I agree with the criticisms about this job listing, and about the silliness of a (non-Superman) "UX" person who's asked to spend their time in implementation.
There are several very different potential uses for a technical background/knowledge, though: 1) Communicate with developers -- via prototypes, sample/pseudo-code, or just knowing the terminology. 2) Recognize technical capabilities/limitations (and their time/schedule implications). Call BS when appropriate, alter the design when truly necessary. 3) Do the code yourself. Be a developer at various times for various reasons. I imagine few people would have an issue with applying technical knowledge towards communication (#1), and it seems pretty clear that production code shouldn't be part of a UX or IxD position (#3) except in special cases. In my experience, recognizing or acting on technical capabilities/limitations (#2) seems to be something of a two-sided sword, however: it can be applied as a means to achieving better UX, but it's precariously close to the cliff of "thinking about code". Much like heuristics or usability testing can be applied towards creating better design, but could lead to "focusing on solution attributes" in careless or inexperienced hands. I believe this boils down to whether thinking on technical details is applied on the behalf of UX (as a means to an end), or pursued as the end result in itself (as in most production code). ANY activity or artifact can be either a means or an end. It's up to the designer (and, ideally, their manager) to ensure that UX is always the end, and that any supporting activities -- even those that involve code -- are applied as means to that end. ~Steven Pautz former developer now seeking IxD/UX work ;-) ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
