Summary: Andrew Hinton recaps his presentation at UX Lisbon, and his and Abby Covert's podcast with UX Podcast on improving environments by getting language right.

It was my great pleasure last week to attend UX Lisbon, in beautiful Portugal, where I led a workshop based on my book, Understanding Context. The delightful attendees brought great energy to the gathering, as we learned about essential models and principles for how people perceive and figure out their contexts.

After an overview of the models and principles, we went out on foot to explore the surrounding area.

The group worked in teams, following “missions”: locate a pharmacy, and explore the information about the city’s rail systems. This meant we had the pleasure of walking around Lisbon’s beautiful Gare do Oriente train station, which contains many contextually rich wonders involving wayfinding, digital systems, and service design.

We returned to the workshop venue to do some contextual modeling and discuss among the groups. The workshop participants were really sharp folks who picked right up on how to use the models, discovering how various modes of information helped or hindered an individual “agent” attempting to understand the environment.

Later in the week, TUG alum Abby Covert and I stopped in to record an interview with the folks at UX Podcast, where we chatted about the importance of getting the language right as the “spine” of any organization, and how it enables coherent, understandable environments for customers and employees. Gee, that makes it sound awfully dry, but it was actually very informal and fun.

Thanks to Bruno Figueiredo and everyone who produced this excellent conference, now known the world over as one of the premiere learning and networking experiences among digital design folk. Highly recommended, if you ever get the chance to attend.