What a GREAT conversation. Angel, I'm sorry if for some reason you are feeling dissed in any way. I think I've said it before. I have 15 years of experience with no degree. Sit me in a room with anyone with a degree as a designer I can hold my own pretty well, I think. However, I also know when I'm licked as well. I also know very clearly what my and my peers limitations and advancements are as well. Being self-critical is an important tool in our world.
I don't know you, or your background in any way at all. I know many on this list pretty well, but on this thread you are someone whom I think I know the least about, so it will always be hard to have a discussion like this one w/o steppin' on toes. So I'm sorry if you feel dissed. First off, I never said that today I would never hire anyone without a degree as an interaction designer. To me that is ludicrous for no other reason except well there is ONE program that even acknowledges IxD (I don't care about HCI and IA; I think I've said that before) as even a minor in any design school/program around the US. Thus if I ever have a hope in heck of hiring anyone I gotta be more open, right? What I did say is that I probably wouldn't hire a junior industrial designer without a degree in industrial design (product design, design engineering, or its other synonyms). Why? because there are a HUGE number of programs churning out great people and and the programs out there are so well respected and compete with each other at such a high level that it created a system whereby a degree is more than a piece of paper. Basically industry and education have had about 75 years of putting together programs and creating relationships whereby they have some trust. Is it perfect? G-d no! But it works pretty darn well. I was hypothesizing that due to the intricacies of interaction design that I see a future about 10 - 20 years from now where I see a similar ecosystem for IxD. I also want to point out, while rare there are good Industrial Designers out there who found their way into 3D form design through serendipity of other work experiences and have created valuable and professional portfolios. Usually these people would be hired at the middle or senior level where "degrees" are less important, as your WORK speaks much louder volumes. Though I could imagine there are corporate cultures out there that might put up road blocks and well that is there problem. Notice I separated the hiring practice of junior from mid > senior. This is an important distinction. I have, noticed to Jon Kolko's point that we need to have a system of both undergrad and graduate education, that right now bachelor education at least in the US is all but ignored for IxD. There isn't a single major that I know of in any design school and only the one Minor that Jon himself helped to create. Jon's other point is about need. There is more work than there are worthy interaction designers. And I think he was saying and I'll say it for myself here, that if we don't create an ecosystem of education that creates competent Jurnior talent quickly and a professional culture that allows for growth from junior through to senior management we will be in very deep trouble. There are many ways to start doing this, but we need to move forward. I am feeling from some who are arguing against degree need, that they are also arguing against degrees for anyone. No one has said that, but it often feels that the argument is being taken into that extreme. I am not arguing for requiring degrees, but rather an eco-system of education (not just academic/institutional, btw) that helps us address the important needs we are facing. I would argue that purely organic growth like we have done for the first 2 decades of digital product design is not sustainable, so no matter how comfortable or uncomfortable you are with institutional education, we need some, and we also need new inventive but intentionally designed options as well. -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=30391 ________________________________________________________________ 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
