As a chapter, we are required to have an annual business meeting. This year’s business meeting is scheduled for this FRIDAY, September 17th at 7PM. We will be holding the business meeting in the banquet room of the Sizzler restaurant on 9000 South and State Street in Sandy. Dinner will be on your own, and you don’t need to buy dinner to join us.

In the most important part of this business meeting, the chapter administrative council will present the proposed bylaws for the chapter. Our chapter has never had official bylaws, so this is an important step forward for the chapter.

The proposed bylaws are posted online on the chapter website. You can review them here: http://www.intermountain-stc.org/about/intermountain-chapter-bylaws/

If you are unable to attend the chapter meeting, but would like to submit feedback on the bylaws, please send your feedback to president@intermountain-stc.org and we’ll consider it.

Also, if you are unable to attend, and would like to submit a proxy vote, you can send your vote to me at president@intermountain-stc.org and I’ll submit your vote on your behalf. The question that will be presented to the voting members will be: “Do you vote to accept the Intermountain STC Chapter bylaws as they are currently presented on the chapter Website?” We will then ask for votes in the affirmative, and votes in the negative.

If you have any questions about the process, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at the e-mail address I gave above, or you are always welcome to contact me on my cell phone at 801-938-8391.

Thanks for your support of our chapter. We are looking forward to some great programming this fall and winter. If you have any suggestions, as always, let us know.

Location:

Walden Park
5425 S. Murray Parkway Ave (1070 W)
Murray, UT (map)

When: Friday, May 21, 6:30PM

Please join us for our May social. We will be having a chapter BBQ at Walden Park in Murray. The chapter will provide meat, buns, drinks, and utensils. The rest of the food will be pot-luck.

All are invited. You do not need to be a member to attend. Please invite your friends and co-workers that have an interest in technical communication. The event is free for everybody, and we hope you bring your family. The park has a playground, BBQ pits, electricity, and sand volleyball.

Please RSVP using the link below:

http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=YDLUROXEVXELNUKMVDNR

If you have questions, please call chapter president Paul Pehrson at 801-938-8391.

I’m sitting right now with 13 fellow chapter members listening to Grant Skousen’s presentation at our October meeting.

I thought I’d give you my thoughts on the meeting, for those of you who are unable to be here tonight. This is sort of a “live-blog” post, so you will get some stream of consciousness thoughts. They probably don’t all connect like a normal, finished article.

Grant is talking about design and data; how you should design your products and where you get the data from on which you base your design.

I really like Grant’s emphasis on having writers involved early in the design process. As writers, we have a broader perspective, sometimes, than do the developers. Grant included several quotes that all point to the idea that you have to design your product with the end users in mind. You need to totally understand how your users think, how they work, and what they want.

He discussed contextual design: watching the users actually do the task, then figuring out how you can make the task easier for them.

It would be interesting to see writers involved early in the design phase. It seems that the interaction designers or the developers don’t want to include writers early on, because they think all we do is write the help docs when the product is almost done. But if we could really sell our value earlier in the process, we could make a difference in ensuring the product is adequately designed for the end user.

I hope Grant will let us post his slides of the meeting afterward. He had some great quotes and content that you might be interested in, even if you weren’t here.

“What is the most ignored paradox in software development? Every time you add something you take something away. Screen real estate, interface quality… [etc...]”

“To innovate does not necessarily mean to expand; very often it means to simplify.” (M. Russell Ballard)

“With the right amount of user data, you can help get things designed for the user.” (Grant Skousen)

Tom Johnson asks an interesting question: does this idea of simplifying apply to documentation as well, or are we just talking about the interface itself? Grant’s answer is that as you simplify the product, you can simplify the documentation. Complex products require complex documentation. However, simple apps don’t require complex documentation, because they are so much easier to use.

Ben Minson asks how do you determine how many users to watch? Grant says it depends on your budget, but generally, you watch until you can see emerging patterns that repeat. Then you have an idea of where you need to focus your efforts.

In wrap-up, thanks to Marj, Kurt, Greg, Bruce, Deloris, Ben, Ann, Lisa, Mandy, Tom, Lynn, and Shawn for attending our meeting. A special thanks to our presenter, Grant Skousen, for an informative and interesting discussion on user experience design.

(Get the slides.)