I've never before heard of "functional design" or "functional
designer". On the other hand I have for many years, and in multiple
companies, used the terms "functional specification" and "user
interface specification" (among others) for important design process
documents, on both hardware and software products.
To me there's a very important distinction between these two
documents: The functional spec defines WHAT you want the product to
accomplish (what it's functionality is), and the UI spec defines
(from the user's standpoint) HOW it accomplishes it (how it's
functionality is presented).
To give a trivial example, the functional spec might say "the product
shall provide a way for the user to choose one of the following
colors: red, green, yellow, orange, blue". And the UI spec,
depending on the overall design approach for the product, might
specify the use of a pop-up menu, a voice command, the pressing of
the keyboard keys "1" to "5" to correspond to the colors in a given
order, etc.
A big, recurring problem I've had through the years is that the
people who were defining the functionality (often Marketing) would
often state functionality in the form of a UI design ("the colors
shall be chosen through a floating palette of colored squares"), and
then would keep that image in their minds throughout the project --
even when it was clearly inappropriate to the ultimate UI needs.
As an aside, it also turns out to be very difficult (and thus a skill
unto itself) to describe the desired functionality (for the
functional spec) without expressing it in a concrete form (which is
the role of the UI spec).
In practice, as a freelance user interface architect I often end up
writing both kinds of specs for clients, in which case I'm able to
maintain the distinction between "what do you want it to do?"
(functional) and "is this a good way to do it?" (UI). And I must
say, it's very good to get clarity on the first before spending too
much time on the second.
I don't know if there are contexts in which the role "functional
designer" is necessary, but I do feel uncomfortable equating
"functional "design with "user interface" or "interaction" design.
My two cents,
Bill
--
======================================================================
Bill Fernandez * User Interface Architect * Bill Fernandez Design
(505) 346-3080 * bf_list1 AT billfernandez DOT com *
http://billfernandez.com
======================================================================
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