Dr. David Guralnick, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Teachers College, President at Kaleidoscope Learning.(LinkedIn profile) 
David Guralnick holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University, where his work synthesized concepts from the fields of computer science, instructional design, and cognitive psychology. Dr. Guralnick designed and developed the first learn-by-doing simulation for corporate training use, as well as the first e-learning-specific authoring tool. Over the past 20 years, he has designed simulation-based training applications, electronic performance-support systems, and specialized authoring tools which allow non-technical people, such as writers and trainers, to build e-learning sites. The cornerstone of Dr. Guralnick's design philosophy is the concept of content-driven, goal-driven design ­ using the information and the needs of the end-users, rather than the technology, to lead the design process. Dr. Guralnick is president of New York-based Kaleidoscope Learning; president of the International E-Learning Association; chair of ASTD-New York's E-learning Special Interest Group; a regular keynote speaker at international conferences; chair of the International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace; Senior Editor of the International Journal on Advanced Corporate Learning; and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University.  His work has been featured in Wired magazine, Training magazine (as an Editor’s Choice), and the Wall Street Journal, and he is the recipient of numerous e-learning design awards.

The Ever-Changing New Media User

Drawing on ten years of data and insights from a worldwide study in 30 countries, Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future, will separate myth from reality as he describes how the Internet and mobile technology are changing the fabric of daily life. Will user-generated content successfully challenge content from traditional media? Is the web a continual threat to television, or can the two live and work together? How will advertising evolve in a digital era?  The presentation will examine the trends and developments that are likely to occur in the next two to three years.

Creating a True “E-Learning User Experience” in Corporate Training

E-learning in the business world has the potential to be extremely effective and enjoyable, though that potential often goes unrealized.  In this session, we will discuss learning-by-doing, scenario-based methods to create learning experiences that teach skills that will apply on-the-job and provide an enjoyable (and sometimes emotionally-moving) experience for the learner.  I will show examples of e-learning experiences that have been considered successful, and discuss the design process used to create these experiences.  Contrasts will be drawn between various online pedagogical methods which involve applications of educational theory and research to practical training problems in business.

Cross Media Format Development and User Experience Testing

What is cross media? What is a format? How do we combine them in the development process? And how can those elements and that process benefit from UX testing? (a hint: they can benefit in a lot of ways…)

Two guys who’ve been there and done that – Jonas and Simon – will talk about these topics, exemplifying with case studies and attempting to crack some jokes in between. You wouldn’t want to miss it for the world!

Creating Authentic Experience by Holistic Design

We value the benefit and the experience of services and products by three step process: First impressions, Ease-of-use and how well the product fits in to our everyday social context. The main aspect of the value creation process is the feeling of authenticity. Designers main task should be the authentic experience.  Holistic design is a process by which designers can grasp the challenging task of authentic experiences. Holistic design process takes into account the social context, value networks, designers own emotions and capabilities to create.

Dr. Giulio Jacucci

Ubiquitous media for Environmental Awareness

One of the most effective ways for being more efficient is to motivate and empower citizens to become active energy consumers - Energy Life can offer them the opportunity to raise awareness of their own power consumption in real time. Energy Life includes an engaging and game- like mobile phone application, and an ambient interface that makes use of the home lighting and lamps as a means to communicate alerts. By combining novel yet advanced technologies such as wireless sensor networks, service-oriented architectures, ambient and mobile interfaces, residential energy consumers can be targeted effectively.

Energy Life is a service platform that will ensure scalable, deployable
innovation in the consumer power market, enabling a service
to:

• Monitor consumption and understand the effects of different choices
• Share consumption practices in groups and communities - this creates
  opportunities for learning better practices or incentives for adopting
  virtuous behaviours

The technology developed in the project will be set up in two different
pilot si tes - one Nordic (Sweden/Finland) and one Southern European
(Italy). In each site, studies will be carried in a home environment. The
research is highly multidisciplinary and combines a variety of approaches in
the area of user studies, user-centred design and evaluation.

Nicola Smyth

Creating a seamless experience between web, mobile, public screens and IPTV

Mikael "Micke" Östling

User experience as a tool for the bottom line

Building highly sophisticated e-commerce web sites is not an easy task. The right combination of innovation, creativity and technology can not only yield fine solutions but also effect the bottom line. Micke will analyze different user experience methods and strategies that has helped a small company to become one of Finland’s largest e-tailers.