David Malouf Workshop on Designing Rich Internet Applications October 16, 2008

Are you currently building web-based applications? Are you tasked with adding more interactivity to your web applications? Do you want to learn interaction design skills geared towards adding interactivity and richness to your web-based solutions?

As we manage more information, there is greater need for us to use more complex interactions to guide us through finding, selecting, creating, acting upon, sharing, and finally consuming the information around us. Whether through a web browser, an Adobe AIR application, or your cell phone, rich interactions can aid your users and provide differentiated value to the businesses that engage you.

Some problems you will be able to solve when done with this class:

* You will work on the redesign of a mission-critical financial services application to be rolled out to 6,000+ financial consultants. The previous system was deployed as a desktop installed application using .NET services. You are tasked with redesigning it to work within a web browser. What is the right set of technologies to consider? What are the differences? How do I and should I replicate the behaviors of the desktop application in this new medium? What pitfalls should I be aware of when working on my design?
* You are hired to design a hotel reservation system for the latest brand hotel to come from a major hospitality organization famous for top-tier service. What advantages are there in using RIA behaviors and technologies to help enhance this new brand? What can go wrong to cause a backlash effect?

To help designers with these types of problems, expert interaction designer David Malouf has created a seminar exploring the most important issues surrounding the web’s most sophisticated applications.

This course will teach you:

* What defines an RIA, its building blocks, the environment and the differing and complementary technologies.

* How to deconstruct existing applications to learn important lessons from those that came before you.

* How to guide in the selection of technologies and make your designs more technologically agnostic.

* What are design patterns and how they can help you over time increase design quality and consistency when used properly.

* Documentation techniques that help you move from static pages to rich application design communications.

This is a 1-day seminar with exercises for practice and lots of discussion.

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Who would benefit?

This class is for junior to intermediate professionals who are involved in shaping the behavior of software whether for the web or for the desktop (or hybrids). Having some familiarity with basic concepts of user interfaces will be helpful.

Teacher: David Malouf

David Malouf has been involved in digital interaction design for 13 years. Most of his recent career has been centered on the design of enterprise software systems with a concentration on interaction design. Most recently he has taken that experience earned at companies like Documentum, IntraLinks, BMG, Sony, Prudential, Merrill Lynch, American Express, Ameritech, and UPS, to Motorola Enterprise Mobility, where he is constantly merging his lessons from the software world, with new lessons from the world of electronic device design. A thinker and evangelist of user experience design and interaction design, he has dived deeply into the juxtapositions of interaction design and industrial design as they come together to create a new user experience practice.

Outside of work, David was the founding director and first Vice President of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), a 8200+ global member organization dedicated to the advancement and promotion of the discipline of interaction design. His community of practice work leads him to getting published in various user experience design online and offline publications and speaking engagements around the world.

Outside the design world, David wishes he had more time and excuses to travel and really wishes that traveling with his new son would be a lot easier. He just can\'t wait to show him the world.

Comments from former students
“Coming from a very isolated and siloed work environment this studio gave me exposure to more resources, great insights, wonderful feedback and new networks to build. ”

“Very informative. David is a great instructor. ”

“Interesting discussion, great presentations, each class had new ideas to learn, fresh content, very timely topics.”

“I would recommend this class to a friend if they were looking for a project based class that would walk them through the process of doing interaction design for web applications.”

“It was good practice in building up a design, and good lessons in how to generate alternatives early in the process.”

“David is a great teacher and is very knowledgeable in his area of expertise. ”

Official Website: http://smartexperience.org/classes/interaction-design-for-rias/