InfoCamp is an unconference for the information community. It's for anyone interested in user experience, information architecture, interaction design, user-centered design, information design, library & information science, online search, information management, informatics, and related fields.

It features an egalitarian, community-driven format in which the agenda is created during the event -- so anyone can sign up to lead a session.

Visit the website to learn more and to register.

Find us on Facebook and on Twitter: @infocampPDX and #InfoCampPDX.

Welcome to World Information Architecture Day 2013! Please register for this event on Eventbrite.

Come learn about what Information Architecture means and about some of the challenges facing Portland's leading practitioners.

Ideal for: Anyone interested in technology, creative tech, business of tech, industry pros, students and everyone in between. 

Thanks to our sponsors: AIGA, IxDA, PDX Web and Design Meetup, Northwest Creatives Social Club, People's Sandwich of Portland and Floyd's Coffee

Our speaker lineup is amazing!

10am: Jeanne Turner-Walmart Labs  Cultivating Good Will in the Digital World When we have to wait 20 minutes for service after being seated at a restaurant, or when a grocery store is disorganized and the clerk is distracted and unhelpful, then we know that something is wrong with the situation. In the physical world, lack of information and poor interactions are obvious. In the physical world, we know how to make improvements that increase customer satisfaction. How can we translate this understanding to the digital world? What do we need to understand about human nature to improve digital experiences? In this talk, Jeanne Turner will discuss concepts and techniques that allow us to cultivate good will in the digital world.

11am: Patricia Colley-Interactionflow Civilizing Information Architecture: A meditation on systems design What is the scope of information architecture practice? To design optimal architectural structures, we know we must empathize with its inhabitants, and apply deep expertise in organization, language and flow. But we've learned, this alone will not ensure a design's success. As we dive deeply into the churning sea of design and technology trends, tools and methods, we often forget how we orient to design practice, and its increasingly complex problems, as thoughtful human beings. Will our apps, widgets and gadgets come to serve us, or will we lose ourselves in a wilderness of unmitigated digital distractions and breakdowns? To civilize our digital future, we are compelled to take a systems view of design practice. We are compelled to shift our perspectives and spark grander dialogues.This session will examine the origins and evolution of the IA role, the current and emerging climate in which our products reside, and put forth a few principles and methods to help answer the call to broaden our vision and expand our influence in a changing world.

12p: Huston Hedinger-Wikisway Networks as a User Interface The mathematics of graph theory and its many applications via network science in sociology, bioinformatics, intelligence, and even physics, represent a paradigm shift in how we study and consider information. Over the last 30 years, machines have allowed us to structure data in such a way that allow us to analyze the complex interactions between the individual actors in networks. These interactions turn out to reveal patterns that are both predictable and obedient to mathematical laws- many in the academic community are just beginning to grasp the power an the importance of these claims. The ability to visualize networks allowing the researcher/user/customer to quickly understand the structure and behavior of a network is the main focus of this talk.

1p: Matthew Baranauskas and Noah DiJulio-Ziba Meeting the Challenges of Innovating on Top of Existing Platforms Information architecture is the keystone of every digital experience. It's where consumer needs and desires often collide with a brand's hopes and dreams. The danger for companies as they grow is figuring out how to integrate new features into their customer's existing experience. Using real world examples and personal anecdotes, Matthew and Noah will discuss how they navigate the challenge of innovating on top of existing platforms using a consumer-centric approach. You'll gain perspective on where to look for inspiration and insight, how to prioritize features into something that is meaningful and authentic, and how not to lose your mind in the process.

2p: Joel Barker and Michael Sulis-Wordlions and Summit Energy Tech, respectively Capture, Tagging and Release of Institutional Knowledge: Delivering Information in the Real World When creating a system to deliver institutional information outside of the organization, the success of the project rests on understanding the requirements and work process of all stakeholders. In this case study, Summit Energy Tech and Word Lions collaborated to collect, organize, and make available the mission critical institutional knowledge that was the foundation of our client’s relationship with their customers. This presentation will cover not only our solution, but the points where understanding the client capacity makes the difference between implementation and project failure.

3p: Alison Stump-The Social Wall Visualizing Insight: Getting Started in Information Architecture Information Architecture has only recently been given the respect it deserves by those outside the realm of User Experience. Often the designs we build are so elegant they appear simple. The average person on the street knows that a menu bar probably goes at the top of the page. In most cases its "common sense". It is positioned on the top of the page because an Information Architect thought about all the options, considered the usability and user research data and delivered a product that just works.That is what information Architecture is. So how do you do it? We will discuss a basic schema, various tools and resources to help you get started as well as key terms and phrases that will allow you to escalate your career.

4p: Dedrick Sprick-OHSU Progressive Content Strategy: A content commitment model There are a lot of hurdles to overcome for managing content well on any site. Managing content well includes knowing your website, scheduling tasks, getting the resources together, staying on top of trends and responding to visitor needs. Learn how to tackle this monumental task one step at a time, so your team can grow with your website.  

We can have only 80 guests/session, so it's all first come, first served, so make sure you're on time! 

Also, food and drink is allowed, but not provided. Please go to Floyd's Coffee across the street or People's Sandwich of Portland to find food, or bring your own.

Afterparty @Backspace 'til whenever. Please register through Eventbrite for this. http://worldiadaypdx2013.eventbrite.com/

Hope to see you all here!  

InfoCamp PDX is a one day unconference for the information community. It's for anyone interested in user experience, information architecture, interaction design, user-centered design, information design, library & information science, online search, information management, informatics, and related fields.

InfoCamp features an egalitarian, community-driven format in which the agenda is created during the event -- so anyone who attends can lead a session.

This year we're very excited to announce Amber Case as the InfoCamp PDX 2013 Keynote speaker.

Amber Case is a researcher exploring the field of cyborg anthropology and the interaction between humans and technology. She is the founder of Geoloqi (geo-low-key), Inc., a company bringing the future of location to the world. She’s spoken at TED and around the world, and has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, WIRED and more. Geoloqi was acquired by global mapping company Esri in Oct 2012.

Visit the website to learn more and to register. Find us on Facebook and on Twitter: @infocampPDX and #InfoCampPDX

Students $30 Standard $45

Shake off the winter blues with Amy Dubin, who will present on the myriad considerations all designers face in their roles as visual information disseminators.

Being a designer means taking into account an enormous array of factors, which includes the business and marketing plans that drive demand for your product. Coming up with a product that fits the whole picture will make you not only competitive, but in demand. The tough part is-how to gain this knowledge when 'business' just isn't your thing? This talk offers practical resources to help you understand how big the 'whole picture' really is, where you fit, where you may lack particular skills and how to get them in the most painless way possible. Knowing who to ask for help, and when, is a key strategy and we'll uncover tactics to help you design your career, as well as your products, successfully.

Apologies for shifting the date on this one... the second Thursday was Valentines day.

Thanks to Vitamin-T for providing food; Thanks to Webtrends for the space; Thanks to Amy for presenting an interesting topic!

-Eric Redmond, Organizer of meetup.com/pdxweb

Is It Usable Yet?

Forty years on, it's easy to forget that user-centered design and information architecture were once disruptive new ideas. Today, they're both presumed to be kind-of "thrown in" when UX work is being done.

"Of course we're user centered: that's the U in UX!"

"Of course we did the IA - we've got navbars and a site map, don't we?"

But as Peter Morville notes, when something is a part of everybody's job, that thing ends up being nobody's job and it does not get done right.

What's the situation around, and value of, UCD and IA in contemporary UX practice? Find out in a lively Q&A and short presentation on January 28 at Mozilla's office in Portland with Dan Klyn from The Understanding Group. There will be food and drink at the event.

Spoiler: what these things mean today is amazing, essential, transformative and not what you probably expect.

About Dan

Dan Klyn is co-founder of The Understanding Group (TUG), teaches information architecture at the University of Michigan School of Information and serves on the board of the IA Institute. He does IA work for clients including Herman Miller and JSTOR and his research focus is also his hero: Richard Saul Wurman.

World IA Day is a global event aimed at bringing together the information architecture community.  Full day events are taking place in 24 cities, 14 countries, and 6 continents--including Portland, Oregon!  Get your tickets for World IA Day PDX early... they will likely sell out!  

After the event, join PDX-UX for an after party just a few blocks away with beer, food, games, and networking!

Join us to discuss Kevin Lynch's classic The Image Of The City. Although the book is about the design of cities, it is widely cited in information architecture fields because of the parallels between urban planning and how we architect information online.

If you haven't managed to finish the book before the event, please feel free to come along and join the discussion

Want some expert eyes on your UX portfolio?  

Join us for a portfolio review session where you can get valuable feedback on your UX portfolio, resume, or case studies from UX hiring experts.

Come along and talk about Andrew Hinton's Understanding Context.

Technology is destabilizing the way we understand our surroundings. From social identity to ubiquitous mobility, digital information keeps changing what here means, how to get there, and even who we are. Why does software so easily confound our perception and scramble meaning? And how can we make all this complexity still make sense to our users?

Understanding Context offers a powerful toolset for grasping and solving the challenges of contextual ambiguity. By starting with the foundation of how people perceive the world around them, it shows how users touch, navigate, and comprehend environments made of language and pixels, and how we can make those places better.

We're going to be talking to Andrew via Skype, so it's going to be an interesting discussion.

Not finished the book? It doesn't matter—come along and join the conversation.

Please RSVP on our site.

Our Topic

In a world where everything is getting more complex and we are all experiencing personal information overload, there is a growing need to understand the tools and processes that are used to make sense of complex subjects and situations. These tools aren’t hard to learn or even tough to implement but they are also not part of many people’s education. Information Architecture is a practice of making sense. A set of principles, lessons and tools to help anyone make sense of anything. Whether you are – a student or professional, a designer, technologist or small business owner, an intern or executive – learn how information architecture can help you make sense of your next endeavor.

Abby will have copies of her book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess, for sale during our event.

Our Presenter, Abby Covert

Abby Covert is an independent information architect. She specializes in delivering a collaborative information architecture process and teaching those that she works with along the way. She speaks and writes under the pseudonym Abby the IA, focusing on sharing information architecture content with those working within the design and technology communities.

Follow Abby on Twitter.

Our venue, FINE

Thanks to FINE for hosting us this month! FINE is located at 1140 SW 11th Ave, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97205.

Don’t look now, but your life depends on user experience design. Smartphones lead us around by the hand, we strap computers to body parts like it’s going out of style, and autonomous cars are already on the road. Thankfully, Mark Wyner is determined to humanize those experiences. As a user experience designer, Mark has architected software for the US Army, Nike, Intel, Chrysler, and more. He has eloquently addressed the need for interfaces we understand and trust, both in writing and as a speaker at events like Webvisions. Come hear about his efforts to work with the machines, before they take over for good.