Matthew :"what if your product has existing features? existing customers that expect those features? stakeholders that have been promised certain things? how would you apply some of what we learned to that situation?"
First off, very nice to meet so many in person. And in addition to all the recognition already given I'd like to give a nod to the organisations who recognise the value of the IxDA and who stepped up to sponsor the event: http://interaction08.ixda.org/sponsors.php To your question Matt. In my mind, to apply some of what we learned we need to understand some of the problems. Let me point you to this high level breakdown of contributors & stake holders http://tinyurl.com/29ndhr http://www.xconomy.com/2007/12/10/who-and-who-not-to-hire-a-napkin-sketch-from-xconomist-bill-aulet/hiring-strategy-napkin-sketch/ The article goes on to state that the high achievers who aren't aligned with company values are an extremely destructive force in a company. Destructive yes, but in my experience they're are often rewarded on time to market, so the organisation is ultimately at fault. My thinking in reference to Alan's call to arms is that if you're going to change a designed process, you need to understand the process users motivation. A loose transference of some UCD methodology. In my observations it seems to me that the feedback loop of customer response to products post-ship is often not as strong as it could be. Often, one part of the organisation is left mopping up the mess created by another. This is caused by a conflict in motivation drivers from the organisation. So, while I agree with the thinking behind "4. Since business management does not recognize the importance of this (time-to versus best-to market), it is up to the interaction designers to begin the organizational change process. We would accomplish this by striking an alliance with the programmers who will value us as fellow craftspeople. This alliance would help transform the way products are developed." In my situation, enabling the feedback mechanism that will educate & enlighten Marketing & Management is going to be a lot more achievable than working with engineers (who have been outsourced in my case). Also, in my harsh reality.. a Craftsperson's Union will only widen the chasm and potentially cause further disconnect between those aligned with customer's needs and those who are rewarded by meeting ship dates. I'm actively working on a project to enable this, but I'm not in a position to discuss the details. What I can say is that it involves rewarding Management and Marketing for their engagement with users of the products they ship. I would very much like to discuss with people who have setup similar initiatives and the issues they encountered. Many thanks - pauric ________________________________________________________________ *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
