Join us and:

• Learn how to apply user research techniques—even when you have no time

• See how rich Internet applications and AJAX are changing the way designers solve problems ranging from interaction to architecture

• Learn how AJAX development forces us to rethink every Web design convention

• Get techniques for stripping your project down to just those elements that will be successful based on usability and user insight

• Use simple metrics to figure out your next steps toward Web 2.0 development.

Jeffrey Veen has worked on projects with some of today's most successful Web products, including Flickr, Blogger, TypePad, and the Creative Commons. He's currently building a Web application for Adaptive Path, based on the company's years of experience in innovation and design. You won't want to miss this opportunity for direct access into the process and thinking behind these apps.

In this workshop, you'll learn how some Web sites have provided a strong scent and see what happens when they don't. You'll see how effective links give off a clear scent and how users use the process of elimination to recover from losing the scent.

Join us to find out:

• How the quality of links affects whether users click on them

• How longer pages actually help users get to their destinations faster

• The three types of graphics (navigation, content, and decorative) and the importance of each

• The three ways to predict when users will fail—and how to avoid them in your designs

• Why trigger words are critical to users successfully finding their content

• How on-site search engines can cause problems and actually hurt users' chances of finding the content they're looking for.

• How exposing a site's hierarchy can increase the a user's success

Jared Spool is among the world's most effective and knowledgeable communicators on the subject of usability. He has guided the research agenda and built User Interface Engineering into the largest research organization of its kind in the world. He's been working in the field of
usability and design since 1978—before the term "usability" was ever associated with computers.

Jared works with the research teams at the company, helps clients understand how to solve their design problems, explains to reporters and industry analysts what the current state of design is all about, and is a top-rated speaker at more than 20 conferences every year. The conference chair and keynote speaker at the annual User Interface Conference, he is also on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute.

Photoshop — December 14

Capture. Enhance. Manage. Deliver. This workshop, specifically developed for any Web developer or designer who has to incorporate graphics into their Web sites, is designed to teach you everything you need to know to produce quality images at the right file size. This all-day Photoshop deep-dive class will begin with a flurry of interface tips to make every Photoshop user faster and more efficient, then move on to specific image correction techniques to make your Web graphics look their best. In the later portion of the day, we’ll cover production tips for reducing file size, automating repetitive production tasks and best practices for incorporating images into Flash-based content.