I was very happy to attend the Information Architecture Conference in Seattle, WA for the first time this year, where I presented my poster on “Designing for Privacy in an Increasingly Public World” on the evening of April 11th. A large PDF version of this poster is available on my Technique website. It’s free to use with attribution. I also enjoyed mentoring some of the attendees and meeting many smart and talented IAs there. I only wime sh I hadn’t taken so long to get around to attending!
UX
Article: Another death knell for accessibility on Twitter /
I interviewed Portland-based developer Hannah Kolbeck to discuss how Twitter’s proposed API changes will further undermine accessibility for its users.
Hannah created two apps—AltTextUtil and AltTxtReminder—which utilize Twitter's API to enable accessibility for images on the platform. When Twitter eventually added (some) similar functionality, Anil Dash noted that the debut of Twitter’s feature lacked acknowledgment of Hannah and others, who had such tools "that have been helping with accessibility on the platform for years.”
Anecdotally, Hannah says, a couple of Blind people have told her when her bot becomes inactive, Twitter will cease being usable for them.
While writing this piece, I noticed that Twitter has suspended AltTxtReminder. Hannah told me Twitter never notified her about that suspension, nor have they provided any reason for it since.
Teaching STEM Club at Unity Prep /
Teaching with my colleague Kyle at Unity Prep in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
Our group of us from our team at Razorfish/Publicis Groupe developed a curriculum to teach at the STEM Club at Unity Preparatory School in Brooklyn, starting mid 2020. Since then, we’ve taught each semester, expanding and developing our curriculum along the way. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching this smart bunch of kids about AR/VR technology, collaborative sketching and user experience design in general.
We began by teaching remotely, so it was a real joy to join them in person this year for the winter session, when we brought in Google cardboard VR kits donated by the good folks at Google and had a great time demonstrating how to use them with the students. Each student got to take a VR kit home, too.
Internet Freedom Festival /
I enjoyed attending the Internet Freedom Festival in lovely Valencia, Spain again in March this year, where I also presented twice. I ran a workshop on Collaborative Sketching for Secure & Usable Apps and lead a guided discussion on the topic of Social Media & At-Risk Groups. I also enjoyed assisting with a UX clinic and helping attendees, who were working on various apps applicable to the privacy and security community.