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We would like to invest in a couple of our team members to give them training in UX and GUI design.

I realize UX is a fresh and rapidly changing field, which is why I'm hoping to get some advice from people who are immersed in it - hence the post here. Can anyone please recommend some leading-edge resources for training - courses, UX design conferences, etc

--- Update: I wanted to clarify something after looking at some of the training/conferences recommended in the replies below - our company is building a SAS rich analytic application - some of the feedback has been for more general website and information architecture usability training, which I believe might not be the correct focus.

--- Update 2: As far as conferences go, a few seem to stand out: 1. UX London 2. UI16 3. NN/g Usability Week

UX London might be hard to justify with the extra flight costs from Vancouver, Canada; would you recommend anyone of those over the other for best training and return on investment?

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ux london looks good as does alistapart.

NNgroup I went to a few weeks ago and here's what I posted in meta:

"I attended mobile user experience 1 and 2 on Sept 29 and 30.

My expectations: to learn detailed mobile design guidelines and what academic research backed up those guidelines; psychological principles of mobile UX.

Verdict: While I learned some interesting new things, my general impression was that this was a very basic course, surprisingly so. The first seminar tended to veer into general usability which was incredibly frustrating and not appropriate. The second day was better but still covered common UX themes.

Who should attend this course: non UX staff who would like to know basic UX principles for mobile design

Who should not attend this course: Individuals with background and experience in UX"

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    I certainly think UX London looks very good and have spent my hard earned cash on a ticket for this! The Seattle Event Apart is not so far from you (if you actually are in Vancouver?) and has Luke Wroblewski giving a full day course on mobile/responsive/flexible web design and I've heard only good things about his ideas in this field.
    – Roger Attrill
    Oct 20, 2011 at 9:25
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    luke W is real good. he's presenting at UX london too. Wish I could make it :(
    – colmcq
    Oct 20, 2011 at 9:32
  • Hey! You forgot to mention that you met some aaaawesome people! ;-P
    – Phil
    Oct 20, 2011 at 13:41
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    I really wanted to but not relevant to the question. But I did meet some really awesome people! And Phil. heh.
    – colmcq
    Oct 20, 2011 at 13:47
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http://www.nngroup.com/events/

Haven't been there myself but would love to!

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You might check out some of the UIE events and resources:

  • User Interface 16 Conference - Boston, MA - November 7–9, 2011 - SIGN UP BY NOV. 4 FOR $1,949. It's a bit pricey and far away, but you are unlikely to find an event with more accomplished speaker/educators. (Wish I could go - blew my conference budget on EyeO)

  • Their virtual seminars (a mix of webinars and recorded seminar presentations) might be a more affordable / flexible way to get your folks some ad hoc UX exposure.

  • Keep your eye open for local events - around Minneapolis we have several organizations that host speakers and workshops sporadically (@Jared Spool did a nice talk on Amazon last year at a free UPA MN chat).

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  • Would you recommend UI16 over NN/g usability group?
    – Wild Coast
    Oct 21, 2011 at 22:11
  • Haven't been to either :( (doesn't stop me from opining, though, apparently). I'm familiar with many of the speakers from UI16 from books, podcasts etc. I'd heed @colmcq 's advice, though. I suspect UI16 will be a deeper dive - their seminars are fairly focused in scope.
    – peteorpeter
    Oct 24, 2011 at 14:54
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Check out the UXMarathon. It's online, and starts next week. It was free back in 2009, but now it's about 80 euro/webinar.

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