With our partners at UIE, we recently launched the Next Step Series of monthly virtual seminars starring Rosenfeld Media authors. First up is Anders Ramsay, who will present Designing With Agile on January 24 . How agile and design fit together is still up in the air, so we decided to get some input from Anders:

RM: What's the biggest mistake people make when it comes to designing with Agile?

Anders Ramsay: UX designers' biggest mistake is to think that methods like Scrum or XP are synonymous with Agile. Those methods were created by and for developers to solve developer problems. They were created with high-quality efficient software delivery in mind, not UX design. This is why many UX designers are stunned—utterly stunned!—to discover that adopting Scrum does not lead to eternal frolicking and bliss. In fact, adopting a method like Scrum or XP will, for a UX practitioner, only replace the waterfall dysfunctions of old with new dysfunctions, like being devoured by the backlog beast or being stuck with half-baked UX that has been deemed "Done."

But the good news is that we can forge our own methods, intended to solve UX designer problems and challenges and looking at software from the UX perspective, out of the very same lean, light-weight thinking and values from which the Agile movement and brand was forged.

Posted by Louis Rosenfeld at 1:22 PM | Comments (0)

Big news from Rosenfeld Media headquarters: we're teaming up with UIE to create a new series of monthly virtual seminars!

The Next Step Series will feature Rosenfeld Media authors covering critical user experience topics thoughtfully and practically—just like they do in their Rosenfeld Media books. All with the great format and top production values you've come to expect from UIE: highly participatory, 90-minute live seminars and edited recordings for future use. We've already queued up an initial batch of great presenters, including Anders Ramsay, Caroline Jarrett, Rachel Hinman, and Steve Portigal.

This partnership is a true no-brainer. Rosenfeld Media's goal is to identify and promote fantastic UX expertise—in book form, but also in a growing number of other formats. And no one publishes better virtual seminars than UIE. We're looking forward to serving the user experience community together.

Please check out our list of upcoming seminars, and stay connected with us to be notified when more are scheduled.

Posted by Louis Rosenfeld at 1:37 PM | Comments (0)

We are absolutely thrilled to have mobile design guru and author Josh Clark of Global Moxie join our editorial board. Like our other editorial advisors, Josh will be helping us identify potential authors and topics, and evaluate book proposals. So don't be surprised if you notice, in a year or two, that we have a raft of great new mobile design books coming out. Welcome aboard, Josh!

Posted by Louis Rosenfeld at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Put the hum in humbug: take 40% off all of our books and webinars by using discount code HUMBUG when checking out. This crazy deal is good through Friday, December 16. After that, you're on your own.

Posted by Louis Rosenfeld at 10:38 AM | Comments (4)