Event Notices From October 19-21
NEF To Consider 'Second Time Around: Mistakes To Avoid': The Ann Arbor New Enterprise Forum will hold its November meeting on "Second Time Around: Mistakes To Avoid," on Thursday, Nov. 15. NEF is assembling a panel of serial entrepreneurs who will share their war stories and wisdoms gained (so that your mistakes can be singularly your own -- and hopefully, fewer!). The venue is the Holiday Inn North Campus, 3600 Plymouth Road at US-23, Ann Arbor. Registration and networking begin at 5 p.m., the program at 5:45. Admission is $20 for non-NEF members, $5 for students. More at http://www.newenterpriseforum.org/.
Usability Pros To Talk Mobile Web: The Michigan Usability Professionals Association will discuss "Optimizing User Experience Across Devices with Responsive Web Design" Thursday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. at ProQuest, 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway, Ann Arbor. With the extremely fast rise in the use of mobile devices in recent years, companies are starting to realize that ignoring mobile Web users is no longer an option. Many have chosen to provide a stripped-down version of their desktop site to mobile users, on the assumption that mobile users only want or need to use a small subset of the features available to desktop users. But as more and more people are turning to mobile as their primary or only means of accessing the Web, it's becoming apparent that mobile users' needs aren't so straightforward. At the same time, attempts to create a simplified mobile version of a Web site often make it clear that the full desktop site is too complicated, cluttered, and difficult to navigate. However, there is a solution. By designing from a mobile-first perspective, and using responsive Web design to create a site that responds to the device on which it's being viewed, you can provide all users with a quality experience across screen sizes and devices, without having to create and maintain separate websites. Speaker Clarissa Peterson is a freelance Web designer and user experience consultant, specializing in mobile strategy and responsive design. Before setting out on her own, she spent 10 years working for various nonprofit organizations and government agencies, doing everything from front-end development and user experience design to content strategy, online marketing, and project management. More at www.michiganupa.org/usability/miupa-events/.
