I've been following the frequent allusions to Google, 37signals, Facebook, et al (including Jared Spool's presentation) as evidence that UCD is somehow broken with interest. There's no debating that these products have been successful, but it is also worth considering that they are the exception, not the rule. As such, they can't be the basis for guidance towards repeatable results.
I could be wrong (*no really*!), but it seems to me that the goal of UCD is not so much to be innovative and groundbreaking but to add some degree of reliability in terms of actually creating something that meets folks' needs. I would suggest, FWIW, that innovation is nice and sometimes quite lucrative, but you can't bank on it. You have a great, innovative idea or you don't, and UCD won't deeply affect that, but that doesn't make UCD something that should be tossed out. For the *vast majority* of apps that are, I hope we all agree, not terribly innovative and yet at least have the potential to serve the needs for which they were conceived, UCD is about the most promising approach to building the right thing, the right way. Agile is a close second for those who don't have the skills/knowledge for UCD. Can you over invest? Absolutely, but abusus non tollit usum. [I tend to think that some blend of UCD with Agile is the sweet spot for most software.] As for innovation and the dreamy potential of advancing the industry towards some fanciful new future, well, most businesses can't bank on that, and even most who aspire to that will fail regardless of process or lack of process. I don't think it's wise to base an entire discipline like IxD upon such aspirations, nor is it wise to toss out process--the point of which is to provide some repeatable consistency, even if imperfect and not particularly sexy. By nature, process is not geared towards innovation but rather towards producing *reliable, repeatable* results, which is what most businesses need and want, and any sustainable profession should have the concerns, needs, and wants of business stakeholders close to heart over and above laudable, if unrealistic, dreams about the future. So I guess I don't really get the controversy. --Ambrose ________________________________________________________________ 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
