While the discussion on this list about vocabulary shows that we have different views of common terms, the words you use in organizations can have powerful effects since words like "design" and "prototype" are often loaded terms (think companies where developers think that they are the "designers" and the user experience team thinks that they are "designers" and "prototypes" are viewed by the company as working code models whereas "prototypes" to the first new interaction designer fits into one of the categories that we are debating.
The debate here is among people with different experiences who view prototyping and design differently and while it may seem a bit hostile, it is useful is understanding how the groups we work with might also react to our personal definitions and might even help us think about how our view isn't the only view. Buxton made a big deal out of this topic in his book and though I disagree with him, his distinctions are still useful as are the ones revealed by our debate about the meaning of "prototype". Though, perhaps we have exhausted this for now :-). Chauncey On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Katie Albers <[email protected]> wrote: > Oh, for... > > This will probably surprise a lot of you, but I don't actually care what we > take "prototype" to mean, vs. model vs. sketch vs.... whatever. I get my > panties in a bunch when people claim a commonality of understanding of a > word, when that commonality clearly isn't extant. Hence my dictionary > definitions. They demonstrate that there are recognized definitions for > these words outside of our little sphere. The ongoing discussion illustrates > that there are not commonly held definitions for those words *inside* our > little sphere. My plea is simply that we stop using words as though we were, > individually, the final arbiters of their meaning to the community. > > There are perfectly good modifiers that can help us. For example, while some > of us may believe that to say "Paper prototype" is deeply wrong, I think we > do understand what is meant by it. Similarly, "interactive model" may appear > to be both redundant and oxymoronic, but I suspect that we would have a good > general idea of what it referred to. > > I don't mind having a professional vocabulary - I think it's a very good > idea - but the fact that we argue over its elements is ample evidence that > it doesn't exist as a commonly understood set of words. The professional > vocabulary is still shaking out. > > In the meantime, can we try to communicate our questions, comments, answers > and discussion in such a fashion that we can understand one another, rather > than scoring points off one another for word usage? > > Katie Albers > Founder & Principal Consultant > FirstThought > User Experience Strategy & Project Management > 310 356 7550 > [email protected] > > > > > > On Mar 7, 2009, at 11:54 AM, Todd Zaki Warfel wrote: > >> >> On Mar 7, 2009, at 2:48 PM, Will Evans wrote: >> >>> does it really matter what websters or the OED defines as a prototype >> >> Not sure how much Webster's definition applies, since that appears to >> focus primarily on physical object prototypes rather than software system >> prototypes. Perhaps they should update their definition. >> >> >> >> Cheers! >> >> Todd Zaki Warfel >> Principal Design Researcher >> Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. >> ---------------------------------- >> Contact Info >> Voice: (215) 825-7423 >> Email: [email protected] >> AIM: [email protected] >> Blog: http://toddwarfel.com >> Twitter: zakiwarfel >> ---------------------------------- >> In theory, theory and practice are the same. >> In practice, they are not. >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________________________________________ >> 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 > > ________________________________________________________________ > 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 > ________________________________________________________________ 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
