Re: [IxDA Discuss] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
Isaac, Full disclosure, I am one of the teachers and helped develop material for the design strategy and design research days. UXI was designed primarily to give attendees hands on experience with tools and techniques that we have found effective in our practice. Each day is more geared to the application of theory in practice rather than delving deep into the underpinnings of what we do and why we do it. There is a pretty comprehensive bibliography for most of the days that goes deep into the theory side of things. In regard to the design strategy day, it's geared to give the designer tools to a) bridge the gap between business objectives and design outcomes and b) better communicate the value of design to the people s/he works with. I hope this helps clarify a few things for you. If you have any other questions the content or schedule (both practical or theoretical), drop me a line at henning [at] adaptivepath [dot] com. One last thing, the UXI 2009 will have a lot of revised and new content this year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
I come from a web design/software development background -- the design research and design strategy were the two most useful days for me. Really eye-opening, and full of practical examples and opportunities to try things out in a group setting. The IxD day was also fun... learned great ways to get our whole team involved in the design process and generating useful ideas. The IA day was the least useful for me, since IA was the first technique I learned to improve my web design work about 10 years ago. (In fact, back then, I think it was the only web-focused technique we had!) Please contact me off-list if you'd like to chat more about the details of each day. -Jon On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 1:02 PM, William Selman wrote: > "Design Research" was actually my favorite of all the workshops. I > think that you'd be surprised by what you can accomplish even with a > limited budget and timetable. I use at least some of the techniques > discussed on that day all the time. The strongest part that I found > applicable to my day-to-day activities was the discussion of how to > formulate research questions and conduct interviews. I use this all > the time when doing discovery work and user validation. > > I think that it would be impossible to cover theory in such a short > span of time. To study it would require a great deal of reading and > to make it meaningful, class discussions and writing (esp. > considering the wide variety of disciplines whose ideas we employ). I > think you'd be better off seeking out a more formal academic setting > for that kind of instruction. > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 > > > > 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
"Design Research" was actually my favorite of all the workshops. I think that you'd be surprised by what you can accomplish even with a limited budget and timetable. I use at least some of the techniques discussed on that day all the time. The strongest part that I found applicable to my day-to-day activities was the discussion of how to formulate research questions and conduct interviews. I use this all the time when doing discovery work and user validation. I think that it would be impossible to cover theory in such a short span of time. To study it would require a great deal of reading and to make it meaningful, class discussions and writing (esp. considering the wide variety of disciplines whose ideas we employ). I think you'd be better off seeking out a more formal academic setting for that kind of instruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
I was actually in a similar situation a little over a year ago. I attended it and I would agree that it hasn¹t made up for the things you can learn from a lot of hands on experience, but it did introduce me to a lot of information at once. It was also a great experience for meeting other professionals in the field. This was very helpful, as I was from an area where there I did not have many UX peers. So I would say that it was definitely a positive experience for myself. It gave me some new tools to work with but also helped me understand what questions I needed to start asking. 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
Thank you for all the feedback. So far it sounds like the workshops provide a decent introduction/overview, but don't go very deep into the theory side of things. Were all 4 days useful? I was thinking of only attending the last two days (IA and IxD) and attending the first two at a later date. (The "Design Strategy" day seems like it's geared towards organizations trying to fit design into their business & culture -- something that is not an issue where I work. Regarding "Design Research": Our budget and timetable are too constrained to allow for much of this role at present.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
I was in the situation as well. I came from software development into interaction design because I found myself much more interested in it as a field than development and I was fortunate enough to work for a company that allowed me to make the transition. Essentially, my knowledge of the field came from reading and working with the senior IxD guy at my company. I attended all four days of the UX Intensive program last year and found it to be incredibily useful given my experience level at the time. While some of the days were better than others, I thought that overall the program was well thought out and the exercises meaningful. Further, I was exposed to some ideas and techniques that I was not aware of and we didn't use and I was able to use some of them effectively when I returned to my work. However, it really depends on what you feel you need to learn. If you are looking for practical techniques, then the workshop is quite useful. If you are interested in theory though, it isn't going to help you very much on that front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
I'm a new (1 year in) UX designer who was previously working as a front-end developer. I attended the UX intensive this year and found it really useful, mainly for the reasons you mention. I felt I had the experience and instinct relevant to my role, but the lack of formal training sometimes left me questioning my decisions and methods. The course was really useful not only for learning but for validation of what I was already doing, which gave me greater confidence. I also learnt some really good techniques, particularly relevant if you are the sole UX person and need to communicate your work to business people. The other plus is the opportunity for networking - I met some really interesting people and it was good to hear how they were tackling similar problems to my own. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
Isaac, Many UX people don't have formal training for perhaps 2 reasons; availability and the fact their interest in UX is driven by their passion. Experience however does (or should) count for a lot. Front end developers get a hard time simply because they are often the culprit in bad usability examples. However UX people come from all kinds of backgrounds and your past experience can serve you well if you have a passion for user centred design. I don't know a lot about the UX Intensive program so will comment specifically on that course. However there are two things that are really important to consider. Firstly any short-term course will not make up for the years of experience a UX specialist should normally possess, so don't think of it as a way of short-circuiting hands on experience. But my second point is that you're way better off doing such a course to at least get you on the right track prior to getting the hands on experience, rather than feeling your way in the dark. Your time after such an intensive course will be much better spent and you'll be a better UX professional as a result. Good luck with whatever you decide. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38469 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] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
Hi Isaac, I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on this as well. I've not heard of the programme before but it looks good. I have a similar skillset and experience coming from a frontend developer background as well. Nik -Original Message- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Isaac Weinhausen Sent: 10 February 2009 09:09 To: disc...@ixda.org Subject: [IxDA Discuss] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me? I've been considering Adaptive Path's UX Intensive, but have heard conflicting reports about it's value. Here's my situation: * Sole UX Designer for an early dot-com startup * First time holding the title of "UX Designer" * 8+ years of web design experience (visual design & front-end development) * Have worked in freelance, agency, and in-house environments * Poses many of the soft skills (aka instinct, intuition, etc.) but lack some hard skills (aka formal training, methodology, "lingo", etc.) Is the UX Intensive right for me? Or should I look elsewhere? 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 This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star. 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
[IxDA Discuss] ADVICE: Is the UX Intensive right for me?
I've been considering Adaptive Path's UX Intensive, but have heard conflicting reports about it's value. Here's my situation: * Sole UX Designer for an early dot-com startup * First time holding the title of "UX Designer" * 8+ years of web design experience (visual design & front-end development) * Have worked in freelance, agency, and in-house environments * Poses many of the soft skills (aka instinct, intuition, etc.) but lack some hard skills (aka formal training, methodology, "lingo", etc.) Is the UX Intensive right for me? Or should I look elsewhere? 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
