In December of last year, I started seeing a lot buzz on Twitter about a new wave of local book groups under the global banner of UX Book Club. I got really excited, because I realized I’ve been hoping for something exactly like this. Motivation to read the books I’m always meaning toread, and a smaller, more personal gathering of interested folks with which to exchange thoughts on UX stuff. So I excitedly waited for someone to set up a Los Angeles group. And waited. And then I realized, duh, everyone else is also waiting for someone to step up, so if I really want it to happen, I should be brave enough to take the initiative.
So I set up the UX Book Club Los Angeles in February, and haven’t looked back since. It’s been a huge success, with more than 20 people at each meeting and a lot of positive feedback. I have gotten more out of it even than I had hoped.
Our first UX Book Club meeting
Shortly after our first meeting, Steve (‘Doc’) Baty, the initial godfather of the global effort, contacted all the local organizers asking for a short quote about their experience with UXBC for a Boxes and Arrows article. The article is finally out, and a little piece of what I wrote is quoted in it. You can read the article here: UX Book Clubs: Coming Soon to a City Near You, and my full response to Steve is below.
I started the book club in LA because, especially in this economic climate, it’s nice to get a chance to think outside the constraints of my day job and to chat about the bigger UX picture with fellow professionals. Also I have been meaning to read many of these books for ages, and I thought book club discussions and deadlines would be a good motivator.
Our first meeting actually exceeded my expectations. I know that everyone is busy with limited time for reading, and in LA you can guarantee that most people have a long drive to any meeting place. I thought we might get 10 or so, but we gathered almost 25 dedicated and enthusiastic people. I was particularly gratified to see such a mix of professional titles. Most UX people I know are web interaction designers like me, but the book club drew developers, software UI designers, business strategists, visual designers, and various flavors of agency and in-house IAs and IxDs. Despite some complaints on the email list prior to the meeting about the book being difficult to get through, we had a really engaging discussion on sketching in all of its forms, how it fits into our process, how sketching might or might not overlap with wireframes, whether or not Agile is antithetical to the kind of design process Buxton recommends, and how sketching might inform personas. Conversation never flagged, and at the end everyone seemed glad that there was this forum to come together to continue our professional education and have a quality, small-group conversation with our peers. In short, I thought it was invigorating and awesome, and I’m really looking forward to the next meeting.
If you are in LA, I HIGHLY recommend you join us at our next meeting! Just join the Los Angeles UX Book Club LinkedIn group and follow the discussion for meeting and book news. Or watch this blog for any exciting announcements. Oh, and you can follow me on twitter here: @sgmitch.
