My first job was to observe and facilitate usability walkthrough sessions with 24 users over 6 days. It was a  great opportunity to work with and and learn from my colleague Ruth who is an experienced usability consultant. I thought that I would share some tips that I picked during these 6 days.

• Break the ice with participants  by asking them what they do, what they have planned for the day etc – people generally like to talk about themselves.
• Reassure participants that the session is not a test of their ability but is a chance for them to give honest open feedback about a proposed design. Their feedback will help to inform the design team to make a better product for users so let them be brutally honest!
• Ask participants to read the first scenario out aloud – this helps to them to hear their own voice and settle any remaining nerves
• Watch for where participants first look on the  paper or electronic prototype and when appropriate probe them about what drew their attention to the feature in the design – this can often be an entry point to start expanding on their impressions of the design.
• Ask open ended questions – Seems simple to do but sometimes it is easy to fall in to the trap of asking a closed ended question which will result in a yes or no response. You won’t get the more meaningful details about what it is that a participant is really thinking so make sure you ask things like. What is is about the <insert feature here> that you would change?
• Be quiet and listen – Some participants are very giving with their thoughts during a walkthrough while others require more encouragement to draw out their impressions. A good tip/trick is to allow ‘uncomfortable’ silence – this usually results in the participant breaking the silence with a comment which you can then start to probe. The danger in this situation is that you might feel like you have to break the silence with a comment or suggestion this is usually counterproductive as it may influence or interrupt  the participants thought. Remember user (not consultant) centred design.
• Participants may say one thing but actually mean the complete opposite. You may notice during a session that a user verbally confirms that they understand a design concept while frowning at the same time. Observing these types of conflicting responses and probing further about why they were frowning can provide some key information about issues in the design.

The farewell lunch was at Verve Cafe in Manuka, I had a chicken burger and a couple of Kirin’s which basically had me loosening the belt a notch or two. The team presented me a farewell card from everyone which had some lovely comments. Lesley had carefully wrapped an iPhone cover and Borders gift voucher in what amounted to be the equivalent of a small rainforest of tissue paper! I swear the gift card wrapped up was the size of a DVD cover and took me a good 10 minutes to open…to the amusement of all.

The afternoon saw the final handover and farewells to friends and colleagues. Although I had only been in the organisation for just over a year and a half, I really felt that I was leaving behind some close friends which was a bit sad. At the same time the relief of leaving this job and the excitement of starting a new one added to the mix of emotions.

Next Monday I start afresh in the private sector as a Usability Consultant….stay tuned it’s going to be one interesting ride.

Greg Minaar adjusts goggles

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

In what turned out to be a day suited more to the Brits than the Aussie’s – Greg Minaar from South Africa took the win at the 2008 Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Stromlo Australia.

Overnight rain changed the dusty Stromlo track to slick wet rocks and mud. It continued to periodically rain throughout the day but there was an excellent turn out of spectators who lined both sides of the track from top to bottom. Armed with an assortment of noise makers ranging from cowbells to rechargeable truck air horns the crowd made the atmosphere for the competitors one to remember.

Qualifying saw some fast times set in the rain with the bottom of the course getting pretty muddy and slippery.

The final runs saw Tracey Mosely from Great Britain win it for the womens in a ‘controversial’ skin suit which is sometimes frowned upon by the downhill fraternity.

Local rider Indi Boer took a bad spill on the second big double on ‘Triple treat’ injuring her wrist badly. It’s never a good experience to see a rider get hurt but the crowd acknowledged her gutsy attempt with cheers and claps.

Steve Peat was looking smooth until a gust of wind on the final jump caused him to run off the track and cost him some places.

Nathan Rennie showed what a powerhouse he is by coming in second behind Greg Minaar who won by a convincing 4 seconds! That’s alot in the world of down hill racing.

I managed to protect my new camera from shorting out in the rain and took around 450 photo’s over the weekend, all in all I was very happy with some shots. The use of a borrowed Speedlite helped in the low light conditions to get some half decent photos – thanks Andy. Check out my flickr photostream for more racing action.

IMG_0210

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

I took the afternoon off to go and check out the World Cup atmosphere at Mt Stromlo.

The big name riders that made the trip to Australia were all very approachable for a chat and more than willing to sign an autograph or have a photo taken. I had a quick chat to Sam Hill about his race preparation and whether he felt the course had improved since last time – he said the extended rock garden was alot of fun but still didn’t like the pedally section to the line. Sam’s plans were to race the next round of the world cup at Schladming and then head off to Interbike in Las Vegas before heading home for a well earned rest. While it seems like a great lifestyle racing bikes all over the world, I imagine that living out of a suitcase, sleeping in a different bed every night and being away from your family would take it’s toll.

Up on the hill the track was getting dusty and bit blown out in sections. The new Canon 40D went well and is a huge improvement on the little IXUS I was using previously. The 6.5 frames per second combined with the AI – F servo tracked the fast moving riders really well and I got a few good shots.

The big news for the day was Matti Lehikoinen had a bad crash in the ‘Stutters’ section just above ‘Triple Treat’ and snapped both his wrists! Poor guy, he broke his back last year and was lucky to be able to ride again and now this will end his 2008 season.

Tomorrow I will be getting out there early to try and get an elusive Hill training shot. Sam only does 2 practice runs a day so I better be sharp on the shutter finger.

It’s going to be fast and furious as this is the second last round of the world cup and every point counts. The Aussie rider’s are well represented with the like’s of Hill, Kovarik, Rennie, Graves and of course local lads Jared Rando and Tim Eaton.

Find out more information on the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Canberra

Bermage

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

Mountain bike racing – in case you didn’t get it the first time, I’m hooked.

The CORC races I’ve been in since my last race post

Isaacs Ridge – Blood
Course description: Short and technical, rock gardens, log jumps and an insane road gap. I had a big off in the practice run and hit my calf pretty hard on a rock.

First run I was trying to go as fast as I could and ended up blowing out every corner. I got some good advice for the second run….try to ride smooth…very good advice, managed to take a few seconds off.

Stromlo berm track – Sweat
Course description: Not the usual full on course usually associated with downhill. This part of the XC descending trail and has a bunch of berms to make sure you can corner well.

Had a few practice runs with the wind blowing pretty hard, I nearly went off the side of the track coming out of the bridge. I used the ‘try to ride smooth and have fun’ mantra and ended up with a time not to far behind my class leader.
Unfortunately the 8 hours a day sitting infront of a computer monitor thinking you can ride, really didn’t help with my fitness and I fell to the ground at the end of the run with my legs feeling like they were on fire! note to self – get fit!

Majura pines ‘the minionator’ – gears
Course description: Short fun and fast through the pines, some rocky bits and some fast flowing single track – tricky bit (for me) at the finish line.

Had a good practice and managed to ride a little technical drop that everyone else could do in their sleep.
First run was going well until right after the drop when the bike started sliding out all over the place…puncture, the last half was like riding with a matress attached. One racer at the bottom came straight up to me and fixed the punture so I could do the second run..thank you.

Second run …much smoother, no flats and on an ok time. I see the finish line and decide that I’ll do the jump just after it. bad idea, I make the jump but realise that I am about to make contact with a pine tree, I swerve but too late, I am over the hangers and on the ground before I realise. Winded I am struggling to get my breath back, some friends are asking me, ‘Hey man are you ok?’ it’s hard to answer when you can’t breathe.

Next race? Kowen forest after the World Cup!

Graduate Diploma of Information Technology

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

After 3 long years I have finally graduated with my Graduate Diploma of Information Technology from CSU.

As usual we were bending the space time continuum to make the afternoon ceremony at CSU campus in Wagga Wagga. A very efficient process of paying, kitting up in a black robe, fancy hood and mortar board only took 5 minutes and I was allocated to my seat waiting for the ceremony to begin.

After some welcoming words and an extended flute recital I was up and ‘doffing’ my cap to Chancellor and walking away with that piece of paper in my hands. That piece of paper represents 3 years of my family putting up with many late nights, a stressed out Daddy at assignment and Exam time and alot of blood sweat and tears. So a big big thank you to my wife and daughter for the support and encouragement to accomplish this, I couldn’t have done it without them.

I was in two minds about attending, but as H reminded me, ‘You don’t graduate everyday’. I must admit I did feel a great sense of pride and achievement when receiving the certificate.

Would I do it again? Not right away, ask me in about 10 years

Presenting Mr and Mrs O’Neill

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

A big congratulations to Peter and Claire on their wedding day. It was a wonderful day that will hold many fond memories.

Of course the 2 days leading up to the big event were filled with last minute details and stresses – namely a car company that were not going to honour their agreement of hiring the 3 Audi A6′s only the day before! But then everything just fitted into place and all the hard work in preparing paid off.

A traditional church ceremony for 400 at Trinity’s in Adelaide, photos at Botanic Park and the beach at Grange followed by a superb reception at Classics Restaurant topped off a wonderful day.

The bridal party took a leisurely blat through the Adelaide hills at 2:00am in the 3 Audi’s, just to see what all the fuss was about.

The rules are pretty straight forward:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules
2. List EIGHT random facts about yourself
3. Tag EIGHT people at the end of your post and list their names
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged

So here goes. I’m fairly new to blogging so linking to 8 other people is going to be a bit difficult at this stage. Anyway on with the random facts:

1. I was born in Australia and was adopted by my Japanese Mother and Australian Father. I have only recently discovered that my biological parents are Chinese. Wow can you say ‘multicultural’?

2. I grew up in the Bega valley where I distinctly remember being one of only 2 Asian students attending High School. Needless to say I copped a bit of flack (from a few small minded individuals) due to my ethnic roots but overall it was a great place to grow up. I don’t think I really appreciated how beautiful that part of the world is until I moved away to undertake studies in Environmental Science in Canberra.

3. I dig coffee – now there’s a gem for you. More specifically I really enjoy making espressos. My wife was kind enough to buy me a coffee machine a few years ago and I think I have spent every weekend since then to produce the best espresso’s that I can. Sure it takes me 5 minutes to produce a single latte and sometimes they turn out …well, crap, but once in a while it all just comes together. There’s something mesmerising when an espresso shot is poured and it looks like honey.

4. I love fly-fishing. It’s one of those hobbies that appeals to people, like me, who dig accessory sports. There’s plenty of expensive gear and gadgets to be purchased, all in the pursuit of outwitting a trout. If I’m completely honest I rarely catch any trout and the one’s that feel sorry for me and decide to take the fly are released to fight another day. Fly-fishing really provides the perfect excuse to go to the Snowy Mountains at least once a year where we meet up with an old friend from high school at Lake Crakenback resort in between Jindabyne and Thredbo. I love this part of Australia, clear air, beautiful rivers and streams, snow and of course the mountains. Fly-fishing also allows me to enjoy all that natural beauty in the secure feeling that only a pair of rubber pants can provide

5. I have a bit of a fascination with watches and watch design, I particularly like chronographs my favourite brand is Tag Heuer. Unfortunately my job doesn’t pay well enough that I can buy the real thing, (although we did splurge one Christmas and got ‘H’ a real Tag Heuer). I do however have a couple of ‘good’ quality copies, thanks to friends travelling through Hong Kong. They’re a bit more affordable and I like to mix them up bit during the week.

6. I really dig SHAG (JoSH AGle’s) art, we have one limited edition print of ‘Vinegar Girl‘ which is a limited edition lithograph print of the first neon sign in Melbourne. My friend Pete originally got us onto SHAG and since then ‘A’s God parents have bought 2 other SHAG prints. The web doesn’t really do the prints any justice check out Outre Gallery next time you’re in Melbourne or Sydney to see the real thing.

7. I was into body piercing in my mid twenties, tongue, nipple and navel….only navel remains.

8. I also had long hair for a while…it was bad, and I was always getting cornered by dodgy people asking me if I could sell them drugs. I was channelling some serious Triad style back in the day.

Ok so there you have it, I was going to tag Patrick Kennedy but in the time it has taken me to get back to this post he’s already been tagged. I’ll have to build up my contacts a bit more for next time.