RED obviously exists and obviously works; look at any top designer and how they work. But the key is in the word "expert". An expert is someone whose knowledge base in a domain is so broad and deep, and who has had so much practical experience in the domain that they have internalized sets of rules so that they become second nature-- so that their solutions seem to come from pure intuition. "Seem" being the operative word. I prefer "RED" to "genius design" for just this reason: "Genius" implies innate talent that is hard to define and to which impossible to chart a clear path. Expertise comes with deep immersion and long experience in a domain (or several domains), and many successful-- and even unsuccessful-- iterations.
Back in the 80's when Expert Systems were the hot property in AI research, it was believed that by codifying the internal rules that experts had accumulated, automated systems could be "taught" to provide a moderate to high level of expertise. But one of the serious problems expert systems architects encountered was that these internal rules had become so internalized, that experts could no longer easily articulate them to interviewers; they had become second nature, and processed at a pre-verbal level in the experts' minds. Therefore, I don't believe that RED is a method or a practice or philosophy the typical sense. Rather, it is the natural result of becoming a master of our profession. In the case of interaction design, a would posit that RED requires not only an expertise in the techniques and methods of IxD and associated disciplines, but probably also a level of experience in a cloud of product/service domains AND a natural facility at quickly mapping new domains to previous/analogous problem spaces. But to call it a method is I believe false; to me it is the internalization of other methods and many successes and failures at applying those methods over the course of time. I do agree that it is in consulting that designers are more likely to obtain the skills and experiences they need to be able to perform RED, since it is only in consulting that so wide a variety of domains can be encountered in a relatively short span of time, and where speed to high quality solution is placed at such a high premium. Robert. Robert Reimann IxDA Seattle Associate Creative Director frog design Seattle, WA On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Jim Leftwich <[email protected]> wrote: > In response to Dave Malouf's questions (Part 3 of 3): > > Q: > Is anyone else besides yourself using this term? > > A: > I created the term "Rapid Expert Design" (RED) in order to better > frame a particular kind of design philosophy and approach. I find it > more generic and free of potentially misleading connotations than > other terms I've used in the past, such as "Special Forces > Design." > > Though I've intended for many years to eventually try to recap what > I've learned, it's been in response to what I've seen as > problematically framed terms and descriptions such as "genius > design" that have prompted me to begin this dialog. I would hope > that others add their experiences and perspectives. > > Q: > Would you consider maybe sitting at a lunch table at @interaction09 > next week (Is it NEXT WEEK?!?!) with those of us interested to learn > more about RED? > > A: > Absolutely! One of the reasons I wanted to bring this up now is to > create a seed of discussion for next week's Interaction09 in > Vancouver. I'm very much looking forward to many enlivened and > excellent discussions with others throughout the conference. We had > spectacular discussions last year and I expect this year to be even > better. > > In fact, I'd suggest to those independent designers and consultants > out there that would like to discuss these issues with many others in > the field, that coming to Interaction09 is definitely something > you'll want to do. I remember how I felt about conferences back > when I was a sole consultant, and often felt I couldn't justify the > expense and time. But Interaction09, like last year's conference, > is different. We're an association built on discussions and > dialogs, and these are among the most important activities at our > events. > > Q: > Last question, is your abbreviation in any way tied to the one.org > RED campaign? (ONE.org Stop poverty and disease around the world!) > > InspiRED! > > A: > No, it just happened to be the acronym that popped up. I do like the > connotations of RED though - hot, urgent response, etc.. > > ________________________________________________________________ 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
