Social Media as a business tool - Filling up fast!

17 May 2011, 9.30am - 4.30pm. Level 10, 220 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

$595 + gst (lunch provided)

Social interaction is one of the key areas driving the take up of the Internet in today’s society. As a result, there has been an explosion in the number of social networks that consumers can get involved in, with names like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Slideshare and YouTube all instantly recognisable commodities. While most people now know what these social networking applications are, leveraging the opportunities they offer, especially in a business or enterprise sense, is something that most are struggling with at this point in time.

This social media training workshop will aim to explore the potential that some of these applications have in improving customer support, market research, brand management, collaboration, marketing and business development.

This course is suitable for anyone, at any level who is in a position, or wants to be in a position to promote their business via social channels.

You will have the opportunity to hear case studies, and more importantly, set up your own profiles on these sites, or to expand on the profiles and interactions you have already established. In doing so, you will learn:

Here are some quotes from previous social media training workshops that James has run:

On October 21st, 2010 join Anna van Egmond to learn how to run your own usability testing projects from start to finish! 

For the last couple of years we've been proud to have Anna as part of our Objective Digital team!  Now you too can learn from Anna's extensive experience in one of the largest usability industries in the World, the UK!  

In order to create great user experience there is an essential need to not only understand the functionality of the website interface but also the dynamic of the user. And it is this second element, the user, that gives rise for the qualitative researcher to come into their own with website usability studies. You might very well expect that a client would approach a quantitative researcher for this task but there is more to usability domain than meets the eye. Lets take a new view. 

Understanding human behaviour and motivations have always been the territory of qualitative researchers, understanding how user interact with a web interface is no different. Experienced qualitative researchers can bring a wealth of skills to usability testing. Qualitative researchers bring with them a richness of information. They can draw out user beliefs and motivations which translate into the way they interact with a website. They can sort through reactions and responses and probe on a user’s state of mind. Experienced qualitative researchers have the ability to succinctly hypothesise potential reactions to web functionality gleaned by deep insight from personal and direct moderation. And then interrogate that behaviour efficiently in the immediate situation.        

A qualitative review will always deliver a richness of understanding that will make a lasting impression. A recent study involving a health website demonstrated the need for designers to be fully aware of the potential anxiety parents might be feeling as they interact with the site. Emergency procedures and contact numbers were shown to be too hard to find and whilst they appeared on the home page users acknowledged they maybe distracted when engaging with the site. The information needed to be obvious and clearly differentiated with standard medical icons. These insights revealed themselves through discussing the context surrounding the usage. Keeping the parent users state of mind at the forefront of the designer agenda ensure they will create a site which is useful and therefore valuable.

There seems to be an impression that any consumer behaviour relating to the online environment typically falls into the territory of a quantitative researcher. Whether rightly or wrongly there seems to be demarcation line when technology comes into play. But here I would encourage qualitative researchers to break into the usability area as their skills would be invaluable. Perhaps qualitative researcher are traditionally more comfortable interacting simply with people and being technology free but it’s time to break out of that thinking and consider the opportunities that their skills can be applied in the online environment.

If you’re ready to take up the challenge and want to learn how to be a great usability practitioner why not join us at Objective Digital on 14^th April, 2010. We are running a Usability Course to help get you up and running with confidence. Everything you need to know to get started! 

http://objectivedigital.com/products/usability-testing.html

Market researchers!

• Are your clients asking you to research their websites?
• Would you like to start a new line of business?
• Do you want to add value and insight to your usability reports?

Gain confidence in the Usability Testing process. Come to our 1 day workshop in 'Usability Testing for Market Researchers'. The workshop covers all aspects of the Testing Process:

• Client expectations
• Scripts and scenarios
• Recruitment and incentives
• Running the test
• Analysis and reporting

We will cover through a number of case studies which are highly relevant to market researchers.

Takeaways for your staff include templates and guidelines for every step of the process.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Ticket price AUD $595 + GST (this includes the Event Brite fee). Total price is AUD $654.50.