Jeff LeBlanc
Jeff is Director of Solutions Engineering for ICS. With a degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (where he's also an adjunct professor) and experience running UX teams, he is an expert at bridging the gap between design and development. What makes his day? Applying human factors principles to UX design. Oh, and 3D-printing a wearable Iron Man suit.
Articles by Author
Lighting Up the Internet of Things
Monday, October 19, 2015 - 15:12 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • Internet of Things, IoT, UX, User Experience
Here at ICS, we've been working with IoT technology for some time now, and it's been very exciting work.
The T in a Great UX Design Team: Generalists, Specialists and T-Shaped People
Monday, September 14, 2015 - 14:59 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • UX, UX design team, user research, User testing
For a UX designer, there is a wide (and not fully agreed upon) list of possible skills one could have: user research, user testing, ethnography, interaction design, wireframing, sketching, information architecture and visual design are only some of them.
There Is No Magic Here
Monday, August 24, 2015 - 12:15 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • User Experience, technology, software projects, UX
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke
If You Can Dream It, We Can Design AND Build It
Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - 19:08 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • User Experience, UX, interactive devices, Design, engineers
One of the challenges to creating effecting and engaging User Experiences (UX) for interactive devices is balancing the creative aspect with the functional. Talented visual designers can create amazing works in Photoshop, some of which make even experienced software engineers cringe when it comes to having to implement them. Knowing the capabilities of your development team can be critical when trying to make the right decisions in the early phases of a design effort.
Solving Problems is Often a Matter of Perspective
Monday, July 27, 2015 - 14:13 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • developers, designers, user experience design, UX
Before getting the opportunity to run a design team, I worked as a Qt developer and trainer for many years. This has given me some insights into the development pipeline that I think a lot of people have missed.
It’s All About the (Customer) Experience
Thursday, April 9, 2015 - 11:52 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • Customer Experience, touch-enabled devices, digital signage, retail, UX
“The Times They Are a Changin’” – Bob Dylan, 1964 How many of you have noticed a change in the buying behavior of consumers today? As Bob Dylan so aptly stated more than 50 years ago when major disruptive social change was occurring, change comes with a force that shakes the walls and windows. The times, they are indeed changing. And for everyone in retail today, times they are a changin’ yet again. View the Its All About The Customer Experience On-Demand Webinar
Leading Products Lead with UX
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - 12:56 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • The Business of UX 2014, User Experience, UX, product development, customer-focused, Design, Steve Jobs
Join us for The Business of UX 2014 in San Francisco If you are in San Francisco Nov 6, 2014, please join us for The Business of UX 2014 Summit . This event is a one-day opportunity for product and engineering management professionals to connect and learn about the business impact of UX on your product development. We will have expert speakers and panelists and real-world examples of how leading products really do lead with UX first. Register before Oct 31 and save.
Crossing Domains: Patterns of User Experience
Monday, May 12, 2014 - 11:28 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • UX, User Experience, Design Patterns, ROI of UX Design
What’s One Extra Click? The Cost of Ignoring the User Experience
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - 10:11 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • User Experience
Of Cars and Connectivity: The Next Generation of (IVI) In Vehicle Infotainment
Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 14:25 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • Infotainment Systems, UX, Connected Car, CES, Smartphone, IVI
The area of IVI, or more generally the Connected Car (mirrorlink.com)(1), seems poised to be a hot market for 2014 and beyond.
Design at DevDays
Monday, November 18, 2013 - 14:59 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • UX
Welcome to the post Qt DevDays 2013 edition of the UX Blog. I suspect that many of you who follow this blog also attended DevDays and I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did. I met a lot of great people, saw some interesting demos and presentations and even gave a few talks that seemed to hold people’s attention for the full time slot. All in all, a pretty great week.
The 30 Second Impression
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 17:44 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • UX
What can you do in 30 seconds? Well, according to Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, one thing you can do is lose a potential user of your application. If your application doesn't grab the interest of a potential user in 30 seconds, they may move on. It’s the user experience that generates that crucial emotional reaction to your software, not the other pieces.
Perception is Everything
Monday, August 12, 2013 - 17:06 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc • UX, Intel, Jarvis, Voice Recognition
Summer is rolling right along, and so are the attempts to simulate some of Tony Stark’s lifestyle here at ICS. A while back, I wrote about trying to create our own version of Jarvis here at ICS. We got a fair distance and demonstrated our results during the ICS QuickStarts earlier in the year. Jarvis was a bit twitchy even so, overall he performed well.
Keeping Up to Date (Whether You Like It or Not)
Monday, July 1, 2013 - 11:47 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
June is usually one of my favorite months. Summer is starting, the bugs are clearing out and vacations are upon us; it’s a generally nice time of year. This year however, apparently several of my electronic devices are in collusion to change that.
Let Me Talk to My Agent
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 - 16:47 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
A while back, I mused about the magic of Hollywood, specifically the user interfaces in last summer’s blockbuster movies. Besides prepping for this year’s ICS QuickStart series, I’ve had time to catch some of this year’s crop of movies too. It’s only May and we’ve seen a few good Sci-Fi tent-pole movies. Even better, there have been some good UI tidbits to observe in them.
Going Mobile
Thursday, May 2, 2013 - 11:30 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
Here is a piece of advice for both developers and designers that come from the words of Wilfred Hansen: Know Thy User. Many developers make the critical mistake of thinking they are developing for the user, when in fact they are developing for themselves. Does your target customer share your technical or cultural background? What about their demographics – Are they the same age and gender? Do they share your goals and motivations? If you cannot answer these basic questions, you may very well be creating the wrong product for your customer!
Inspirational Design: The UX of Hollywood
Friday, April 12, 2013 - 07:55 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
Join me for a UX webinar—Introduction to UX Design for Engineers—on March 21 at 1:00 EDT. Space is limited, so register here today.
Lean UX and Agile Development: Not So Different After All
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - 10:57 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year so far. Our winter wonderland here in New England is underway -- the seasons seem to move quickly and although winter has its finer points… the warmer weather will be welcomed when it arrives.
Welcome to the ICS UX Blog
Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 13:48 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
To kick us off, Jeff LeBlanc, Senior Qt Consultant and UX Engineer, talks about his unique perspective on User Experience design coming from a background in engineering.
User Interface vs User Experience
Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 13:47 "> • By Jeff LeBlanc •
Update >> Missed the live webinar? No worries, you can watch the recording online on our site by clicking the image to the left.