Jumping back to what Will said:
curriculum development is going to happen with or without us (the
community of IxDA) - so we can either lead, follow, or shut the F* up.
I think it would be great if IxDA came up with a proposed curriculum
that could be used by schools to build new offerings in
I don't want to complicate things more than they already are.
I'm an Interaction Designer (have been for only about a year and a
half now) and what brought me here was a combination of two of my
passions: technology and psych.
I'm currently working towards a PhD in Psychology, and I see the
Perhaps it is this very preference for cranking out designs that has
limited the advancement of the field of design? There are, no doubt, firms
with this preference, and firms who aspire advance the field. The design
field no doubt requires both.
And it's Prima donna. ;)
Sean
On Fri, Jun 20,
There's a brief post on Google's Usability Lab over at TechCrunch. Not a
lot of info, but in case anyone is interested:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/22/a-peak-inside-googles-usability-lab/
--
adam connor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
twitter.com/adamconnor
On Jun 22, 2008, at 9:35 AM, Adam Connor wrote:
here's a brief post on Google's Usability Lab over at TechCrunch.
Not a lot of info, but in case anyone is interested:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/22/a-peak-inside-googles-usability-lab/
Yah, this is just one lab.
There's several.
Hi folks,
Following up on the recent thread about higher degrees in design and such, I
find myself very curious to know about how current or past research/higher
degrees have already advanced interaction design. Do you all have any
examples of, e.g., dissertations, theses, acadmic projects, or
Cool. Are you able to share any information with us Jared? Are all of
the setups similar?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=30511
Dan,
What do you see included in in the Undergrad, Year 2 - Information
Design and Visualization course?
The reason I ask is that in looking through your list I was looking
for something introductory on design patterns/principals (something
along the lines of the Universal Principals of Design
But it doesn't match the rigor of true in-depth intellectual study and
analysis and, just being challenged by a professor or students *in your face*
to heighten/deepen your understanding of the history, theory, issues, etc.
Nothing matches the rigor of an actual workplace and the deadline to
I got out of practice from sketching years ago Mike. I created a bad
habit of doing quick mockups in photoshop, illustrator or
omnigraffle. I went back to doing wireframes in a moleskine about
six months ago and just switch to the behance dot-grids about a month
ago.
Now that I'm back to
Hi -
I'm new to this group, so pardon my intrusion. I hope this is the right
place to ask - I have a comment to toss in and and question;
Interesting thread on sketching. A book I really like about sketching UE
stuff which applies to some interaction design issues is a book by Bill
Buxton
sorry guys.. from the interesting discussion regarding an master
degree.. I was wandering ..
in your opinion and experiences, which are good master programs out
there ?
I dont want to look for the perfection, which is impossible in the
case, and dont want to open a pandora's box ..
i was
Hi Mark,
I think the Buxton book, even on its third reading, is probably more
important than any other design book I have read in the two years
since grad school.
Mark
On Jun 21, 2008, at 10:00 AM, Mark Ahlenius wrote:
Hi -
I'm new to this group, so pardon my intrusion. I hope this
On Jun 20, 2008, at 6:35 PM, Kontra wrote:
But it doesn't match the rigor of true in-depth intellectual study
and analysis and, just being challenged by a professor or students
*in your face* to heighten/deepen your understanding of the
history, theory, issues, etc.
Nothing matches the
True, Kontra, but the challenge comes from a different angle, generally
erring on the side of less change, more conservatism. This is why I keep
raising the specter of what happened with the industry-norming of journalism
degrees, which are not doing the field any favors.
Industry-norming is not
NEWS UPDATES
We have been invited to contribute a special issue on Ambient
Information Systems in the International Journal of Ambient Computing
and Intelligence (IJACI). The authors of the best papers submitted to
AIS2008 will be invited to submit extensions to their papers in this
So what should the take away be here Kontra? Are you suggesting that young
designers have a higher probability of success and greatness if they avoid a
structured learning path? Is this really the guidance that your would lend
say... your children?
I think the point - Ok, and I'll only speak
I'm a bit out of the loop for recent, but just to rail off a few from the
top of my head:
Moodle, the open source e-learning courseware support platform, has arisen
largely from academic research into pedagogical interface design.
Most of the best research into advanced VR interfaces and
Ooh, I love this one!
Philosophy of Interaction Design from Heidegger to Benjamin to Bahktin
You know what I think is needed for an elective, from a cultural studies
perspective?
History and Online Cultures in Networked Computer Systems from DARPA to
Present
(still hitting the early theorists,
Hi Cristine and all,
Interesting discussion and points,
Actually fairly equivalent precursors to Google were invented pre-1990 by the
folks at Thinking Machines (notably, Danny Hillis, Brewster Kahle, Craig
Stanfill and David Waltz). The program ran on massively parallel computers on
about 5
Thanks Donna! Interesting info and historical perspective.
Dunno which part of Google is limited to interaction design, but would we
love the basic interaction of a single uncluttered text entry field for
searching if it didn't have the screaming fast Google back-end and
algorithms behind it?
Great thought experiment. Some things that came to mind when I read the list:
1. There is a jump between sketching and digital prototyping. I
think that there should be a survey course on the entire range of
prototyping methods to provide a suite of tools for interaction
designers. The course
The undergraduate aspect of this is the toughest.
My degree was a BFA in graphic design (which I think is easier to
grasp) but we didn't even _start_ the actual design classes until
the 2nd year. The first year was focused on foundation courses in
drawing and basic two- and three-dimensional
Hi Mat,
The only MFA in Interaction Design I know of is at the University of
Washington. Carnegie Mellon has a Masters in Interaction Design but
it's not an MFA, it's an M.Des.
// jeff
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Posted from the new ixda.org
Which is why I do not think you can properly prepare an interaction
designer within the constructs of a bachelors degree. Given what Dan
outlines as a curriculum, and what Jeff has added (which I totally
agree with) it IS a lot. Also factor in that this excludes the well
rounded liberal
mat wrote:
I was wondering which schools - in US and abroad - have
good IxD programs, in your opinion and exeperiences.
Hi mat,
A while back, an IxDA member named pauric collected a list of schools
from the list with courses related to interaction design and mapped
them out. Here's the
I absolutely agree with Mark. To do any less would be teaching
interface design with a trade school mentality. You could do it, but
for _interaction design_ survey courses in history, literature, art,
philosophy, political science, anthropology, sociology, psychology
and ethics should be
What are the criteria that would be a program good -- famous
designers on faculty, ratings of the curriculum, the salaries of
graduates, the number of articles generated by graduates, the success
of students from one school versus the sucess of those from other
schools? I can envision
On Jun 22, 2008, at 3:50 PM, Chauncey Wilson wrote:
What are the criteria that would be a program good --
I don't think this would be a hard list to put together. Off the top
of my head:
Quality of Faculty
Quality, Breadth, and Depth of Curriculum
Strength of Alumni Network
Reputation in
While reading this thread, I couldn't help but notice a pervasive
assumption: The ideal educational background for an interaction
designer is a single degree (whether graduate or undergraduate) that
touches upon every aspect of the profession and related fields.
Is that a realistic premise? I
dmitry, a common degree in the US is the 6yr. med program. Many
students enter undergrad knowing they want to be doctors. Why not
IxD's? If I can get an MD in 6 yrs (including summers I think), why
not a Masters of IxD in 5 years including some intensive work (or
required internships) during
Oh, another point to share. ...
In talking to an educator recently, they confessed that with all the
new stuff out there they have no idea how to teach anyone all
they need to know in any reasonable time frame at all.
-- dave
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A less impartial answer here:
Carnegie Mellon
Kansas Univ
Both of these have IxD masters programs right now.
Univ. of Maryland has a masters of Information Systems and IxD.
Bentley is Information and Human FActors
IIT has a masters in Product Design
There are many many HCI courses throughout
Jeff, UW has an MFA in IxD? Really?
It's never crossed my path. Only the MLIS/MIS stuff have previously
but only for IA types. Interesting.
-- dave
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Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=30524
The great thing about an MFA is that it is still considered a
terminal degree in design. Meaning, that is is the most you can get
in design. Yes, I know there are few PhD's, but they are far from the
norm at this point in time. The upshot here is that you can, if on
faculty, be considered
There are also quite a lot of 5-year Architecture programs. Generally, with
these, and somee 4-year programs, you have to complete one year of school
outside the program, gen eds, overview courses, and then apply your
sophomore year for admission into the program. Those without the grades
from the
Generally, while MFAs can be considered for full professorship and tenure,
it is not commonly awarded without a clear national reputation on par with
public gallery exhibitions, BIG awards or grants (think MacArthur genius
fellows), or, in the case of writing MFAs and others related to that, one
Great clarification Chris. I guess the larger point was that without
an MFA... an MA doesn't put you in that position. And the trend
towards the PhD is growing. Most people I know have gone the route of
design history or design education.
Mark
On Jun 22, 2008, at 8:23 PM, Christine Boese
Also add:
University of Baltimore: Interaction Design Information Architecture
University of Maryland Baltimore County: Human-Centered Computing
snip
Univ. of Maryland has a masters of Information Systems and IxD.
Interaction design? Not the last time I checked. They are only recently
Dimitry wrote:
Is that a realistic premise? I doubt it. It ignores
the reality of a fast evolving field in which the best
work is done by teams of T-shaped specialists
You can also look at T-shaped people as generalists.
I think the curriculum we're talking about would result in T-shaped
On Jun 22, 2008, at 5:06 PM, mark schraad wrote:
The great thing about an MFA is that it is still considered a
terminal degree in design. Meaning, that is is the most you can get
in design. Yes, I know there are few PhD's, but they are far from
the norm at this point in time. The upshot
Dave, you're absolutely correct regarding the 6 year med school
programs (as well as e.g. combined bachelors/MBA programs). Same for
the architecture programs as mentioned by Christine. A motivated high
school senior will have no problem making that commitment.
The difference is the perceived
Dave wrote:
Jeff, UW has an MFA in IxD? Really?
I haven't really looked into the program, but I used to work with
someone who is finishing his MFA in Interaction Design there.
http://depts.washington.edu/designuw/IxD_mfa_curriculum.htm
The Division of Design offers graduate programs in
Ah! so we have a big marketing campaign ahead of us. Fortunately, Fast
Company already started this out for us calling IxD one of the top 10
jobs you didn't know you wanted to have. ;-)
I've been thinking about this from a different tact.
Maybe major doesn't make sense for IxD at the undergrad
Thanx for the extra info. It looks like it is an ID (or Visual Design
Masters) with a concentration in IxD, but not an IxD program per se
like CMU or KU. (might speak to my other point about design degrees
may need to be about the thing).
-- dave
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5 year BFA programs are not uncommon. My BFA was a 5yr program, but it
took me 6 yrs because it was a California State University. CSU's
never have enough general ed classes available, so it took that long
just to get IN to some classes. But the benefit was I had 6 full
years of art, design and
One reason the trend toward PhD is growing has more to do with the level of
preparation and lack of maturity students have across the board, coming in
from high school at the undergrad level. This only applies in the US, as
European and other international education standards are higher.
I don't
Dave wrote:
the medium agnostic philosophy of IxD makes it very
difficult to market to the younger crowd. The thing
is well the thing, so having concentrations in IxD
for interactive, for software product, for industrial
design, for architecture (etc.) might be a better
tact
That's
Dan,
I think it's important to distinguish between a generation practitioners
from other fields who, through experience, are capable of doing
*some*(niche - broader or narrower) IxD work really well; and
preparing a
generation of graduates with the grounding they need to approach *any* IxD
task
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