In just three short years, the China chapter—now a single organization spanning Hong Kong and mainland China—has accomplished these objectives and more. Here’s a quick retrospective that shows where we started and where we’re at now:
- User Friendly 2004 attracted 180 attendees. Some of the companies with representatives at the conference were familiar names around the world such as Yahoo!, Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, and IBM. Others were companies headquartered in China like Sohu, UTStar, and Baidu, as well as several others.”
- User Friendly 2005 drew more than 300 people practicing usability in China, with several attendees coming from neighboring countries such as Korea and Taiwan. Invited guest speakers hailed from North America, Europe, and Australia.
- User Friendly 2006 brought over 500 people together, with the conference expanding from 2 to 3 days. In addition to the talks and tutorials by invited speakers, the third day added roundtable events, giving participants time to cover topics in more depth and ask speakers questions in a more intimate setting. More companies than ever had representatives at User Friendly 2006, with first-time attendees representing Philips, Yahoo!, eBay Korea, HP, LG, Hitachi, Cathay Pacific, Lenovo, and GE Health Care.
Robert Barlow-Busch, an invited speaker in 2005, was prescient in his UXmatters article “A Glimpse of China’s Future at User Friendly 2005” when he stated, “They’ll certainly need to host a larger event next year, as the UX professions continue to grow rapidly in China.”
User Friendly 2004–2006
On the first day of User Friendly 2006, Jason Huang, President of the UPA China chapter, kicked off the conference with his presentation “User Experience in China,” charting the growth of User Friendly over its three-year lifespan. Some notable statistics:
- Attendance has increased from 180 people to over 500.
- Participants’ backgrounds have included design, design management, and academia.
- The number of companies participating has grown from 35 to 112.
- Topics covered have included graphic user interface design, usability, information architecture, conceptual design, user experience, user-centered design, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), and recommendations for accessible, well-designed Web sites and applications.
Friends of User Friendly
User Friendly 2006 was very much about the people who attended. So, we decided to ask some people who were at the conference what User Friendly 2006 meant to them. We spoke with first-time conference attendees and repeat attendees, as well as both new and returning invited speakers.
New Participant: Douglas Xiaoyong Wang
Senior User Interface Engineer at Trend Micro Incorporated, Nanjing Development Center, China
“This turned out to be a great occasion where I’ve made friends with many designers from other regions and cultures and learned a lot from them. Absolutely fantastic!”
His expectations:
- meeting peers and friends from China
- seeing the latest growth trends in usability and interface design in China
- looking for potential candidates for our design team
What he enjoyed most:
- the variety of speakers from different regions
- making friends with designers from different regions and cultures
- the beauty of Hangzhou
Learnings:
- China is getting more attention as an important center for promoting product usability and design excellence.
- Designers and usability practitioners who received their training in China are learning very fast.
- In large corporations, the usability profession is becoming more specialized.
- There is increasing awareness of diversified usability methods and tools.
Hot topics in China for 2007 and beyond:
- In China, how to adjust business strategies to add value to manufacturing- and technology-based operations?
- How to establish professional standards for designers and usability practitioners?
UPA China Member: Nan-Xiang Sheng
Human Factors Engineer at Hewlett-Packard, China
“It’s awesome! As a member of the DDF (Dragon Design Fund) UPA China team, I hope people liked and enjoyed the conference arrangements; were able to get new information, knowledge, and tips; and made new friends—in other words, that UF2006 was a successful conference.”
What he enjoyed most: Working with team members and meeting old friends.
Learnings: How to handle and organize a huge conference.
Opportunities for usability in China: Huge! Usability or Total Customer Experience (TCE) is going to be one of the key factors that influence any company in the near future. China is still in its changeover process, and there will be more and more job opportunities. However, practitioners had better do a good job and keep their customers and bosses happy.
Past Speaker: Gerry Gaffney
Director at Information & Design, Australia
“China is about to come of age.”
His expectation: That the conference would be friendly and bigger than UF2005.
What he enjoyed most:
- meeting lots of interesting people
- practicing my Chinese
- meeting old friends
Learnings:
- People all over the world have similar usability issues to deal with.
- China is no longer happy to be just a market or just a manufacturer of goods.
Hot topics in China for 2007 and beyond:
- all sorts of user research
- dealing with organizational issues
- how China can understand the Western market—a bit of a reversal
Opportunities for usability in China: China has a huge percentage of the world’s population. As it develops, the market for usability in China will be correspondingly large. We can see that already from the growth in the size of the User Friendly conference.
New Participant: Liya Zheng
Interaction Designer at Liquidnet Inc., USA
“I’m coming back for more!”
Her expectations:
- learning about the state of the UX community
- learning about cross-cultural design challenges
- meeting and greeting colleagues in my motherland
What she enjoyed most:
- the people
- the beautiful scenery
- brave souls who are working and living overseas
Learnings:
- I can share my interaction design experiences in China!
- The cultural backgrounds of UX practitioners pose different challenges in China than in the US.
- China is an amazing place to work.
Hot topics in China for 2007 and beyond:
- interaction design
- developing soft skills to enable organizational change
- advanced topics in research
- integrating usability and design
Opportunities for usability in China:
- mobile application design
- cross-cultural research techniques
