Monthly Newsletter for the Connecticut Chapter of the Usability professionals Association

1. CONNECTICUT CHAPTER OF USABILITY PROFESSIONALS! APRIL 19, 2009
www.ctupa.org
NEWSLETTER
Our April Meeting
We wi! be experimenting with a new concepquot;
Ride Share Program
that promises to be interesting and fu#.
Have you reached out to
another member to ride share
Our next Chapter meeting will 4. Presenters should avoid
to our next meeting? It’s a
be held Wednesday evening, April 29, condensed or ultraquot;rapid speech %you
great way to meet fellow
2009 at the Synapse Group in may want to practice to get the
usability professionals quot;quot; and
Stamford. timing down.&
cut down on the expense of
This month we will be 5. After the 10quot;minute
traveling to our monthly
experimenting with a new concept presentation, there will be 5 minutes
chapter meetings.
that promises to be interesting and for questions. This will be timed, as
fun quot; we are having a series of very well, and kept to exactly 5 minutes. If you are interested in
brief 10 minute presentations! The learning more about the
6. Speakers may optionally bring
agenda is still being put together, and program quot;quot; please send me a
a onequot;page handout to accompany
probably will be right up until the presentation. Audience members note, or introduce yourself to
Wednesday evening, but it will generally appreciate these. me at the next meeting.
certainly be something di#erent.
As mentioned above, the
Herb Wexler will be moderating, and
meeting will be held at The Synapse
he has promised to be absolutely Volunteers !
Group, 225 High Ridge Road, East
unmerciful in strictly enforcing the
We Need Your Help!
Building, Stamford, CT. Light
10 minute limit. I'm sure it will be a
refreshments will be available at 6:30,
huge challenge for most of us to We will need volunteers to
with the meeting starting at 7:00.
actually complete anything in 10 write monthly newsletter
minutes. Here are the rules that we articles, present at upcoming
will faithfully abide by: meetings and work on the
1. Presenters should have no Chapters social network for
more than 6 slides max. members. Please contact me
to signquot;up.
2. Presenters will be allowed 10
minutes exactly for the presentation.
Herb will be keeping track with a Herb Wexler,
timer and provide a warning at 2
Vice President CT UPA
minutes to go, 1 minute to go, 30
herbwexler@optonline.net
seconds to go, then at 10 minutes $
you’re done! No going over.
3. Personal introduction limited
to no more than 10 seconds!
http://www.ctupa.org
! PAGE 1

2. CONNECTICUT CHAPTER OF USABILITY PROFESSIONALS! APRIL 19, 2009
April Meeting location:
Synapse Group, 225 High Ridge Road, Stamford, CT.
As is our custom, light refreshments will be available at 6:30, and
informal networking will ensue until the meeting commences at 7:00.
http://www.synapsegroupinc.com/
Mad*Pow Rocks in March!
Our March meeting was both well attended and extremely informative. Our deepest thanks to Amy Cueva
and Michael Hawley for expertly presenting;
! quot; Search & Filter: Interface Roundup
! quot; Turning Your Customer Experience into a Competitive Di#erentiator
! quot; Social Media for Business
If you are interested in downloading the slide decks quot; click the link below %Search under Recent Events&
http://www.madpow.net/madquot;powquot;ourquot;companyquot;events.html
www.madpow.com
! PAGE 2

3. CONNECTICUT CHAPTER OF USABILITY PROFESSIONALS! APRIL 19, 2009
INTERFACE TOOL TIPS
Wireframe Tool:
iPlotz Oquot;ers more than Wireframes
# # #
1
There seems to be a quiet war raging in the
software industry quot; among an array of
companies attempting to satisfy the needs of
the GUI designer. In my opinion, this war is
long over due. The days for supplying GUI
designers with tools like Visio and Illustrator
to create mockups are over. It’s time to have
tools that focus on doing a few things very
well, versus jammed packed with features.
iPlotz is both a desktop and web
application that is based on three basic
principles;
1. Manage
2. Wireframe
2
3. Preview
The Manage landing page allows the
designer to setquot;up a project and establish
timeframes, tasks and accountabilities.
The Wireframe dashboard features a
robust array of interface components quot; that
can be dragged and dropped onto a canvas. In
addition to a browser & application window,
there is a iPhone widget. If you are creating
several wireframes, they are easily linked
together quot; providing simple, clickable
wireframes.
Finally, you can preview the wireframes in
the Preview mode quot; where it s simple to
usability test. As seen in exhibit 3, the
3
wireframes are in a ‘sketch’ mode quot; which
looks hand drawn.
A single license is a#ordable quot; just '75 for
the desktop version. There are several other
pricing options available.
http://iplotz.com/price.php
Kudos to the developers of iPlotz quot; they
have created a very good wireframing tool.
- Michael Rawlins
President CT UPA
muchael.rawlins@gmail.co$
! PAGE 3