The inclusion of art professors, and for that matter studio or craft oriented design professors on a thesis committee or review board for interaction can be problematic. You must choose carefully, and unfortunately, a lot of politic-ing can be involved in this process. Many, many design professors (as well as designers) are only interested in the final results... specifically, how the final piece looks (i.e.: awards, annuals and other beauty pageants). This is a real problem in both academia and anything interactive. Academia is about learning. If student are to be judged by final results, then they might as well go to a trade school. Particularly at the graduate level, the thesis project should be about stretching the limits... putting you and your hypothesis out there to be tested. Failure of a hypothesis should NOT be grounds for not obtaining the degree.
Working in large complex problem solving is more often than not about coordinating and collaborating. The problems an interactive designer is asked to participate in, in the real world, are huge. These are not problems that can be simulated in whole, accurately, in the course of a 30 - 60 hour degree. Aside from that, I think expecting a designer to code a final website is silly. Must architects build the buildings they design? my 2 cents Mark On Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at 11:46PM, "Jack Moffett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I took part yesterday in a Thesis Committee meeting for a student >working on a project for her Masters degree in design. She is >designing a website with the purpose of facilitating a community for >female cancer victims. There was a fair amount of discussion >surrounding how far she must take the project to be granted the >degree. There were faculty members on the committee from other visual >arts disciplines, and they expect a thesis project to result in a >finished work of art. There was some discomfort in the suggestion that >the website would not have to be implemented and put into use for her >to complete her thesis and her degree. > >While the student very much wants to build and launch the site and is >working on getting the sponsorship/funding and collaborators with the >necessary skill sets to make it a reality, it is my own opinion that >her thesis is much more about the process she followed and what she >has learned than it is about the final artifact. I and the other >design faculty argued that as long as the design was completed >satisfactorily, she could deliver her thesis and receive her degree >before implementation has finished. > >I know that when I was working on my own Masters degree, there was no >expectation that my project would result in running software. With the >advances in web application development in recent years, and with >technologies such as Ruby on Rails and Flash making "running software" >a more accessible possibility to those without a degree in software >engineering, I wonder if expectations are increasing. > >I'd like to hear what the IxDA community thinks about it. > >Best, >Jack > > > >Jack L. Moffett >Interaction Designer >inmedius >412.459.0310 x219 >http://www.inmedius.com > > >There is no good design that is not >based on the understanding of people. > > - Stefano Marzano > CEO of Philips Design > >________________________________________________________________ >*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 > > ________________________________________________________________ *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
