Certified by whom?
On Jan 18, 2009, at 12:13 PM, Steve J Bayer wrote:
Hi Everyone,
I've been looking around for design schools that can teach the
relevant
skills and methodologies required to be certified as an interaction
designer. Unfortunately, I haven't been too confident with the
results I've
found: Schools I've come across within a near geographic region have:
- Graduate degrees and PGs in ixd related fields that are
recognized by
the local industry but the graduates who have published their
designs/products appear to have created sub-par designs/wire
frames and
products.
-
- If the full degree or parts of it were ixda recognized,
students who
are aspiring to be ixd's would at least be confident the courses
are using
relevant materials and methodologies.
- Diploma that claim to use experience and expertise of
instructor
rather than local industry recognized methodologies
- Despite the disclosed lack of local industry recognition for
those
particular specialized diplomas, the pre-diploma foundation
courses at the
same colleges seem to provide a valid foundation for learning
how to design
for technology
- Pre-diploma courses having ixda approval could be more easily
recognized by aspiring ixd students
- Despite the lack of local industry acknowledgement of the
diploma, the courses involved could be a relevant path
towards a PG in ixd.
As an additional boost, how about including courses and workshops
that have
parts of the ideal curriculum that would work for building a
foundation
(pre-college) or path (graduate level) towards a full fledged
masters degree
in ixd?
In reference to whats been discussed on
http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=30515, the suggestions there
seem to be
the ideal reference for a full ixda degree at the masters level and
some
could be used for identifying which pre-college/graduate courses could
contain methodologies and materials relevant to building a path
towards a
master's level ixd certification.
Viewing ixda approval/recogntion badges on a school's website (I
assume it
would be a marketing boost for the school to have a badge of
approval or
recognition from an industy group on display) would make it easier for
future ixd's to select the right courses and institutions along the
way.
There are possible positive side effects by having ixd courses
recognized at
earlier stages of schooling (pre-college/graduate:)
- Current IxD/UxD's in an organization have an easier time
bringing in
persons who have some academic ixd training and knowledge (Current
HR and
management in less knowledgeable organizations or those who don't
have
access to ixda conferences and publications seem to only accept
locally
recognized degrees that are not fully applicable to work that
requires ixd
proficiency.)
- Traditional HR departments have an easier time recognizing which
jobs
need an ixd (assuming they successflly cross reference which
courses are
ixda approved and what the job requires.)
- Non-design students (business/programming/marketing and more) who
mingle with ixd students could have an inkling at an earlier stage
of how
ixd or the lack of it can impact a product during its life cycle
and its
relevance to their businesses and work.
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