Are we still talking about this? *1.) Job Definitions** * IA and IxD are but SOME of the things I do with regard to my work. It doesn't define who I am.
*Based on personal experience, most people outside our field don't care what it's called. They just want ROI based on their expectations. *You may have a different experience than I, but this is what I've seen. I would love to hear from others that have had experiences differerent from mine.* * Working directly with senior executives at a corporate level has shown me that what matters to them is the bottom line. "If I invest in this user experience stuff, how will it improve our revenues?" It really doesn't matter what you are called or call yourself (I for one have a ridiculously long title at work, but it's pretty much for a business card and classification in the company's hierarchy), all that matters is that you do good work. Nobody cares about your title, it's how much ass you can kick! There is no doubt though that we need to be better at educating those outside our field of practice. For the record, I always refer to our community as the "Design Community", because ultimately, that what we do - we contribute (or at least try to) to designing better experiences. Leading me to... * **2.) Communities *Our community is fine. A lot of the people that have become active participants are doing a lot of work behind the scenes to bring us closer together. it doesn't mean we have to be wrapped under a big umbrella. Big government doesn't work. Ask any municipality that has recently gone through amalgamation. Increase in taxes, loss of services. Proof = Steve Baty & co. with the UXBookclub. One idea that has propagated around the world and is an org agnostic community of people that get together and discuss UX books. WOW! AND there is more going on behind the scenes with collaboration between not only IAI and IxDA, but other groups as well -> recent collaboration in Toronto between UXIrregulars / IxDATO / AgileTO / TORCHI and more to come. I don't believe for a second that we are divided, in fact, we are coming together to learn from others - that is the beauty of having multiple communities (or tribes even) within a global community. Former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark said "Canada is a community of communities." I see the same under the UX community as a whole. Personally, I will go to a conference if there is value. I don't want to go to a conference for the sake of going to a conference. I like smaller conferences, it's much more intimate and I can target the people I want to talk to instead of a clusterfuck of a conference and only spending a few minutes with each friend. Big doesn't always necessarily mean better. I would rather go to a couple of really good conferences that complement each other. What we DO need is more people getting involved in our organizations and not simply lurk or look into the window from outside. I can only speak for the IAI and the IxDA; others can attest to CHI, UPA, etc. Your experience is what you make it. If you want to listen to people trying to make "land grabs", power to ya! If you want to participate and become part of a movement to not only make our field of practice better, but make us better as a group and individually - you will be welcomed with open arms (well, most orgs anyway). Let's work together in making our community even better than bother with discussions on definitions and territorial disputes. I apologize in advance for offending anyone. I do tend to get emotional about these things. Oh, and you are coming to IDEA09 in Toronto and Interaction10 in Savannah aren't you? These are shaping up to be two amazing conferences! #shamelessplug -- Mario Bourque Web: www.mariobourque.com Email: [email protected] Twitter: www.twitter.com/mariobourque ________________________________________________________________ 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
