Individuals
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Jakob Nielsen
Considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost experts on usability.
(His ideas and research are top notch.Ironic as it may seemhis Website is a little difficult on the eyes. However, please look past that and you’ll see the knowledge is unsurpassed.)
IDEO Founder David Kelley
IDEO.com
Principal Researcher: Microsoft Research
Bill Buxton
Ultimately, we are deluding ourselves if we think that the products that we design are the “things” that we sell, rather than the individual, social and cultural experience that they engender, and the value and impact that they have. Design that ignores this is not worthy of the name.” €“ Bill Buxton
Bill Buxton is the author of the new book, Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design, published by Morgan Kaufmann.
Trained as a musician, Bill began using computers over thirty years ago in his art. This early experience, both in the studio and on stage, helped develop a deep appreciation of both the positive and negative aspects of technology. This increasingly drew him into both design and research, with a very strong emphasis on interaction and the human aspects of technology. He first came to prominence for his work at the University of Toronto on digital musical instruments and the novel interfaces that they employed. This work in the late 70s gained the attention of Xerox PARC, where Buxton participated in pioneering research in collaborative work, interaction techniques and ubiquitous computing. This work was carried on in parallel with his activities as Scientific Director of the Ontario Telepresence Project at the University of Toronto. In 1994, Buxton joined Alias Research (and in 1995 its parent company SGI, as well) where he had the opportunity to work with some of the top filmmakers and industrial designers in the world. He was Chief Scientist at Alias during the entire development of an animation package called Maya, which won an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement. He is now a principal researcher at Microsoft Corp., where he splits his time between research and helping make design a fundamental pillar of the corporate culture. In 2007, Buxton was named Doctor of Design, Honoris Causa, by the Ontario College of Art and Design.” Csail.mit.edu
Groups
…………………………………………………………………………………..
Usability Professionals Association
MyCatalyze.org: A site for information architects and usability engineers.