Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 17:47:13 -0500 From: Paul Sawyer Subject: Greater Boston SIGCHI meeting January GB/SIGCHI Meeting Announcement Topic: Internet Entrepreneurship and CoolCards: A Case Study In Selling Bits, Not Atoms Speakers: Karen Donoghue and Mark Halliday, Network Sound & Light, Inc. Daniel Workman, Oracle Corporation Date: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 Time: Refreshments at 6:30, meeting at 7:00 Location: BBN/GTE Auditorium 70 Fawcett Street Cambridge, MA (directions below) Free and open to the public. For more information please contact the program chair: Ron Perkins rperkins@shore.net 978-465-6083 ( email preferred) Abstract -------- In this talk, we discuss the evolution of CoolCards, an e-mail postcard product designed by Network Sound & Light, Inc. to enrich e-mail communication. We will discuss issues and challenges we faced in designing a new kind of product for consumers early in the evolution of the e-commerce market, while at the same time building a business around a product designed to be purchased online. We will discuss the importance of good user interface design to our product and business model, and show examples of how early usability testing had enormous impact on the development of the software. We will also highlight our experiences designing content for a wide range of consumers, and for varied cultures including the US, Japan and Israel. More than 2 million copies of CoolCards Light have been distributed via Web download, hardware bundles and other promotions including Epson digital cameras and Seattle Filmworks. Broderbund Software has recently launched ClickGift, based on CoolCards technology. CoolCards was one of the first applications to leverage the World Wide Web for consumer software distribution and is sold on buydirect.com, a C/NET affiliate. CoolCards is available at http://www.coolcards.com About the Speakers ------------------ Karen Donoghue is a user interface designer and was a co-founder of Network Sound & Light, Inc., a venture-backed software company founded in 1996. She earned a BS in Computer Science from Tufts University and an MS from the MIT Media Laboratory. In November 1998, Karen founded HumanLogic, a user interface consulting company. Mark Halliday, also a co-founder of Network Sound & Light, Inc., was responsible for all software development for CoolCards. He earned a BA in Computer Science from Dartmouth and an MS from the MIT Media Lab. Dan Workman is a Principal User Interface Designer at Oracle Corporation. Dan conducted usability testing for CoolCards as an independent usability consultant. Dan earned an MS in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is chair of GB/SIGCHI. Directions ---------- Fawcett Street is near the rotaries on Fresh Pond Parkway (Route 2) in Cambridge. >From the east, get on Fresh Pond Parkway via Storrow Drive or Memorial Drive heading west. >From the west, get on Fresh Pond Parkway by taking Route 2 east from Route 128, passing by Alewife T station on your way in. At the rotary by the Ground Round restaurant, exit the rotary onto Concord Avenue, heading west toward Belmont. You'll see two brick office buildings on the right. The first building is at the corner of Concord Avenue and Fawcett Street. Turn right on Fawcett Street and find 70 Fawcett a short way down on the right side. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Future Meetings Wednesday, February 24, 1999 Human-to-Human Communication with DECKER COMMUNICATIONS' L.I.V.E. (Live Interactive Video Experience) Facilitated by Decker Consultant Debbie Hildebrandt. Location: Mitre Corporation, Bedford, MA Greater Boston SIGCHI focuses our meetings on the interaction between people and computers. This month we change our pace slightly and focus on people-to-people interaction. Decker Communications' L.I.V.E. will take us through a highly interactive, high-energy session to improve our communication skills. This format was designed to provide instantly applicable methods for creating confident, credible, persuasive speakers. The program illustrates that everyone can increase their personal impact effectiveness in all settings, particularly in high-pressure situations. You'll gain a greater awareness of how to: * better connect with listeners speak in impromptu situations * use the power of extended eye communication better manage Q&A sessions * take advantage of gestures, movement and posture Debbie Hildebrandt has an impressive background in designing and delivering programs on management development, presentation skills, conflict resolution and team building. She holds an M.B.A. and undergraduate degrees in both education and psychology. In addition to her role as guest speaker, Debbie provides training and private coaching to individuals seeking to improve their spoken communicating skills and works with companies in crafting and effectively delivering consistent company-wide messages. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Wednesday, March 17,1999 Legal Hazards for Usability Practitioners and User Interface Designers Penny Wilson and Chauncey Wilson Location: BMC Software, Waltham, MA Should usability engineers and user interface designers be concerned with legal issues? Are there any activities that might put us or our companies in legal jeopardy? Are "the rules" changing in the areas that matter to us? Penny and Chauncey will highlight some of the current legal topics that we should be aware of and what we should be doing to protect ourselves. This is an interactive session. Those attending will be asked to choose the topics of most interest to them, and will be encouraged to ask lots of questions. If you have questions that you would like us to research before the session so we can give you some up-to-date information, please send e-mail to pennysw@aol.com and chauncey_wilson@bmc.com Penny Wilson is a patent attorney with American Superconductor Corporation (ASC). Penny has a BS in Physics from Cornell and an MBA and JD from Duke University. Chauncey Wilson is Penny's husband and system administrator. Chauncey is a lead usability engineer at BMC Software in Waltham. Before starting at BMC, Chauncey had his own consulting company, WilDesign Consulting. He is currently working on a book of essays on user interface design.