Aral Balkan

It looks like conference season is upon me again, starting with Multi-Mania next week in Belgium.

Next, I'll be speaking at Future of Web Design in London.

Scotch on the Rocks (where I'm The Joker, no less!)

And finally, you can catch me at Web Directions @media. (Sign up with the promo code BALKAN to get £100 off the full price for the conference.)

The session I'm presenting this year is called The Art of Emotional Design: A story of pleasure, joy, and delight:

Most apps suck. Making an app that doesn't suck is hard work and requires uncompromising focus. We call apps that don't suck "usable". However, in the Age of User Experience, making apps that are merely usable is no longer good enough.

So how can you go beyond making usable apps to creating exceptional experiences that evoke powerful emotions in users?

In this inspirational session, Aral will offer you an impassioned glimpse into his approach of authoring apps that people find joyful and fun; apps that people fall in love with.

Delight, story, empathy, character, voice, beauty, fun, and play are just some of the topics that will be covered and illustrated with examples from Aral's decade-long experience in authoring web, Flash, desktop, and mobile apps, including his latest top-selling iPhone app, Feathers.

Hope to see some of you during the next month – please do come by and say hello! :)