The infraNET Project,
University of Waterloo
presents ...
A Smart Community
Seminar
"Analog Designs for a
Digital World"
James H (Jamie) Roberts
Corporate User Assistance
Technology Lead
IBM Corporation
Wednesday, March
28, 2001
2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Davis Centre, Room 1302
University of Waterloo
About the Seminar
People all over the world want
sophisticated technology that is easy to use and that mirrors their
experience and takes advantage of their skills. But designing hardware
and software that people actually like is difficult at best, and raises a
number of interesting questions. How do we think about technology and
its use, and can we translate technical potential into easy to use
processes and products? How do we deliver information about technology
that assists users in accomplishing their goals? How do we plan for
global user communities?
Taking a number of examples from
emerging technologies, with special focus on networked information
technologies and perspectives on the future of the Web, this talk will
articulate some of the problems facing technologists from a design perspective.
These questions will also examine recent technical invention and forecasts for
the future uses of technology. In examining these visions of the
future, we will also explore existing design limitations that have yet
to be overcome.
In short, we can begin to think
differently about the complex interconnections between technology and
its use, even if this new perspective leads to more questions about
people's roles in this digital age.
About the Speaker
James H (Jamie) Roberts is the
Corporate User Assistance Technology Lead for IBM Corporation. He is
also affiliated with the IBM Toronto Software Development Lab, where he
has worked on various software products as an Advisory Information
Developer, and where he has contributed to various research programs on dynamic
information design and delivery. Mr. Roberts has a MA (English) from the University
of Waterloo, and teaches part-time for St. Jerome's College at UW. He
is also part-time faculty member at York University, where he has been
the interim Director of the Certificate Program in Technical
Communication and where he teaches undergraduate courses on writing and
technology for Glendon College.
For more information
Shirley Fenton
The infraNET Project
Computer Systems Group, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 4004
Seminar Sponsorship
This seminar is sponsored by The
infraNET Project, University of Waterloo.
The infraNET Project, initiated by the
University of Waterloo in 1996, is a partnership to advance Web and
Internet technologies. Its founding partners are: LivePage (now part of
Janna Systems), MKS, Open Text, RIM, Sybase (Waterloo) and Waterloo
Maple.
We also gratefully acknowledge the
assistance of the Institute for Computer Research, University of
Waterloo.