Of course you can be a great design principal, and influence the very nature
of a company. You can be a great Creative director, a great VP of user
experience, and in a design company, perhaps even a CCO or a CXO. But in a
big product company if you want to design the business, that role is owned
b
This is a great conversation. I hope that we can continue this thread
in a productive and respectful way.
I work in a team that is struggling everyday to get to what Scott is
talking about. Bridging Design, Business and Technology to find the
sweet spot with multidisciplinary teams. We have earned
Scott Berkun wrote:
>I don't care much for management - I care about power.
Scott,
Amen! Thanks for bringing clarity to this part of the discussion. I'm
going to adopt that phrase as my mantra, though it may be a silent one
for tactful purposes.
Sure, many designers do not want to manage, but th
Hi Scott,
I think I'm well known here to go half-cocked every so often. It
might be my rep from time to time. Heck I was called the "gadfly"
of the IAI list recently. I just am who I am without a lot of attempt
at pretense. I think being real helps the list and there are other
calmer voices that c
ion down.
You have significant influence over the tone of what goes on here as one of
the founders of this list - but the example you've set in this thread is not
one of wise discourse, generous/careful reading of posts, or warm
leadership.
-Scott
Scott Berkun
www.scottberkun.com
--
Scott, in response to your question as to the path I've been on in my
career, I've documented a simplified version of it in the
presentation I gave in early 2005 at the IA Summit in Montreal.
Twenty Years Of Lessons Learned
http://orbitnet.com/iasummit2005/
Companion Slides:
http://www.orbitnet.c
> Christina, I think you are over simplifying here.
> If there is anything I have learned this election season is
> that frames, rhetoric, semantics, and titles mean EVERYTHING.
> They set up the mental models from which we construct our
> world view, and they create our own self-identity from
see below
On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 12:37 PM, Scott Berkun <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> 2) "Design" is not just part of a title, it is philosophically a
>> different way of thinking about problem analysis and solving. Having
>> your title reframed to suit corporate culture may be short term effectiv
We are allowed to still discuss without it being the sum total of our existence.
I at least understand your name now.
Scott
On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 11:49 PM, Kontra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> We are more than a title.
>>
>
> One would never know from all this hair splitting over...titles.
>
>
uspect stories like yours would
be quite popular. I'd certainly read/listen.
-Scott
Scott Berkun
www.scottberkun.com
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim
Leftwich
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 4:34 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
David Malouf wrote:
1) Why is the only way up, out? Why can't we do what Luke Wroblewski
and others at Yahoo have done and go the route of the Design
Principal, the non-management role?
This is the sort of thing that's been done with engineering for at least
a couple of decades (that I know of
Christina, I think you are over simplifying here.
If there is anything I have learned this election season is that
frames, rhetoric, semantics, and titles mean EVERYTHING. They set up
the mental models from which we construct our world view, and they
create our own self-identity from which we juxt
> We are more than a title.
>
One would never know from all this hair splitting over...titles.
--
Kontra
http://counternotions.com
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED]
We never stop being designers, we just stop having the title. We are more
than a title.
On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 2:15 PM, Jim Leftwich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I think it's a mistake, and a large one, to make the
> assumption/assertion that the only way to move up or occupy a
> leadership role
What I learned over decades of consulting was that it mattered most
what level the contract came in at, in terms of how much power and
influence the resulting design (which would sometimes be done
entirely in the consulting and sometimes in conjunction with internal
developers). A contract at the
Jim,
Point taken... and a poorly worded sentence did not help. I should
have typed "it would be somewhat disingenuine to suggest that this is
anywhere close to the norm". If you are not suggesting that this is
the norm, then no need for you to be upset. In any case, there is
little need f
rong - help convince
me :)
-Scott
Scott Berkun
www.scottberkun.com
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim
Leftwich
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 2:16 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] The biggest problems
I think it's a mis
Mark, let me respectfully yet firmly disagree with you. Firstly, I
did in no way whatsoever suggest, assert, nor imply that my situation
(as one of the earliest pioneers in Interaction Design) was "close to
the norm" as you put it. In fact, if you read my post you'll
clearly see that I actually t
Jim,
I think your intention here is solid... but the reality of the work
is you have an exceptional situation. Design is NOT a highly regarded
role in most corporate environments. All well and good to encourage
designers to follow you very wise and optimistic words, but someone
disingenui
I think it's a mistake, and a large one, to make the
assumption/assertion that the only way to move up or occupy a
leadership role in a corporation or organization is to leave the
designer track for a management track. This may well be the case
with how some (to date) have made the upward transiti
So... I am going to go to the fuzzy conceptual on you Dave (I know
that you like that about me)...
in terms of what I/we/you bring to the table throughout a career:
~ tactical >>> strategic (this may be more towards the exec track)
~ experience >>> towards more breadth and versatility
~ exp
BTW, I was not talking about "getting to the table" ... I can see
what Scott and Christina are saying and I have no argument there.
What I was alluding to was entry > middle > senior (non-exec roles)
career path.
Graphic designers in advertising
Industrial designers in product design
Architects
eing VP, or a general manager of any true
product team (e.g. including engineering), of an actual product.
-Scott
Scott Berkun
www.scottberkun.com
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
Christina Wodtke
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 8:59 AM
To
here you go: http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke/paths-for-designers-ias
I think a lot of the problem is designers aren't willing to give up the
design title to move up in their career. If you are doing product strategy
for a company, you are probably a VP of product strategy not a VP of
strategic d
I think our biggest problem is lack of career path. This stems from no
formal relationship or expectations (yet) between industry and
education.
So many other problems stem from here: from what is our place inside
the organization to how to find mentoring or how to enter the
profession.
-- dave
> Each time a common set of themes emerged: organizational imbalance,
> lack of shared understanding, resource constraints, and market
> dynamics.
These apply pretty much to *all* disciplines, not just to design or its
sub-domains.
--
Kontra
http://counternotions.com
___
There was a very interesting post on Luke Wroblewski (are you reading
this, Luke?) entitled "Factors Limiting the Organizational Influence
of Design"
(http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FunctioningForm/~3/405788516/entry.asp);
His conclusions are based on his experience of presenting the
"Influencing
Aside from hate on User Centered Design, and perhaps more seriously, the
looming global economy crisis, I'm interesting in hearing what IxDAers think
are the largest problems facing the IxD practice today. Anyone have any
thoughts?
Chris
___
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