Great topic, Martin. From the early 1980s on, I've known a few really great Interaction Designers that had been, and still were, Technical Writers. I think Robert brings up one of the reasons writers can make great Interaction Designers - their storytelling and narrative skills. I've also met filmmakers that were really good at Interaction Design.
Probably because I was educated as a broad-based Designer (graphic, communication, product, environmental), the idea of maintaining a portfolio of my development work, (ideation, drafting, developmental storyboards, flows, prototypes), and extensive final outcome documentation was always stressed as a key part of one's work. From the very beginning of my career, my ever-growing portfolio was always how I leveraged bigger, more complex, and more diverse projects. I've always favored organizing and binding my work. Most of my projects have yielded several 1" - 2" bound books, which I've created laminated covers for. With these I'm able to present whole projects from ideation through iterative development and refinement, and the final specification documents (flows, screens, resources, etc.), and the resulting products and/or software that was built/implemented. Over time, this can become quite a collection. I have a few snapshots from some of these many projects collected here: http://www.orbitnet.com/iasummit2005/iasummit2005.html When going to meet a potential client, I generally will bring along a collection of project documentation that may be similar or complimentary in nature to the field of the potential project. Clients can then better see the whole process, scope, and complexity of what goes into Interaction Design. They can see the flows and interrelational architecture of function and usage, and most importantly (I feel) - the great differences and diversity that exists between different types of products, software, and systems. They can see that every project is unique, and has unique needs, patterns, and paths to successful solutions. Being able to show this, more than anything I could ever say about my philosophy or processes, has led to my being able to successfully sell my design consulting across a wide range of projects. I would strongly encourage all designers, and particularly young designers to begin putting in that extra time to document your work, processes, iterations, and outcomes. It will provide more respect and confidence among those who could use your services than anything else. And it will also serve as examples for you to draw on in the future, as well as your collaborators, your colleagues, and the field as a whole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=25702 ________________________________________________________________ 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
