A few weeks ago, I attended the inaugural meeting of UX Book Club Philadelphia, organized by our very own Livia Labate. Our first book selection was Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design by Bill Buxton. I didn't finish the book in time for the meeting (and neither did anyone else) but that didn't stop us from having a lively discussion about what we had read so far.
Recently I have been trying to figure out exactly what User Experience means, how it fits into my career path, and how I can learn more about it. As much as I'd love to drop everything and go to one of the great graduate programs out there (that sadly are not in Philadelphia), I'm also not really in a place where I want to hit the pause button on my life for two years to immerse myself in learning the discipline. That's why events like UX Book Club, which are conversational and enriching, are extremely valuable. My mind has been going a million miles a minute since we met, which definitely classifies it as MUSE territory.
Much like doing this whole @weeklyblogpost thing (forcing myself to blog!), UX Book Club got me to finally pick up a book I had been meaning to read, and to have the chance to exercise my brain a bit. I found myself waxing philosophical with my fellow book clubbers about education and urban planning, as well as positive (and negative) user experiences we've had. Sitting at a table full of UX practioners and enthusiasts makes for engaging conversation, trust me!
I'm still plugging away on Bill Buxton's book, and very much looking forward to our next gathering.
From the UX Book Club website:
The UX Book Club idea was formed by Steve Baty and others on a couple of mailing lists late in 2008. The idea was that people could get together to talk about their favourite user experience books - and other books of interest to user experience people - and share their views, learning from one another.
Get more information about meetups in your city by checking out the UX Book Club wiki.
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