On 12/19/07, Lukeisha Carr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Would anyone say that one must have an "artsy or visually creative" knack > when pursuing "interaction" design, as apposed to "visual" design?
If that were true I'd be unemployed. : ) In other words, what do you think is the one or few talents or skills one > needs to have to be successful in the IxD arena? There are probably more than this, but here are a few off the top of my head: - You should have keen powers of observation (for observing how people do what they do) - You should have a knack for (or at least an ability to) discerning patterns in what you observe - You should be genuinely empathetic, able to put yourself in someone else's shoes. Or desk chair. Or cockpit. Etc. - You should be an excellent verbal communicator and a competent visual communicator (you don't have to be Andy Warhol, Jonathan Ive, etc., but you have to be able to get your ideas across) - You should be able to play well with others - You should be able to think logically, sequentially - You should be able to accept and be receptive to feedback Okay, so most of those are qualities rather than skills, but that's what I feel is important. And, for current IxD's out there, do you find that you are also responsible > for the "visual aesthetics" of the UI? Again, if I were I'd be getting fired right about now. I can be trusted with black, white, and shades of gray. Oh, and red. I'm good with red. I can easily communicate what I need to say within these bounds. Frankly, I would make a *hideous* visual designer. But what I do do well is to play nicely with people who *are* visual designers. I can work with them during the early stages of design to understand where they're going and communicate where I'm going. I can check in with them throughout the process. And finally, I can offer critiques on how the visual design will affect users and their interactions with the system. In this situation, everyone focuses on their area of expertise, which in my experience leads to some really great products. So to address your question more directly, what I'm responsible for visually is that the visual design facilitates rather than impedes the use of the system. - Fred ________________________________________________________________ *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
