Uday Gajendar

Speaking Sessions

• Fundamentals of Good UI Design

  3:30 PM Saturday   Room: Cafe

  This talk will provide a high-level overview of some of the core principles that shape a good user interface and thus, user experience. Regardless of platform, technology, or device, these principles share a basic premise of providing elegance, structure, beauty, and a holistic unity to any digital interface. We will begin with defining the rhetorical aspects of interface and interaction, based upon Wayne Booth's "rhetorical stance". Then we will dive into concrete issues of typography, grids, color/image, layout, hierarchy, reducing noise/clutter, and simplifying behaviors, all with clear examples of both poor and good interfaces. Finally we will conclude with thoughts on how to standardize and institutionalize such practices into a team situation. This session is meant to be interactive, lively, and hopefully good fun! Questions, debates, discussions encouraged!

• Working with a UI Designer

  2:45 PM Sunday   Room: 1501

  This talk is less about "good design", but more about the practical issues of collaborating with a UI designer: How to hire one, how to engage with a designer, what kinds of deliverables to expect, how to review/give feedback, the value of a designer across the development phases (concept, code, test, ship, post-ship, etc.), and shaping a UI design strategy and team overall. Insights all based upon my 10 yrs working in Silicon Valley as a designer for companies like Oracle, Adobe, Cisco, and Citrix. Lots of lessons learned and fun anecdotes to share!