Re: [IxDA Discuss] The newest generation of IxDers and our (lack of)exposure
You asked: With that in mind I ask what are we, the new generation of designers, missing from the puzzle? Some answers: - I got into the game before there was a lot of formal training around IxD/UX. That's the reason many of us oldsters have backgrounds that are different. - What's missing from design education IMO is the writing and communication skills from typical liberal arts education. The need to communicate in writing can't be understated, even in a world of visuals. - a solid understanding of business fundamentals can't hurt. The extent to which you can empathize with business people and their quest for profits will make you more peruasive. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] The newest generation of IxDers and our (lack of) exposure
On Nov 2, 2009, at 1:14 PM, David Farkas wrote: Where will this trend of 'breeding designers since youth' take the field as opposed to our educators who found design after years of practicing in other disciplines? I too come to Interaction Design from a straight, educational path. However, I have a different perspective on this. If you look at Graphic Design, there are a lot of designers that have been bread since youth—likely more than come to it from other disciplines, although I don't have anything to back that up. I wouldn't call it a trend. I think Gretchen is right. It is simply due to IxD being a young discipline, one that touches many other areas of expertise. Best, Jack Jack L. Moffett Senior Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com There is no good design that is not based on the understanding of people. - Stefano Marzano CEO of Philips Design Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] The newest generation of IxDers and our (lack of) exposure
Worth pointing out @peterme's latest tweet: I'm always disappointed 2 get a resume from designers who went from undergrad straight 2 grad skool. The real world, ppl! Live it! I kind of agree. You can't get design judgement experience in skool. You can get lots of insight about the process and avoid the mistakes us oldsters had to make in order to learn stuff, tho. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] The newest generation of IxDers and our (lack of) exposure
On Nov 2, 2009, at 2:24 PM, Gretchen Anderson wrote: Worth pointing out @peterme's latest tweet: I'm always disappointed 2 get a resume from designers who went from undergrad straight 2 grad skool. The real world, ppl! Live it! I kind of agree. You can't get design judgement experience in skool. You can get lots of insight about the process and avoid the mistakes us oldsters had to make in order to learn stuff, tho. That's not surprising, coming from Peter. I think it is short-sighted. I went straight from undergrad to grad school because, with a degree in Graphic Design, I knew that there would be a lot more for me to learn to be able to practice Interaction Design (or design mulitmedia as I referred to it at the time). That was the right choice for me, and it worked out extremely well. The real-world experience was picked up after I graduated with my Masters. Sure, I could have delayed my IxD career a couple years to get work experience as a Graphic Designer, but I fortunately didn't have to do that. This argument is the same as formal education vs. self-taught, IxDer must have strong visual design skills vs. doesn't need them, and several others. It comes down to your own experiences, and thus your own bias. There is actually not a wrong or right way to do it. The important thing is that however you come to design, you do it well. Don't completely pre-judge someone based on their path, their degree, their school, etc. Judge them on their work and their interpersonal abilities. http://designaday.tumblr.com/post/22014905/a-few-observations Best, Jack Jack L. Moffett Senior Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like… People think it's this veneer— that the designers are handed this box and told, Make it look good! That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. - Steve Jobs Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] The newest generation of IxDers and our (lack of) exposure
David Farkas wrote: With that in mind I ask what are we, the new generation of designers, missing from the puzzle? Speaking from my experience as an engineer working with designers, history of the domain. Nobody can be an expert on everything, obviously, but you should know something about the history of the domain where you want to work. If you sell yourself as a designer in the PDA/smartphone space, it would behoove you to know how Palm helped General Magic commit business suicide or why the EO had ears that also held all the ports. Speaking as a recent student of design and thinking about my classmates, I think it's a love of a specific field (which probably gets you history of the field for free). The type nerds I met in design school spent their spare time reading about type, not playing sports. The guys (always guys :-) I knew who were into automotive design spent their free time working on cars, looking at cars, driving cars, etc. One thing I'm personally interested in is how non-designers will build toasters the way non-designers started being able to make posters after the advent of desktop publishing. As a fan of reflect on doing, I've decided to do and bought a cheap 3D FDM printer (http://www.makerbot.com) that I'm setting up and attempting to use as a normal household appliance. -- J. E. 'jet' Townsend, IDSA Designer, Fabricator, Hacker design: www.allartburns.org; hacking: www.flatline.net; HF: KG6ZVQ PGP: 0xD0D8C2E8 AC9B 0A23 C61A 1B4A 27C5 F799 A681 3C11 D0D8 C2E8 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] The newest generation of IxDers and our (lack of) exposure
@Christian, interesting that you mentioned the Target designer lines. That was actually subject of the conversation Saturday and how, regardless of success they helped bring design to the mainstream a little bit more. @Colleen, I agree wholeheartedly that a background in fields other than design is essential. I have basic development skills and it allows me to speak on level with the developers and to better understand their constraints. I want to push back a little though when you said that having a background in other fields prevents engineers from talking 'down to them'. Both design and engineering (and coding and anything else) are specialties with our own lingo. I spend a lot of my time as a designer communicating to business managers the processes and methods I am using on projects. I could be short non designers and talk down to them but I try to relate terms and methods to processes they might be more familiar with. To this point, I think it is important that engineers and developers understand that they have a specific skill set that not everyone else has. Communication is key and while its helpful for everyone to have a high level understandings of each others fields I think it is more important for the specialist of each field to remember that they are on a project because they have a certain toolbox at their disposal that everyone else doesn't grasp as well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=47176 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
