MoMo Ann Arbor May 2nd Visual Design for Mobile

MoMo Ann Arbor May 2nd Visual Design for Mobile

On top of the great presentation Tom will be giving on May 2 about visual design, we are also going to provide a quick intro to Balsamiq. Balsamiq goes well with many of the recipes that Tom has in his app, but that has nothing to do with why we are talking about it.  It is also a great rapid mock-up software tool that can really save you time in the early stages of app and web development. We’ll tell you all about it and we will even be giving away a free Basalmiq license ($79 value) as part of the presentation.  So be sure to come on time!

A great user interface is essential to acceptance and adoption of any system.  While the rules of great design still apply, the small touch screen adds new constraints that don’t exist on other platforms. During this session, we’ll explore some of the key design principles and how they apply in this environment.  Whether it be color, size, shape, visual cues, icons, metaphors, real-world equivalents, the user has expectations about how an app will work. We’ll also discuss not only how to meet these expectations, but also exceed and even delight the user with design.

Agenda:

• 6:15 – Networking
• 6:30 – Balsamiq Intro and License Giveaway – Dave Koziol of Arbormoon
• ~ 6:45 – Visual Design For Mobile – Tom Crawford
• ~ 7:15 – Featured Company – VizChef – an all-visual cookbook for the iPad (http://www.vizchef.com/)
• ~ 7:30 – Attendee Introductions and networking

Presenter Bios:

Tom Crawford is the Owner and Principal of VizNetwork, providing education and hands-on experiences for leaders who need to solve problems and communicate more effectively. Before starting the current business, he was CEO of VizThink, an organization dedicated to the creation of a sustainable, global community of people who use any form of the visual arts for learning and communication.

He spent 6 years at Root Learning starting the e-Learning team. Root’s strong use of art and metaphor introduced him to the power of visualization for learning and communication. Through extensive experimentation and testing with customers such as Blockbuster, Pepsi, and Bank of America, he developed extensive theories on interactivity, engagement, and visualization. In the past several years, Tom has run workshops on learning, simulations, visualization, and communication all over the world for thousands of people. He is a well-respected and often requested speaker for organizations of all shapes and sizes. He has recerntly released an all-visual cookbook for the iPad called VizChef.