Fall METRO UX Meetup Recap

We had a great Fall METRO UX meetup a few weeks ago in an awesome space where we learned about how Andrew Chepaitis (founder of ELIA Life Technology) and his team have used industrial design, organizational psychology, design thinking, and user testing to develop and tweak their tactile based system for the visually impaired.

Our meetup members were excited to hear and learn about ELIA and there were conversations about the potential for future collaborative work together among different groups/organizations/individuals, which is exactly one of the main things we hope our meetup does — connecting people and groups in improving UX.

Check out the photo slideshow below.

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Till our next meetup.

METRO UX Summer Meetup: Amazon Books Self-Guided Tour

Amazon just opened its first NYC brick and mortar store at Columbus Circle. Join us for our informal summer METRO UX meetup where we’ll do a self-guided tour of Amazon Books. Afterwards, we’ll head to Central Park for a picnic or Whole Foods (if bad weather) and discuss our observations and thoughts over lunch. Feel free to bring a brown bag lunch.

Thursday, July 27 at 10am-12pm
The Shops at Columbus Circle located at 10 Columbus Circle
Meet at 10am in front of Amazon Books located on the 3rd floor of the Shops at Columbus Circle.

RSVP at meetup.com

One Month Later and Yarn Bombing at METRO Relaunch

We visited METRO’s headquarters last week (a month later since our METRO UX Meetup) and it was great to see the implementation of some ideas and suggestions from the hands-on UX study (including the addition of plants and METRO signage on door).

We were there to capture the Fiber Arts Group‘s yarn bombing project (plus origami cranes made from colorful origami paper and discarded library books, inspired by METRO’s post-it note bird and cranes on glass surface), which was timed to coincide with METRO’s relaunch party that evening. Check out the photos below.

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The Fiber Arts Group meets weekly at the Central Library in Brooklyn on Wednesday evenings.

 

METRO UX Meetup Recap: Hands-On UX of METRO’s New Headquarters

Earlier this week, we had our first UX in Libraries Meetup at METRO’s new headquarters located at 599 11th Avenue near the Intrepid.

We did a semi-structured hands-on UX study of the new space using various methods. Some METRO staff members were on hand and available for guided tours, interviews, etc.

The group came up with some great ideas, suggestions, and recommendations based on initial findings. It was a pretty productive and awesome meeting, thanks to METRO and the participants.

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Some recurring themes that surfaced are:

• Welcoming
• Human touch
• Togetherness

METRO is doing exactly what we work with libraries and nonprofits on – implementing creative solutions to effectively improve and enhance individual and organizational performance by focusing on the human element. Kudos to METRO for having a welcoming space that promotes togetherness with a human touch.

So what’s next? Ideas include possibly doing another hands-on UX meeting down the road when other spaces are set up and adding subtle elements of serendipity that complement the origami cranes and the post-it note bird. Stay tuned.

And lastly, thanks again METRO for the opportunity. We look forward to using the new spaces in its various iterations for future UX meetups. Be sure to check out METRO’s new headquarters, if you haven’t already.

Hands-On UX at May 9th METRO UX SIG Meeting

METRO has moved to a new space. We’re taking the opportunity to do a hands-on UX study of METRO’s new space as part of the UX SIG meeting. Join us on May 9th from 10am-12pm. More info and RSVP.