Chauncey Wilson > > Here is another prediction: > Growing frustration about the continuing splitting of communities (IA, UX, information design, HF, UI design, usability, CHI, IxDA,) results in the merging or re-integration of communities.
I wish you were right but I don't think so. We're all still very tiny groups (the biggest is only a few thousand), and there are few barriers to setting up another group. If someone feels that a particular group isn't precisely right for their particular interests then it's easy to use any of the many social networking and other methods to set up a new one. It's only when you see a professional group get pretty big that the advantages of staying in it, but with slightly different interests, start to outweigh the benefits of a group that's 'just right'. My estimate: at least 10,000. Then what happens is that you get SIGs setting up - within the bigger grouping. And indeed: closing down again, as interests change. Even IEEE, one of the biggest there is at over 300,000, has a stable of specialist groups that changes somewhat. Some of those groups are themselves bigger than the whole UX community put together. Finally, what does it matter? One of the joys of the internet is that people with highly specific interests can find each other. Forms specialists, say. Best Caroline Jarrett ________________________________________________________________ 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
