They've opened voting on proposed SXSW Interactive panels, so folks can influence the conference. It's a cool way read the tea leaves.

panelpicker.sxsw.com (use the categories at right to run the picker)

Some things I noticed:

• A theme of last year was the growing cry for a nonprofit track; so far, there are 16 panels proposed for the category Nonprofit.
• Enterprise has 37 hits, Cloud has 19, Javascript has 21, and Programming and .NET both have 23 each.
• RIA (rich internet applications) has 147. Yes, really.

Save the date! March 13-17, 2009, Austin Convention Center; easy access to "The Brightest Minds in Emerging Technology".

Built on the Gecko engine, "Pencil" is a Firefox 3 plug-in that has a light, 400 KB installation. Its goal is to be a forever free and open source tool for making diagrams and doing GUI prototyping, yet also easy enough that everyone can use it. For mock-ups, Pencil makes it easy to spin the look you want, then output PNG for record-keeping and distribution:

http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil 

A webinar given jointly by MarkLogic, Aberdeen Group (research), and empolis summarized where the industry stands on the move toward offering users dynamic technical content -- dynamic in the sense of filtered for their needs and assembled into useful printables. The dimensions for filtering are the usual suspects: user skill/type, context (such as a specific product), and task type (setup vs. operation vs. troubleshooting). Aberdeen's research on current industry practices (albeit focused on the needs of manufacturers) showed they are being driven by these factors (most to least): speed to market, market segmentation, customizability, precision (need to cut irrelevant doc), and globalization (localization needs). Those organizations found to be "best in class" are pursuing these types of initiatives:

This STC 2008 session shared the processes and tips used by NetIQ writers, who straddle multiple sprints and products.

Terms:

• Scrum = agile development approach that emphasizes close communication through daily stand-up meetings.
• Scrum master = team member who facilitates scrum meetings, communicates outside the team, and works to solve blocks.
• Iteration = 1-4 week stretch during which a full software development cycle occurs; begins with planning and ends with a demo.
• Backlog = repository for all requirements and wish list items. (tool to manage tasks = Xplanner)
• Capacity = maximum amount of hours a team member can work during one iteration.

No more specs:

This STC 2008 session by Daniel Wroblewski of SAP Israel introduced writers to API documentation, and he offered this minimalist approach to structuring it:

• Introduction (1 page)
• Who needs this
• What can I do with this API (main use cases)
• How guide is organized
• Quick Tutorial (1-2 pages)
• “I want to see it working”
• How to install or reference
• Concepts (2-3 pages, more if needed)
• Reference
• List of all APIs (e.g., Document! X, Javadocs)
• Other lists (syntax, types of windows, packages …)

Common goals of API users:

This STC 2008 session by Jane Bozarth offered alternatives to the methods taught in academic settings and techniques for persuading stakeholders to reconsider their demands and assumptions. Here are my key take-aways:

• Needs analysis on a napkin: assign performance problems to four quadrants, axis "wants to" versus axis "knows how to", low and high:
• doesn't want to + doesn't know how to = change job position or fire
• doesn't want to + knows how to = motivation issue
• wants to + knows how to = remove obstacles (bad process, bad management, etc.)
• wants to + doesn't know how to = TRAINING will help here, and nowhere else!
• Task analysis on a napkin: to find the critical 20%, draw a set of 4 concentric rings:
• Outer ring: call it "Everything about the domain"
• Next ring: call it "What we have time to teach"
• Next ring: call it "What learners will be able to recall"
• Inner ring: call it "What learners will be able to use"
• Mark the inner ring as 20% of all possible content, and ask the SME what few things should go in that inner ring.
  

This STC 2008 session reported findings of an STC-funded study of distance education and a case study for producing online courses from nothing (no materials or experience). The first study (by Rensselaer Polytechnic and New York Life) offered concrete tips for improving distance learning:

• Tag team: Use a course host/MC for every class, to set up, manage chat channels, direct group exercises, and record/archive, offloading the instructor.
• Plan for pain: Expect a third of the problems to be technical (media technology) and another third to be poor use of interactive channels.
• Control eyeballs: Best results come from 100% participation, by preventing/discouraging multi-tasking.
• Be fair: Use round-robin technique to ensure onsite and remote participants are equally involved (fear also heightens attention).
• Use the best: Use media in this order of effectiveness (ease and reliability): conference call (best), video conference, chat, whiteboard.
• Avoid all-in-1: Tools that bundle teleconferencing with video and more prove unreliable; move voice to Skype or similar, and push video to YouTube or similar services.
• Peer power: Seek technology that makes it easy for learners to help each other and interact -- it's effective and they want it.

The case study shows how Credence System jumped into remote learning, to meet customer demands for training when and where they need it. They tackled it with risk-management in the driver's seat:

Mike Wethington posted Martin Fowler's article on lessons learned in doing agile with overseas teams. Many of the points struck me as relevant for the problem of telecommuting teams as well:

• Bring distributed developers onsite for critical first iterations of new projects, to get going
• Expect to need more documents than with a collocated team: it's the price of being virtual 
• Extend conference calls with video, especially for project background lectures 
• Extend instant messaging to group-based messaging, such as with Campfire

Our family made a road trip to west Texas for the Open Source Symposium, held on Saturday April 26 at Angelo State University, in San Angelo. Its mission is to introduce open source to those working in college environments, which was why UT Austin was pleased to have my husband, Adam attend and report back to them. STC Austin's own Janet Swisher presented on how to participate in OS projects.

Last night at the STC Austin program, Dr. John Morkes (of Expero, which hosts Free Usability Advice) argued that the next stage in User Experience would be "Joy of Use", which follows [1] Usefulness and [2] Ease of Use. That is, the emotions experienced by use of software or sites become the powerful differentiator among otherwise comparable offerings. Reminding me of Maslo's hierarchy of needs, Morkes ranked UX needs like this, from "must have" to "nice to have":

• useful > easy to use > code quality > trust/security > pretty > stimulating > fun

• (Me, I'd tweak it a bit: useful > code quality > trust/security > easy to use > pretty > stimulating > fun)

Research: Studies in psychology, marketing, and education clearly nail the benefits of humor, for improving likeability, social glue, trust, cooperation, sociability, and lowering fear and stress. Adding humor did not cost extra time in the completion of tasks. MRI studies of the effects of humor show that it activates the brain's reward centers, exactly as occurs when we see a pretty face, receive money, or take drugs.