Too often, digital spaces lack a connection to users’ real-world expectations. When users enter a digital space, they are, in effect, walking through a digital doorway. How, as usability professionals, might we reimagine digital spaces as human spaces, applying increased knowledge of users? How can we use what we learn to provide users with more meaningful and relatable experiences once they walk through the digital doorway? This presentation will provide strategies for both teaching and practicing human-centricity, focusing on imagining digital spaces as human spaces, with human beings on the other side of the screen.

In this presentation, we will discuss using Branching Scenarios in online instruction. Whereas instructional design or user-centered scholarship in online writing instruction focuses on instructors controlling the design of a course, Branching Scenarios insist that students become active participants in the design process by selecting which branch they want to explore. To model this approach, we will present a module in a technical communication course where students are provided an assignment that offers choices of rhetorical situations, various discussion boards based on their choices, and small-stakes activities based on their chosen medium for communication. We will also encourage attendees to consider the usability challenges posed by dynamic user experiences in contexts beyond online education.

Technical Communication is a tremendously versatile field of subject matters. Others might say it’s a five-minute job in stating the obvious in text form. Despite its complexity, explaining this field often boils down to simply saying “I do documentation.” This presentation will focus on a career in User Assistance highlighting its crucial role in enhancing software usability, design, and user experience. We’ll have a closer look at job titles, tasks, organizational structures, and the broader impact of interdisciplinary contributions beyond traditional documentation. Understanding this value, lets you tear down the user experience silos and enables you to adapt to your company-specific setup. No, you are not just doing documentation – so, start pitching your skill set!

In this presentation, we describe a collaborative online international learning (COIL) project in which graduate students of teacher training, taking a course in multi-modal design, at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway, worked in teams with graduate students of Technical Communication and E-Learning at the University of Limerick, Ireland. The four teams used Open Simulator, a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), to collaborate, and they analysed its usability and design for a final presentation. We will describe the MUVE and the project, and outline the key usability and design themes that students perceived. We will conclude with recommendations for future similar projects.

During our round table ‘Bridging the Language Gap in 2024: Leveraging Insights for Greater Impact,’ we will delve into the language barriers within User Experience Research and Business Strategy, particularly how terms like ‘insight’ can be misunderstood and hinder our progress. Our goal is to clarify UXR and Data Science terminology, highlight the dangers of oversimplification by non-experts, and examine how technology is revolutionizing data analysis. This session aims to transform insight management from a linguistic challenge into a significant strategic resource, providing attendees with strategies to enhance the impact of their communication in decision-making processes.

In the digital era, UX writing crafts user experiences with writing. Behind the scenes, UX writers play a pivotal role in the product development process, facilitating localization and documentation efforts and thus ensuring a consistent and cohesive information experience for users. Our talk will explore the impact of UX writing on product development, showcasing collaborative models and best practices in the context of B2B software companies, and discussing methods to apply these insights in research and product organizations.

In our presentation, we will discuss the various approaches to defining quality in the field of translation. Paying particular attention to the user’s perspective on quality, we address the relationship between usability and quality in translation, localization and technical communication. Exploring the position of the user in translation assessment may be informative for localization and technical communication, as it can shed light on the differences between definitions of quality in these three fields which all deal with multilingual and multicultural contexts. We invite the audience to discuss how to form a better shared understanding of user-centeredness as a quality criterion for texts in multilingual and multicultural contexts.

Organizations commonly utilize ticketing systems for internal support requests, particularly in ICT support, simplifying the process for end-users but demanding effort from support staff to respond adequately. The goal of this project was to streamline this process. To achieve this, we analyzed email logs to identify the most frequent use cases and then developed standardized text modules for each use case. To ensure comprehensibility and effectiveness of these text modules we conducted a usability test with both end users and support staff. We plan to integrate the text modules into the ticketing system to reduce response time and improve response quality, enhancing communication efficiency and satisfaction for all parties involved.

Why is it that explainer videos are often dull and have the focus on delivering information only? Is there a way to create explainer videos that are actually enjoyable? The goal of a high level of “Joy of Use” aims for viewers to not only absorb information but also to have a pleasant and enriching experience while watching the videos. This talk will explore how the design of explainer videos can go beyond just communicating information effectively and focus more on the “fun-factor” in terms of entertainment, engagement, and overall positive user experience.