Download the full Bootcamp Description for businesses (pdf)

Usability for Decision-Makers (Half-Day)

Do you depend on your Web site for anything from brand awareness to revenue? If you answered "yes," then usability is essential for a quality Web site. With user expectations continually rising, user-centered design is more than good manners. In a Google-powered world of choices, your Web site's usability can be the make-or- break factor that determines whether you acquire and retain a loyal customer, or lose them to a company that understands the Web.

As a decisionmaker, you play a crucial role in championing - or quashing - user-centric principles. It's in your best interests to be the champion.

Learn why building ease of use into your Web site, intranet, or software creates return on investment. Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and evangelist, shares the fundamentals of usability that professionals use to design and evaluate a Web site's ease of use.

Usability and Web Advertising (Full Day)

Have you ever felt annoyed by an online ad? Do you dislike irrelevant pop-ups? How do you feel when an ad covers up the content you are trying to see? If you are annoyed by most online ad experiences, so are your users. If you have to advertise, how do you avoid alienating your audience?

Learn what we learned when we tested ads with Web users. Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and evangelist, shares the fundamentals of usability that professionals use to design and evaluate a Web site's ease of use. You will learn how to apply usability principles to your ad design and placement. This class is great for ad designers, design agency professionals, marketers, and content publishers.

This class will help you reach your users instead of alienating them. We'll also give you the resources you need to make your case to colleagues and managers.

Web Usability for Content Providers (Full Day)

Are you tasked with providing Web content? Do you wish you had some guidelines on what works best online? Are you concerned that your organization's Web site is hard to navigate or understand? Do you end up pushing a lot of print-based content to the Web?

Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and evangelist, shares the fundamentals of usability that professionals use to design and evaluate a Web site's ease of use. In one information-packed day, you will learn how to apply usability principles to your existing workflow. Video from usability tests will give you an eye-opening look at how users really feel and react to online content.

This class is a quick-start to improving your Web site's user-friendliness. You will leave this class with the ability to identify immediate improvements, and start a longer-term 'wish list.' First, we'll learn usability fundamentals and why users react the way they do. Then you'll conduct a usability analysis of a major Web site, assessing it for ease of use and presenting your findings. Finally, we'll take a look at your Web property for a group critique.

Join Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and evangelist, for a look at a content provider's perspective on creating usable Web sites. Cia shares the proven techniques that professionals use to evaluate Web site usability, helping your incorporate a user-centric perspective as you develop your content.

Usability for Developers (Full Day)

Wondering how to balance user needs with an aggressive development schedule? Do you feel that user expectations are unrealistic? Do your clients complain about the end product, while failing to give you guidance when you need it? Do you think you are too deep in the code to change anything now? The bottom line: Do you want people to enjoy using your software?

Join Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and evangelist, for a look at a developer's perspective on creating usable software. Cia shares the research perspective on software usability, helping your incorporate user-centric fundamentals as you develop your projects.

Fundamentals of Usability for Design Teams (Full Day)

Are you a visual designer working on Web sites that are part of a larger media presence? If the answer is "yes," you're familiar with the print-to-Web dilemma: How do you retain look, feel, and branding across two very different mediums? How do you deal with design elements that work in print but not online? Do you want solid guidelines that make your Web site design easier for your target audience to use and understand?

Solve your Web site design challenges with fundamentals of usability. Successful Web sites anticipate what users want to do, then design the Web site to provide a clear path to those goals. You as the designer play a powerful role in the usability of the Web site.

Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing Techniques (Three Days)

Have you wondered just what it would take to conduct your own usability test? Do you need to prove the value of user-centric thinking to your in-house developers or managers? Or are you looking for techniques to help make usability a routine part of your organization?

Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and evangelist, shares the proven techniques that professionals use to design, moderate, and evaluate usability tests. In two information-packed days, you will learn how to responsibly design a test plan that meets your budget while producing verifiable results.

Hands-On Information Architecture (Nine Days)

Ever used a Web site and had trouble finding information? Confused by changing page designs? Wondering how many tabs you're going to have to click on in order to get close to the content or product you need? These common problems usually result from problems in the information architecture of a Web site. Many Web sites are built without formal information architecture, and the cost of fixing the problems caused by this ill-advised decision is very high.

Bring information architecture in-house with Interface Guru's intensive hands-on workshop. Designed for the diverse group of people that typically influences a Web site - Web developers, content providers, marketers, decisionmakers, information technology staff - this crash course will change the way you think about organizing, prioritizing, and labeling content and functionality for your online audience. We work on your site throughout the workshops, and your staff applies learning as we go.

Cia Romano, a veteran usability researcher and information designer, shares the proven techniques that professionals use to create a user-centric information architecture. In nine information-packed days, you will produce a new, user-centric information architecture - and you'll learn how to expand it as your Web presence grows.