Hi all, I work in-house as an interaction designer in a technical industry. I am a senior employee. The company has a massive customer base, and lack of design is their core problem. I am the interaction designer, and there is a visual designer I hire on contract. This year, I have laid out full design plans for next generation products to be made until 2010.
I'm now told that they are *"changing their philosophy."* They want to work in a more "agile" fashion with all developers doing the design and working with customers. I don't believe that. I am sure they want to downsize by 1. They are targeting cost-savings with a designer versus a developer, as they are in a build-it phase and not a heavy design phase for at least 2 years. Get this. They have offered me a job as an entry level developer bug fixing an older product (which I also designed), not even for the new generation products. I last did software programming 8 years ago. Interaction designer to entry level developer. This is constructive dismissal (the legal term for the switcheroo). They want me to quit (well duh, but it took me a while to believe this since I wouldn't in a million years fire me or someone like me :)) I find this unreal because - product managers are fully planning to use my design plans for the forseeable future (2 years) , so their "philosophy change" is patently a lie - I never thought I'd have to argue that design is a specialized skillset to the company that desperately wanted these skills - I was consciously trading benefits of being an entrepreneur for the stability of in-house work (albeit with less pay) What am I looking for? - Advice from someone who has dealt with constructive dismissal or with such a situation. - Advice on how I might "proove" that interaction design and developer is not the same role if this ever gets to court. My employer may argued that interaction design is just the upfront part of coding so it is a realistic job change. thanks, Norman ________________________________________________________________ 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
