her (and any of her fellow survivors) updated of any advancements towards the cure
• If a cure is not found or accessible, provide a clear indication of the appropriate moment to turn to suicide
• If she hits "snooze" on suicide, alert the other survivors privately.

Zombologists: Stefan Klocek, Jenea Hayes, and Andreas Braendhaugen.
Special thanks to Monstrous.com, KQED.com, and Flickr user katyhutch for their willing zombification.

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