This year, we thought we give our attendees a special UI13 advice podcast. The show covers getting to the conference, a brief overview of the conference agenda, and lots of tips for getting around the Boston metro.

If you’ve never been to the Boston-Cambridge area, it’s a wonderful place to visit. Plenty of history, sites to see and fun to be had. If you’re like me and light on traveling experience, I asked Jared for a bit of basic traveling advice. If you’re a road warrior like Jared, we have advice on getting around for you, as well. Plus, you’ll know where to eat drink and make merry.

If you’re a regular listener to our podcasts, you’ll notice we didn’t put this in our regular feed. We didn’t want non-attendees to become confused, perhaps think we’ve become a travel company or something.

Below you can listen to the podcast in the player (press the grey play button), or download and take it with you.

The UI13 Attendees Podcast — Direct Link to MP3 File

It’s not clear when “quick and dirty” became a dirty phrase in the usability world. There are those that believe that testing must be scientific, and that takes time and money — luxuries not often available to many development projects.

Usability testing expert Dana Chisnell knows what it means to work by-the-book – she co-wrote “the book” (The Handbook of Usability Testing, 2nd ed.) with Jeff Rubin. In this seminar, Dana will break down the process of collecting user research data, exploring the must-haves, the nice-to-haves, and the certainly-can-do-withouts. You’ll learn how you can answer your essential design questions using methods that would make MacGyver proud.

This presentation is perfect if you have yet to conduct your first usability test. If you’re experienced with testing, Dana will show you some new ways to inject user research into those tight-on-resources projects that keep cropping up.

Register today at http://www.uie.com/events/virtual_seminars/wild/

What questions do you have about Usability Testing in the Wild? What tools or tricks have you used to maximize the resources available, and still deliver quality results? We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Not sure what sessions to attend at the User Interface 13 Conference this October? Or looking for more information on what each session covers and who the speakers are? Then we have the podcast for you. We’re so excited about the content and expert speakers at this year’s UI13, we decided to create a podcast to help make sense of everything.

I sat down with Brian Christiansen and we discussed, in detail, each speaker’s topic, and who the session is targeted for. Our goal with this podcast was to help our registered attendees decide which sessions they’d like to attend, and to give even more information to those who might still be on the fence on attending. (Of course, if you’re not able to attend, you’re still welcome to listen in and hear about the speakers and topics.)

In additon to the content and speaker information, we discussed the myriad of fun things to do in the Boston area when you’re not in session. Want tips on where to dine, see a museum, a band or take a tour? We’ve got your tips right here!

We’d love to know if this podcast was useful in selecting your sessions at UI13 or learning more about the conference. Please share your thoughts with us below.

(Don’t forget, you can find out much more about the conference at the User Interface 13 conference site.)

Volunteers will be asked to arrive around 1 pm on Sunday, October 12th and stay until the end of the conference. Throughout the main four days of the conference, volunteers will be assigned to a full-day workshop and short talks to assist conference speakers with their needs. We’ll make every effort to accommodate your preference for which sessions you’d like to attend.

Volunteers are responsible for paying for all travel and hotel accommodations, but we will provide breakfast and lunch Monday through Thursday of the Summit. The registration fee is waived for volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering, or if you have any questions, please send your replies directly to Lauren Cramer at lcramer@uie.com. Priority will be given to full-time students and those of you available to help out for the full event from Monday, October 13th through Thursday, October 16, plus initial set-up on Sunday.