CN25: Using Web 2.0 to Learn about Users

Quick Facts

Time: Thursday, 15 April 2010, 14:30 to 16:00
Units: 1
Organizers: Kate Walser

Benefits

Social media and Web 2.0 tools like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, and LinkedIn are a gold mine for those who know how to tap into them to learn more about their users. Come learn how to take these tools to a whole new level and use them to explore trends in user behavior, conduct research for content and information architecture, and explore new design patterns and possibilities.

Audience

This hands-on session is aimed at practitioners who conduct user research, those who create content strategy and information architecture, and those who design user experiences.

Origins

This course originated from presentations I’ve given on Web 2.0 in industry forums and for customers. Over the past few years, I’ve used Web 2.0 and social media tools to do in-depth customer research for certain audiences.

Features

Learn what web 2.0 and social media tools are and what they offer
Learn who’s using these tools
Learn how to explore these tools to find out what users care about and how they refer to topics
Learn how to spot useful trends you can explore and leverage for further research and opportunities
Learn how to discover interesting design patterns that could be useful for your design efforts

Instructors

Over the past 12 years, Kate Walser has worked with organizations to design products and websites that attract visitors and tell a compelling story. She has spoken and taught in many venues, including Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) and its DC Chapter conferences, Social Media for Government conference, The New New Internet: Web 2.0, and various Gov 2.0 related “unconferences.” In the past few years, she has worked with organizations to understand how they can leverage Web 2.0 and social media to better serve customers, citizens, and contributors. Kate founded CX Insights and works with government, non-profit, and commercial organizations to improve their customer experiences. Prior to that, she led usability teams and provided user experience services for large international companies, AMS (now CGI-AMS) and SRA International, Inc. Kate serves on the US federal Section 508 accessibility refresh committee, UPAKnowbility Web Accessibility Training Certificate advisory board, and UPA-DC board, as vice president. See http://katewalser.com, http://www.cxinsights.com, and http://www.linkedin.com/ in/katewalser for more information.