SAPO Unplugged 08: the day after :)
May 22nd, 2008
Still recovery from a tremendous (and the funniest possible) fall down the stairs at SAPO Unplugged 08! To anyone attending (me included) it was one of those memorable moments that it will be hard to forget! Thankfully all I got was some bruises and some pain (which hasn’t yet entirely gone), but other than that I’m ok!
I think it was a nice opportunity to talk about Usability. Some trends, applications and side-effects of it’s use in the development process. Something we don’t get to talk about enough!
SAPO unplugged was an opportunity to see the work in progress of Pedro Branco from the Minho University about facial expression usage as a form of human-machine interaction.
Óscar Mealha and Florim from the hosting University of Aveiro presented their work in progress for a software application aiming to help measure and analyze the underlining structure of websites, a powerful tool i’d say to help correct and perfect user navigation across websites, minimizing critical paths while optimizing the overall user experience with less clicks and choices!
Henning Fischer from Adaptive Path was in charge with the keynote and we give an inspiring presentation entitled “Stop Designing Products” which wasn’t entirely about usability but an important call for action in achieving better and more engaging user experiences with the products and systems we design and develop!
Last but not least! Bruno Figueiredo and Ivo Gomes completed the program and delivered two very interesting presentations, Bruno presented and explained some of the decisions behind the project that produced the latest SAPO Homepage. Ivo showed up the power and easiness of paper prototyping and how easy and power it is for software and products development.
I talked briefly about the undergoing quality and usability project at SAPO for which I’m currently responsible, about it’s goals and how it’s being applied.
I hope those who managed to attend it liked it as much as I did, and might have taken something back to their works other than a good laugh about the falling “star” 
Entry Filed under: Conferences, FunStuff, Presentations, Tutorials/Howto's, UX, Usability, Visualization, Web
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5 Comments Add your own
1. Gustavo Pimenta | May 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 am
Congrats! It was the best usability event so far in Portugal.
2. poingg | May 23rd, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Congrats! It was the best fall ever in Portugal. Looking forward to many more
3. Gonçalo | May 23rd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Hi!
Unfortunately I didn’t see the beginning of the fall, but it was entertainingly acrobatic!!
Hope the pain is gone by now….
I’d just like to thank for the conference in Aveiro, which was great for me, and the contents of the conference was very useful for me, being a new professional in this area.
4. Pedro | May 23rd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Thanks Gonçalo, I’m glad you enjoyed the event and took something back with you. And yes definitely the stairs had a BIG usability problem.. that middle step is there just to help people fall
thankfully I’m ok, bruised but ok
5. Célia Leocádio | May 26th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
viva Pedro, gostei muito da tua apresentação, foi pena ter sido a correr. Não consegui absorver muito bem as idéias, mas gostaria de saber se a podes disponibilizar, ainda que com um grande watermark nela. è mesmo para mostrar na empresa os exemplos do sapo. Wee kinda need focus there.
Gracias
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