On Jan 19, 2008, at 8:33 PM, Jack Moffett wrote: > I would expect it to look a lot like the IDEO shopping cart episode of > 60 minutes. Most of the time would be given to research, ideation, and > mockups, with the high-fidelity prototype being churned out in the > last 10 minutes for the finale.
As long as the interaction designer is actually building and/or coding that prototype with their own two hands -- which includes the presentation and aesthetic of it among other things -- then I'm agreement. Now the question would probably be... who else would agree with that? Or would you disagree with me on those qualifications, and would need to ask a different question? > I'm not buying it. If Black & Decker hires me to help make their next > lawnmower easier to use, by golly I've got worthwhile skills and > experience to bring to bare. How do you turn it on and off? How do you > account for safety issues? If it's electric, how do you charge it, and > how does it communicate its status? You can't tell me that the one > thing that determines whether or not this would be Interaction Design > is the presence or absence of a digital display. How do you go about designing those things on a lawnmower? Or at least the "interaction" of those things? I ask because I honestly couldn't tell you! Ask me how to design a painting tool with a Wacom input device using a tablet computing system with a wireless connection, and I could design you a tool that if it had the right pixel processing engine under it could allow an artist to sit in the park and paint like they they might with a real canvas and set of paints. How would I design the safety features on a lawnmower? Nope... you got me. I have absolutely *no* idea. I wouldn't even know where to begin with any confidence. Part of picking a career as either a graphic designer or an industrial designer is because one wants to design the things those fields specialize in. How does someone go to college and pick a degree in designing anything as long as it has a "behavioral" component. Doesn't *everything* have that? And if so, what exactly does it mean? > Regardless of whether > I start it with a mechanical switch or a soft button on a touch- > screen, the overarching problem to be solved and the processes I will > use to solve it are exactly the same. This is where I also disagree. The presence of software or logic present in the system you are designing to the degree that digital allows completely changes the design problem. It's the difference between designing a rotary phone and an iPhone. The complexity of what software allows and the kind of design issues, specifically with its interaction, presents rather significant differences. Personally, I think there's plenty to do with digital and software. Does that mean I think working on power tools is inferior? No. I just think it's different, and different enough to be something else. > Just because you are an Interaction Designer doesn't mean that you > have to design everything that any Interaction Designer has ever > designed. Your focus is computer software, as is mine. But if an > Interaction Designer ends up specializing in power tools, she's still > an Interaction Designer and is still a welcome part of this > organization. So how would the IxDA support the two people, practically speaking? The breadth and depth of the various design problems in those two examples are rather significant. I can see how an organization could support any type of designer, speaking academically or from a more theoretical vantage point. But when it comes down to providing content, training, education, career paths, conferences, certifications... How would the IxDA or any organization handle such a diverse membership? -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ 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
