Part 1 of 2 I see Liz' UX Sundial not so much as trying to "encompass" (or "contain") engineering and marketing, as showing overlapping aspects, which do exist (and in different ratios among individuals, teams, projects, etc.).
An approach which shows UX not as a discipline, per se, but rather a center of gravity among a number of overlapping disciplines has always seemed sensible to me. I also concur with Steve Baty that Product/Industrial Design and traditional building Architecture (and its many forms) should also be included, and I would imagine that Liz would agree with that as well (not to speak for her, of course). I haven't weighed in on this entire topic post-IA Summit, and wasn't there in Memphis to hear Jesse James Garrett speak, but I think I can understand where he was going with his talk. User Experience, or UX, is a good label for the center of intent/pursuit among numerous, interrelated, and varyingly applied disciplines, activities, and concerns that comprise evironmental, product, software, service, and system design and development. My first reaction (second hand) was that if one was going to go ahead and roll up all of this into "User Experience" that one might as well just go for the next logical step and admit that when all is said and done, it's all just Design. Or Architecture. I don't think anyone could say that the fields of Architecture, Graphic Design, and Industrial/Product Design have not long been involved in supporting and shaping the experiences of those living in, looking at, or using their end results. From the first time somebody shaped an raw rock into something that could be more comfortably wielded by the human hand, User Experience was part of the intent or concern. Today our environments, buildings, products, machines, software, devices, and intertwined systems and services have grown in complexity and the result has been a burgeoning and growing field of people who play a wide range of roles in development and optimization of all of the many important associated success factors. Among these have emerged several disciplines that are more focused on the aspects that impact end users, and we're all familiar with these - human factors, ergonomics, interaction design, information architecture, usability, user research, and so on. These overlap with other displines such as Architecture, Graphic/Media Design, Industrial/Product Design, Technical Writing, etc., many of which have long had large components of these concerns already integrated into their disciplines. And then overlapping further Product Marketing, Technology and Core Engineering, and Business goals and strategies. It's because of this complex topology of concerns, intent, disciplines, and dynamic practice that the endless discussions about "who are we" and "what is it that we do" and "what do I call myself" emerge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=40789 ________________________________________________________________ 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
