Hi Ambrose, Thanks for posting.
My experience is that all three roles you mention here (software developers, designers and UX professionals) don't bother pointing out the deficiencies of the other's approach... they just focus on their roles in whatever project process is required to do the work. The culture dictates how closely they work together, and their interaction preferences determine how they communicate. Yours, Robert On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 10:03 PM, J. Ambrose Little <ambr...@aspalliance.com > wrote: > Jared, Andrei, Charlie, et al, > > I'm writing as someone working full time in the software industry for over > 10 years and a hobbyist/wannabe for most of my life. I came up through the > ranks with no formal computer, science, or design education. The only > degree I hold is in history and humanities. I was a developer and > architect > for most of my career. > > So why the heck am I presuming to speak up amidst you juggernauts of > usability and design? > > Because I'm someone who really cares about making great software and making > the software industry in general better. > > Look, I'm here because it seems pretty obvious to me that the best way to > make software better is through a focus on people *and* good design. The > last 8 years of my career have been a steady enlightenment in that > direction > that all started with a rather silly incident involving some terribly > amateurish visual design. (I guess my humanities background predisposes > me, > too.) > > Anyways, the point is that from my perspective (i.e., not having much > vested > interest in UCD, Usability, HCI, Design, IA, and so on), you're setting up > an unnecessary (and damaging) dichotomy. It's not understanding people OR > designing. It's both. > > Even software devs (those arch nemeses!) have figured out that involving > the > actual people who will use their software in the design process helps them > to make more successful software. They also have figured out that being > able to iterate and try different things helps them come to better > solutions. These two principles underly what is broadly known as Agile. > And if you want an amorphous term, man, Agile beats UCD any day! > > The way I see it, the people advocating UCD/UX and the people advocating > Agile both see the light--they see the way to make this stuff better. > They're coming at it from different directions but essentially marching to > the same drum. In the last few years they've been sidling up to each other > and saying, hey, we can learn from and work with each other and achieve our > common goals. > > Now you got folks coming alongside, saying, "no, you silly people don't get > it, it's Design!" Well, of course it's design! It's never not been > design. > You say, no Dee-sign, with a BIG D. We say, okay, what the heck do you > mean by that? And you (IMO) have slowly been articulating it in ever > clearer ways. > > Now, I have gone from more skeptical to almost a believer in Dee-sign, but > still, I don't see it as some magic or something antithetical to Agile or > UX. I see it as complimentary. Because all along we've known we gotta do > good design--that's what the frak we've been trying to do. So you have a > different background and discipline, and maybe it's better. Yeah, I think > so. > > So again, from my perspective, you have the UX folks coming in and helping > the somewhat floundering software developers do better in understanding > people and you have the Design folks coming in and helping the somewhat > floundering software developers do better in design. > > Awesome! More, smart, educated, passionate, and talented people marching > together. Now what heck are we arguing about?? > > -a > ________________________________________________________________ > 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 > ________________________________________________________________ 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
