What a great thread! This is one of the best "definitional" threads of the last year.
Andrei, I think your articulation of the situation is both brilliant and off. It is brilliant in that it is open for answers, and tries to give clear choices. It is off in that it assumes that these are the only two choices, and that they are somehow in contradiction with each other. It is hard to know where to begin, b/c as we all know this is a very complex problem. There are so many insertion points (some outlined in this thread). I'd like to take on a piece of what Andrei keys in on with our conversations and it is the notion of being "technology agnostic". ... I believe that as interaction designers who are interested in the design of behaviors we can apply our skills to many different arenas where the behaviors and interactions between humans and products and humans and systems and well products/systems with other products/systems and humans with other humans take place. That being said, our bread and butter, our roots, our strength, our nexus ... blah blah blah, is in the realm of the digital. However, I do not believe that "digital" is equal to "software". If there is silicon in the system creating further complexity through algorithms then we have an important role. So I'm not sure this is "agnostic" or not. I like to think of all designers as "technology agnostic" in so far as we design without thought of technology to start, and then design towards technology, not as a skill, but as a constraint in the design environment (this is probably true of all designers). Separation of presentation from behavior is the other big issue (and Charlie jumps in on the band wagon here). ... How many people are just builders? There are some people of Bob Vila's classification (sorry for the US-centric reference) that do it all--plumbing, electrical, dry-wall, carpentry, painting, foundations, roofs, flooring, windows, appliances, interior design, architecture, engineering, etc.? I think you all see where I'm going here. While there are a few Bob the Builders out there, it is not our expectation that we work this way. I mean I can't really think of a house with doors and windows and flooring, but does every builder/contractor have to be able to do their own flooring? Of course not. They hire our many skills (technical and aesthetic) as they require them. I see my role as an interaction designer, to design behaviors. To Charlie's point, can I do that w/o visual design skills? I think the Interaction08 conference had amazing examples of people who do the behaviors, the story, the interactions and do it well for their clients and product owners every day, with success. I'm not referring to wireframe jockeys, but rather behavioral designers, who understand the aesthetic frameworks that come from designing aesthetics, calling out a message, and guiding the presentation of products and systems. Does this mean that everyone is an interaction designer. Hell NO!!! Just b/c you practice interaction design doesn't mean that you ARE an interaction designer. Well, you can if you want. but you could also be a user experience designer, interface designer, interactive designer, industrial designer, architect, business analyst, etc. Or you can be an interaction designer. >From the very beginning of this organization--I think it was Josh Seiden who strongly encouraged this direction--we said that IxDA was going to be about a discipline that its members practice, and not about the people themselves. In this way we can have interface designers, IAs, product designers and heck even a few interaction designers and be inclusive. (It is so funny that you think I'm trying to be exclusive in my conversations.) BUT ... and this is the clincher. Doing this is all well and good, but if you can't galvanize a clear message (Thanx Liz) around it, you might have to re-think the strategy and the associated tactics. I think that IxDA has done well for itself. With nearly 6000+ subscribed! on THIS list, and who knows how many more using the web site. AND 2000+ folks who are on the announcement list, It is clear that we are messaging something out that is resonating with people. What exactly that nuggets is? To be honest, I don't really know. Andrei, I think of you as a surgeon, who is looking for the surgeons organization among the doctors' organization. You practice surgery, which means you practice medicine, but you only practice a small part of medicine and you want your part to define all of medicine. Ok, it is nearly midnight and I know i didn't pull together a coherent or cogent point in all this, but I actually don't think i can any more. And our website doesn't have a "save as draft" functionality. So I'm going to send now. :) Nighty night folks! -- dave ________________________________________________________________ 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
