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This entry was written by Blackboard User Experience Architect Rob Fay (right in photo), a member of Blackboard’s Product Development group.

Of all the courses I took in undergraduate and graduate school, only one of my classes used Blackboard software for limited course management functions.  The instructor for that course chose to post her syllabus online; she posted the weekly assignments and readings to the space, and she encouraged the use of the discussion board.  That instructor didn’t enable many features the system had to offer, but her effort was a start.  And as a student, I didn’t know the full breadth of what Blackboard software had to offer anyway.

Nonetheless, I was excited that that instructor decided to use Blackboard software for her course management needs.  Why?

Well, after all, the class focused on human-computer interaction methodologies.  Why teach a course on system interface design and not leverage educational technologies?

Interestingly, we had a group assignment to apply traditional user-centered design methods and research to critique a chosen Web-based system.  One group decided to critique the Blackboard system we were using.

Fast forward a few years.

Now I work with the User Experience ("UX") team in Blackboard’s Product Development group.  It is my team’s responsibility to critique Blackboard products and to make them easier and more enjoyable to use.  "User Experience" is a somewhat nebulous concept, but our team follows Peter Morville’s "User Experience Honeycomb" model (Morville, 2004) by striving to make our products accessible, credible, desirable, findable, usable, useful, and valuable.

To achieve such high standards, we must get you – Blackboard users – involved in the design process.  So, how do we do it?  And how can you help?

With the first days of spring under our belts, we in DC’s Blackboard office are looking forward to more warm days and sunny skies.

But I’ll be honest – my sights are set to a slightly warmer climate – Las Vegas in July.

Over 200 of you have already registered for BbWorld ’08.  And I’m working hard with the Client Program Committee to select the most interesting client sessions!  While you’re waiting for us to make the program announcement, how will you get your BbWorld fix?

130 of us have joined the BbWorld ’08 Facebook Group!

It’s a great place to connect with your “conference friends” all over the world – and to get special BbWorld updates. 

What kind of updates, you might ask?  Well…just the other day, I asked a question in the group’s discussion board:

If you were to ask Steve Wozniak, technology industry visionary and co-founder of Apple Computer a question – what would you ask?

Why, I wonder why KJ would ask this question?  Does she know Steve Wozniak?  Is she having lunch with him next week and need conversation topics?  Or could it be because Steve Wozniak is the opening keynote speaker at BbWorld ’08?  Why yes, that’s it!! 

So seriously – what would you ask Steve?  Check out the Facebook group and leave me your comments in the discussion board.  We’ll pass your thoughts along to Mr. Wozniak as he plans his BbWorld keynote. 

So in the meantime, check out BbWorld ’08 and the Blackboard Developers Conference at www.bbworld08.com to find all the information you need to register for both events.  And come on, Facebook with us!  You can always play a little Scrabulous while you’re at it!

Recently I completed an around-the-world trip for Blackboard to visit our offices in Amsterdam and Sydney. One of the many flights I took to accomplish this journey was a flight from Budapest to Bangkok on Malev Hungarian Airlines.

It was an old plane that clearly needed some interior upgrades. The in-flight movie was Tootsie . . . in Hungarian. You can’t make this kind of stuff up. Not exactly a recent release. That experience got me thinking about staying current with the times.

My family typically makes fun of me because I hang out periodically on Second Life, use Twitter, or am daily checking my Facebook profile to see what people wrote on my wall. More than anything I do this to stay up to date with the latest technology trends.

I make these twice-annual trips to Europe and Asia for exactly that reason. I need to stay on top of what is happening in those locations in terms of staffing, operational effectiveness and any specific client issues we may be facing in those regions. Spending several days in our offices located in Amsterdam and Sydney enables me to help bring the team there up to speed on our latest products, processes and overall strategy. Visiting in-person also enables me to speak face-to-face with team members there about the overall direction of our company and Client Success initiative.

I recently spoke to a colleague at a U.S. higher ed institution, in the state of California. He and I discussed my trip, and he mentioned that one way he stays current with his faculty is by sending his instructional designers physically out to the different programs at his university to engage with faculty members. He explained to me how twice each week the Instructional Design office is actually closed, and those team members visit the different schools at the university to work one-on-one with staff members. What a great way to stay current with faculty needs . . . just showing up at their door a couple of times a week and talking with them.

When my Malev flight landed in Bangkok, the pilot thanked us passengers for flying with Malev and mentioned the airline had been awarded the designation "Best Airline in Eastern Europe" for the second year in a row. I wondered what the other airlines had as their in-flight movies.

BbWorld Commerce ’08 is now history.  I hope you were in Phoenix to participate and learn from peers and members of the Blackboard Team.  This annual event has been gathering steam and this year was the best ever.

Holding this event in Phoenix has the great advantage of enabling over 100 members of the Blackboard Team to interact directly with clients, face-to-face.  The result is better relationships and improved communication.

For me, seeing Blackboard Team members attend client presentations is as exciting as seeing clients attend Blackboard presentations.  We have a chance to learn what is happening on campuses and see how our product is being used to help deliver services to students.  Dialog often begins during a session and continues in the casual events where people gather to sit and eat and laugh.  For a few days we all share a unique educational experience that has tremendous long-term benefits to both Blackboard and all campus partners.

Our experience in 2007 helped the Blackboard Commerce Management Team drive development and content for the 2008 event.  The introductions of Blackboard Video Surveillance and the Blackboard Connect-ED product were major hits at this year’s event.  The buzz on the trade show floor and in sessions was all about these new solutions, as well as thoughts about public-facing video content and the work on Blackboard’s next-generation transaction solution.  Client support and feedback for existing product development tracks were very encouraging and will yield even more in terms of meaningful solutions over the next 12 months.

We sincerely appreciate your willingness to share your ideas and campus-based experiences.  We are committed to making this happen as frequently as possible.  The President’s Advisory Committee (PAC) is now one year old and represents one example of this commitment.  The current members are Kathy Ragan, Jeanine Brooks, Mary Goff, Brenda Hovden, John Beckwith, Patrick Bolwahnn and Jerry Swarts.  Each member participates actively with Russ Carlson and the Commerce Management Team.  Among the host of topics discussed at multiple times during the year are:

• Product direction feedback
• Campus issues of concern to clients
• User conference content review

For BbWorld Commerce ’09 we will be looking for several interested clients to fill four vacant positions on the PAC.  There will be a more formal announcement of this, but if you have interest now, please e-mail me at tbell@blackboard.com.

Special thanks to the PAC members, all of the 2008 presenters, and the BbWorld Commerce Logistics Committee, led by Kristy Bonanno, for delivering a great educational experience.

. . . they are the rule nowadays. This blog is a great example. It was last Monday when my colleague Hiromichi was writing from Japan about the cultural challenges and differences he faces on his daily activities. And this week you are reading a Spanish guy writing these lines from his favorite café in Amsterdam. Just in case you do not believe me, I am attaching a picture of the wonderful view I have from the café (sorry about the quality, I just took it with my mobile).

I am one of the more than 50,000 expats that live in the area, shaping a community of more than 150 different nationalities. In case you did not know, Blackboard’s International Headquarters are located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At the moment, we have more than 10 different nationalities populating our international headquarters. Dutch, German, Spanish, French, North American, Swedish, British, Venezuelan are just a few examples that come now to my mind. As you can see, international people are not an exception at Blackboard, they are actually the rule.

Not many people would argue against the fact that corporations and institutions compete nowadays in a global, boundary-less market. Better infrastructure, more information and especially new technologies are some of the elements that are facilitating this sort of globalization. But this international phenomenon is not just a corporate thing. The education world is also experiencing this trend.

There are many reasons why students decide to study abroad. Self-accomplishment, extended perspective on world’s problems, career enhancement, research and proficiency in other languages are probably some of the most common motivations among students. I have the pleasure of working with different institutions around the globe because of my job at Blackboard. My feeling is that this mix of international cultures is not something that just happens in some specific programs or at some exclusive business schools anymore. As an example, according to Open Doors 2006, there was an increase of 8% of U.S. students going abroad over the previous year’s report. The United States is not alone in this trend. Mobility programs in higher education like the Erasmus program in Europe have helped the growing number of European foreign students over the last seven years. It is also true that some factors such as difficult political or economic situations can definitely impact the number of students going abroad and their preferred destinations.

Preparing an institution for this new global era is not an easy task. There are so many challenges I can think of, that I will not even bother about writing them down here. However, I am a firm believer that technology is here to help us throughout this process.

So, how are you making use of technologies to support this globalization phenomenon? What are the main challenges that you have faced or you see coming in the next years? Mmm, wait. Don’t answer yet . . . Instead, why don’t you try to join us in our BbWorld Europe ’08 conference and share your best practices with hundreds of members from international institutions.

Just in case you did not know, the BbWorld Europe ’08 conference will be held this year in Manchester, UK, between the 12 and 14th of May. It is going to be a wonderful event and a great opportunity to learn new ways of enhancing students’ experiences.

I look forward to seeing you in Manchester, and, yes, if I get to see you there I will give you the details of my secret café in Amsterdam – where I took that picture of such a beautiful view.