I, for one, am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Considering how few people actually know what we do, having our profession featured so prominently in US News is an unequivocal win.
Am I surprised they didn't get it exactly right? Of course not. The people who wrote the article are not.. ahem... usability specialists, so their knowledge is going to be superficial. As far as the use of the "specialist" title, let's face it, very few titles in the usability field truly represent what that person is doing. They probably had to pick a title that was the most 'representative' of the profession. I also bet that the salary estimate includes senior people, as well as those at the manager/director level, in which case it seems appropriate. I think the intent is to represent a career in usability, not a particular job title. -eva On Dec 27, 2007 11:56 AM, W Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Your right Robert - I was so F*&^ing pissed about the use of the term > "Specialist" that I skipped over that. As I said before - in many > agency/consulting environments - Specialist means something very specific - > that is 1-4 years at the most in experience - and no masters degree with a > median salary of around 58-68K....I can just imagine another crop of kids > getting out of undergrad like they did back in 1999 with that crazy chip on > their shoulder and a sense of entitlement thinking that i they are worth a > starting salary of 65k - for no experience whatsoever... I can just see the > nightmare coming again <whine>"But US News said I deserve a median salary of > 98K"</whine> - > > "Yeah Kid - and the Tooth Fairy is real and married to Santa Claus. Here's a > quarter - go buy a clue." > > To get into the 90s - you best be fantastic - with over 8 years experience, > and a masters in HCI or a related field.... > > At least that's the market in Boston. > > > > On 12/27/07, Robert Hoekman, Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I'm most interested in these two points: > > > > 1) They said a Usability Specialist does design work. After that > > discussion > > last week, I'm surprised no one jumped on this. > > > > 2) They said the median salary is over $98,000. I don't remember any > > salary > > survey saying the median was anywhere near this high. Did I miss > > something? > > > > I have other issues with the description, but these two I think are going > > to > > cause the most trouble for someone who reads this and decides to explore > > the > > practice as a career option. > > > > -r- > > ________________________________________________________________ > > *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 > > > > > > -- > ~ will > > "Where you innovate, how you innovate, > and what you innovate are design problems" > ------------------------------------------------------- > will evans > user experience architect > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ------------------------------------------------------- > > ________________________________________________________________ > *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 > -- Eva Kaniasty http://www.linkedin.com/in/kaniasty ________________________________________________________________ *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
