On Dec 2, 2007 9:34 AM, Alexander Baxevanis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> As far as I can see, the job role is "User Researcher" and they make it quite > clear > what kind of research they will be doing (statistical analysis of some > form of analytics). Exactly. My point was that this is a job description for someone who will be analyzing data, pure and simple, abstracted away from actual users and their behaviour. So, to me, calling this position "User Researcher" is either misleading or amusing, depending on one's perspective. Since my original post was made late on a Friday afternoon, I chose the latter. :) > You can debate whether such techniques will lead > into something useful or not, but the job posting itself certainly > does not look misleading or self-contradictory. I respectfully disagree. Conferring the title of "user researcher" on someone who runs SQL queries all day is, to me, muddling and diminishing what actual user researchers do. (Note that I occasionally run SQL queries as part of my work, and have the utmost respect for people who do this for a living. I just don't think they are doing user research.) I do realize that job descriptions and divisions of labour in our field are usually far from clear. But, I think the line has to be drawn somewhere, or at some point we will start seeing janitorial services companies posting job ads for "bathroom experience planners". :) Dmitry ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
