Most important skills of an IX Designer?
Everyone,
The wide ranging discussion about big D vs. little d got me thinking about
what is most valued in a big D IX Designer. I'd be very interested in
learning which of the following skill sets the IXD community thinks are the
most important? (To give a little context, imagine that you are hiring a
lead Designer for a project, or you are working for that lead Designer, or
you are that lead Designer -- which of the following would be most
important.)
1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand
design
3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes, prototypes,
work flows)
4.) the skills to test and refine the design
5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
Thoughts?
Joseph Selbie
Founder, CEO Tristream
http://www.tristream.com
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Comments
I think everyone would agree that all of those qualities are important
but if I had to choose one exclusively it would have to be the ability
to develop interactive solutions. That's the basis of what an
interaction designer is. Someone who can communicate and create
compelling interactions for specific need.
On 8/16/07, Joseph Selbie <jselbie at tristream.com> wrote:
> Everyone,
>
> The wide ranging discussion about big D vs. little d got me thinking about
> what is most valued in a big D IX Designer. I'd be very interested in
> learning which of the following skill sets the IXD community thinks are the
> most important? (To give a little context, imagine that you are hiring a
> lead Designer for a project, or you are working for that lead Designer, or
> you are that lead Designer -- which of the following would be most
> important.)
>
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes, prototypes,
> work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Joseph Selbie
> Founder, CEO Tristream
> http://www.tristream.com
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
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> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
--
Adrian Chong
www.adrianchong.com/blog
I think everything in your list is important for a big D Ix Designer
who is also the lead. The one exception is #2 -- I think this is
optional. Which doesn't mean the an IxD shouldn't have visual design
skills or a strong esthetic sense, it should be an equal concern, but
it is also a speciality within itself. I do firmly believe that any
IxD should be able to conduct user research, which is in my mind the
best way to model context of the overall design problem. On the flip
side of this, I have successfully worked from research conducted by
others, but for a lead designer they should be able to do it. Also,
I think skill sets comes down to the context of the work or project
and how many people there are on the team. Are we talking product/
software/application design or marcomm/ecommerce web work? Each of
these offers there own unique challenges and required skill sets.
Kevin
On Aug 16, 2007, at 12:05 PM, Joseph Selbie wrote:
> Everyone,
>
> The wide ranging discussion about big D vs. little d got me
> thinking about
> what is most valued in a big D IX Designer. I'd be very interested in
> learning which of the following skill sets the IXD community thinks
> are the
> most important? (To give a little context, imagine that you are
> hiring a
> lead Designer for a project, or you are working for that lead
> Designer, or
> you are that lead Designer -- which of the following would be most
> important.)
>
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes,
> work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Joseph Selbie
> Founder, CEO Tristream
> http://www.tristream.com
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
Kevin Silver
Clearwired Web Services
10899 Montgomery, Suite C
Albuquerque, NM 87109
office: 505.217.3505
toll-free: 866.430.2832
fax: 505.217.3506
e: kevin at clearwired.com
w: www.clearwired.com
On Aug 16, 2007, at 11:05 AM, Joseph Selbie wrote:
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes,
> work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
My designers hate it when I answer questions of this type, but my
answer is "Yes."
--
Andrei Herasimchuk
Principal, Involution Studios
innovating the digital world
e. andrei at involutionstudios.com
c. +1 408 306 6422
This may just be me working in a big company, but I would add:
6) Ability to communicate a vision of their design to business stakeholders, project team members and executives
7) Ability to prioritize risks to the user experience as a result of business decisions that reduce an interactive design
Basically, if I can't sell it to the people who pay the bills and write the code, it will remain a pretty prototype on my hard drive.
- Bryan
http://www.bryanminihan.com
---- Joseph Selbie <jselbie at tristream.com> wrote:
> Everyone,
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes, prototypes,
> work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
depending, you'd probably also have to add:
8) the ability to gather and prioritize stakeholder requirements
alongside design decisions to arrive at a solution that is satisfying
to both users and the needs of the business
9) ability to translate requirements into functional specifications
for use by developers
Michael
PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
On Aug 16, 2007, at 2:50 PM, <bjminihan at nc.rr.com>
<bjminihan at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> This may just be me working in a big company, but I would add:
>
> 6) Ability to communicate a vision of their design to business
> stakeholders, project team members and executives
> 7) Ability to prioritize risks to the user experience as a result
> of business decisions that reduce an interactive design
>
> Basically, if I can't sell it to the people who pay the bills and
> write the code, it will remain a pretty prototype on my hard drive.
>
> - Bryan
> http://www.bryanminihan.com
>
> ---- Joseph Selbie <jselbie at tristream.com> wrote:
>> Everyone,
>> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
>> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
>> brand
>> design
>> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
>> prototypes,
>> work flows)
>> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
>> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
You can cover that with:
10) Ability to converse fluently in all code languages, from assembly to prolog, teach future languages 17 minutes after they are born, run the quarter mile in 4.3 seconds, and rewrite your resume to fit a 14 word job description in about 23 minutes. And "do" windows.
---- Michael Tuminello <mt at motiontek.com> wrote:
> depending, you'd probably also have to add:
>
> 8) the ability to gather and prioritize stakeholder requirements
> alongside design decisions to arrive at a solution that is satisfying
> to both users and the needs of the business
> 9) ability to translate requirements into functional specifications
> for use by developers
>
> Michael
>
> PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
> descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
>
>
> PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
> descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
>
Totally. Does anyone know anyone with all those skills?
With a lead position, what I'm more interested in is whether a person knows
his or her own strengths, and knows where they need help. A person who comes
to me and says they can do all those things, I regard with some skepticism.
But a person who comes to me and says, "I'm really good at designing and
executing user research, but I'm not your guy for visual design" is someone
who probably has a more realistic view of their skills.
I'm more interested in the ability to work in a team environment, manage
expectations, talk to clients, and provide good criticism to the design
team. I suppose these are called "soft skills" but they're... ahem... harder
to come by.
-- Dan
--
} work: eightshapes.com
} book: communicatingdesign.com
} blog: greenonions.com
} talk: +1 (301) 801-4850
Hi:
Robert Reimann give some useful answer about 6 years ago.
http://www.cooper.com/insights/journal_of_design/articles/so_you_want_to_be_an_interacti_1.html
And later, Dan Saffer also expand his opinions from this great article.
Cheers
-- Jarod
On 8/16/07, Michael Tuminello <mt at motiontek.com> wrote:
>
> depending, you'd probably also have to add:
>
> 8) the ability to gather and prioritize stakeholder requirements
> alongside design decisions to arrive at a solution that is satisfying
> to both users and the needs of the business
> 9) ability to translate requirements into functional specifications
> for use by developers
>
> Michael
>
> PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
> descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
>
>
>
> On Aug 16, 2007, at 2:50 PM, <bjminihan at nc.rr.com>
> <bjminihan at nc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > This may just be me working in a big company, but I would add:
> >
> > 6) Ability to communicate a vision of their design to business
> > stakeholders, project team members and executives
> > 7) Ability to prioritize risks to the user experience as a result
> > of business decisions that reduce an interactive design
> >
> > Basically, if I can't sell it to the people who pay the bills and
> > write the code, it will remain a pretty prototype on my hard drive.
> >
> > - Bryan
> > http://www.bryanminihan.com
> >
> > ---- Joseph Selbie <jselbie at tristream.com> wrote:
> >> Everyone,
> >> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> >> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> >> brand
> >> design
> >> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> >> prototypes,
> >> work flows)
> >> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> >> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________
> > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> > To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> > List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> > List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> > Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> > Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> > Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
--
IxD for better life style.
http://jarodtang.blogspot.com
I seriously doubt such a person exists. I know people who are amazing design
researchers - and decent interaction designers. But all those things roled
up into one?
No.
Quite simply, you will not ever get a phenomenal Kioken/2advanced
interaction designer who also happens to know a whole lot about HCI and is
also a great communicator.
Doesn't exist.
Better yet - name that man/woman. I would loved to meet that person, because
I have met some great designers, and some great hci folks - and the two
skill sets don't exist in one person.
On 8/16/07, bjminihan at nc.rr.com <bjminihan at nc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> You can cover that with:
>
> 10) Ability to converse fluently in all code languages, from assembly to
> prolog, teach future languages 17 minutes after they are born, run the
> quarter mile in 4.3 seconds, and rewrite your resume to fit a 14 word job
> description in about 23 minutes. And "do" windows.
>
> ---- Michael Tuminello <mt at motiontek.com> wrote:
> > depending, you'd probably also have to add:
> >
> > 8) the ability to gather and prioritize stakeholder requirements
> > alongside design decisions to arrive at a solution that is satisfying
> > to both users and the needs of the business
> > 9) ability to translate requirements into functional specifications
> > for use by developers
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
> > descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
> >
> >
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
--
~ we
-------------------------------------
n: will evans
t: user experience architect
e: wkevans4 at gmail.com
-------------------------------------
This is more like the big circle in the middle of the venn diagram.
Depending on your organization, you may or may not have other
specialists (usability engineers, graphic designers, product
managers) who take on some of these responsibilities.
This line of work is still new enough that the specifics can vary
quite a bit from organization to organization.
On Aug 16, 2007, at 3:14 PM, Dan Brown wrote:
>> PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
>> descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
>>
>
> Totally. Does anyone know anyone with all those skills?
>
> With a lead position, what I'm more interested in is whether a
> person knows
> his or her own strengths, and knows where they need help. A person
> who comes
> to me and says they can do all those things, I regard with some
> skepticism.
> But a person who comes to me and says, "I'm really good at
> designing and
> executing user research, but I'm not your guy for visual design" is
> someone
> who probably has a more realistic view of their skills.
>
> I'm more interested in the ability to work in a team environment,
> manage
> expectations, talk to clients, and provide good criticism to the
> design
> team. I suppose these are called "soft skills" but they're...
> ahem... harder
> to come by.
>
> -- Dan
>
>
> --
> } work: eightshapes.com
> } book: communicatingdesign.com
> } blog: greenonions.com
> } talk: +1 (301) 801-4850
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
On Aug 16, 2007, at 12:25 PM, W Evans wrote:
> Quite simply, you will not ever get a phenomenal Kioken/2advanced
> interaction designer who also happens to know a whole lot about HCI
> and is
> also a great communicator.
>
> Doesn't exist.
Yes they do. The more you guys keep thinking they don't or keep
having lesser expectations of people in this field, the harder it
will be to push those coming into it to grow and evolve the field to
the next level.
--
Andrei Herasimchuk
Principal, Involution Studios
innovating the digital world
e. andrei at involutionstudios.com
c. +1 408 306 6422
As I said - i would love to know who....
On 8/16/07, Andrei Herasimchuk <andrei at involutionstudios.com> wrote:
>
> On Aug 16, 2007, at 12:25 PM, W Evans wrote:
>
> > Quite simply, you will not ever get a phenomenal Kioken/2advanced
> > interaction designer who also happens to know a whole lot about HCI
> > and is
> > also a great communicator.
> >
> > Doesn't exist.
>
> Yes they do. The more you guys keep thinking they don't or keep
> having lesser expectations of people in this field, the harder it
> will be to push those coming into it to grow and evolve the field to
> the next level.
>
> --
> Andrei Herasimchuk
>
> Principal, Involution Studios
> innovating the digital world
>
> e. andrei at involutionstudios.com
> c. +1 408 306 6422
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
--
~ we
-------------------------------------
n: will evans
t: user experience architect
e: wkevans4 at gmail.com
-------------------------------------
As someone who has had to do the first nine of these successfully (under duress) in the past 5 years, I would say you wouldn't want one person to do all of them simultaneously in one role (I'll admit my weakness is exquisite photo-composition and mind-bogglingly beautiful design work, so no, I don't claim to be superman - I prefer nuts-and-bolts functional design work).
In adddition to minimizing the impact of each of these skils, a tremendous amount of pressure comes from someone who fills the research, design and project communicator role. As you mentioned, no one really believes one person can do all these things, so when placed in that position, you have to over-justify everything you do.
In the programming world, the same rule applies to someone who claims to be a programmer, tester, project manager and business analyst (yes, I tend to fill any gap when needed).
I agree with Dan, who said it's probably more important for a designer to know what his strengths are, what he wants to do, and what he *enjoys doing the most*, because that tells you what he'll do for your company, not what he's theoretically capable of.
- Bryan
http://www.bryanminihan.com
---- W Evans <wkevans4 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I seriously doubt such a person exists. I know people who are amazing design
> researchers - and decent interaction designers. But all those things roled
> up into one?
> No.
> Quite simply, you will not ever get a phenomenal Kioken/2advanced
> interaction designer who also happens to know a whole lot about HCI and is
> also a great communicator.
>
> Doesn't exist.
>
> Better yet - name that man/woman. I would loved to meet that person, because
> I have met some great designers, and some great hci folks - and the two
> skill sets don't exist in one person.
>
>
> On 8/16/07, bjminihan at nc.rr.com <bjminihan at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> >
> > You can cover that with:
> >
> > 10) Ability to converse fluently in all code languages, from assembly to
> > prolog, teach future languages 17 minutes after they are born, run the
> > quarter mile in 4.3 seconds, and rewrite your resume to fit a 14 word job
> > description in about 23 minutes. And "do" windows.
> >
> > ---- Michael Tuminello <mt at motiontek.com> wrote:
> > > depending, you'd probably also have to add:
> > >
> > > 8) the ability to gather and prioritize stakeholder requirements
> > > alongside design decisions to arrive at a solution that is satisfying
> > > to both users and the needs of the business
> > > 9) ability to translate requirements into functional specifications
> > > for use by developers
> > >
> > > Michael
> > >
> > > PS: this is starting to look like all those unrealistic job
> > > descriptions we like to make fun of. :-)
> > >
> > >
> > ________________________________________________________________
> > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> > To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> > List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> > List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> > Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> > Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> > Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> ~ we
>
> -------------------------------------
> n: will evans
> t: user experience architect
> e: wkevans4 at gmail.com
>
> -------------------------------------
--
I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand design
3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
prototypes, work flows)
4.) the skills to test and refine the design
5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
the zone" so to speak.
but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
Why parts of design?
What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
just general thinking.
I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good "management
skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
(deconstruct), analyze, etc.
BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH of
the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no? He
even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
remember correctly.
But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
1. ability to conceive ideas
this can happen through deconstruction
this can happen through just generation
2. ability to communicate those ideas
At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
photoshop, etc.
3. Critique and analyze and judge
You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and again
communicate that)
-- dave
--
David Malouf
http://synapticburn.com/
http://ixda.org/
http://motorola.com/
I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic
design/brand design
3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
prototypes, work flows)
4.) the skills to test and refine the design
5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little
"in
the zone" so to speak.
but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How
and
Why parts of design?
What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
just general thinking.
I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good
"management
skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
(deconstruct), analyze, etc.
BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH
of
the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no?
He
even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
remember correctly.
But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
1. ability to conceive ideas
this can happen through deconstruction
this can happen through just generation
2. ability to communicate those ideas
At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
photoshop, etc.
3. Critique and analyze and judge
You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and
again
communicate that)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://beta.ixda.org/discuss?post=19386
I see them as all very distinct people.
#1 is one type of person. An ethnographer, market- or user-experience
researcher depending on the company or industry.
For #2 the person needs to have an understanding of the users and
what the business is trying to convey in the design. But, artistic
skill is required.
#'s 3-4 seem pretty related. It's kind of hard to provide good
recommendations for a design without a good understanding of the
limitations of the tools and the constraints you're working with,
and prototyping/wire-framing tends to be very iterative in practice
anyway.
For #5 I'd argue that a good manager isn't necessary the best in
their field, but they do need to be good at making the business case,
keeping others motivated, and having the big picture view.
But, if you have a 4 person team where each person is really great at
each of those above things, a good manager who understands that a good
design is functional and aesthetic, and they can all work together to
fit a need, then you've got a rockin' team.
In any case, I wouldn't make my team just one person. Then you get
only one person's design aesthetic interpretation. But, that might
be another discussion.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://beta.ixda.org/discuss?post=19386
As a side topic, I'm probably better at user research, but I'd like
to get technically better. Any suggestions?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://beta.ixda.org/discuss?post=19386
"Technically better" at designing/building functional designs (using
D/X/HTML), or technically better at understanding the limits and
capabilities of systems in which you design?
The first takes practice and lots of experimentation, starting small,
breaking big problems into little ones, and working at them one at a time.
The second takes immersion in many of the systems you're interested in.
Learn to detect the patterns in code that indicate what is and isn't
possible. There's no general approach that works everywhere, but
administrator and UI guidelines provide great clues to what you can drive
into a system, and what you can't. Deja News (Google Groups) is the bible
for finding solutions to problems, as are dedicated discussion forums for
any given system (when they exist).
- Bryan
http://www.bryanminihan.com
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Allison
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 7:18 PM
To: discuss at lists.interactiondesigners.com
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
As a side topic, I'm probably better at user research, but I'd like
to get technically better. Any suggestions?
I also posted the following list of skills here ages ago (I've added a
couple since then). These are not meant to represent the skills that
each individual should have, but rather represent a broad set of
skills useful to the profession in general:
INTERACTION DESIGN SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE
Core Skills
Research techniques
Ethnography and discovery (user goals, motivations, work patterns)
User modeling (persona and scenario creation;
role-playing)
Product design (product-level interaction
principles and concepts)
Interaction design (function-level interaction
principles and concepts)
Interface design (component-level interaction
principles and concepts)
Information architecture/design (content structure/presentation
principles)
Business Skills
Project management
Time management
Stakeholder/client management
Basic business writing (letters, email, meeting notes, summaries)
Communications Skills
Rhetoric/persuasive writing
Expository writing and composition
Technical writing
Public speaking/presenting
Visual communication
Interpersonal Skills
Mediation & facilitation
Active listening
Interviewing/observation
Team-building/collaboration
Usability Skills
Knowledge of user testing methods and principles
Knowledge of cognitive psychology principles
Media Skills
Handling bit-depth, pixel density, and resolution issues
Managing color palettes
Icon (pixel-level) design
GUI/screen layout and composition
Page layout and composition
Animation
Sound design
Prototyping (Paper, Visual Basic, HTML, Director, Flash, etc.)
Knowledge of file formats and tradeoffs
Technical Skills
Understanding of basic computer/programming principles, tools, technologies
GUI development principles, tools, technologies
Database principles, tools, technologies
Understanding of software/hw development processes (specs, coding, testing)
Knowledge of existing/new technologies and constraints
Knowledge of mechanical engineering and manufacturing (for HW devices)
Tools Skills
PowerPoint
Visio
PhotoShop/Fireworks
Illustrator/Freehand
Director/Flash
MS Word/Framemaker
Adobe Acrobat
Personal Skills
Empathy
Passion
Humor
Skepticism
Analytical thinking
Ability to synthesize information (identify salient points)
Ability to visualize solutions (before they are built)
On 8/16/07, Jarod Tang <jarod.tang at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi:
> Robert Reimann give some useful answer about 6 years ago.
> http://www.cooper.com/insights/journal_of_design/articles/so_you_want_to_be_an_interacti_1.html
> And later, Dan Saffer also expand his opinions from this great article.
>
> Cheers
> -- Jarod
>
> --
> IxD for better life style.
>
> http://jarodtang.blogspot.com
>
--
Robert Reimann
President, IxDA
Manager, User Experience
Bose Corporation
Framingham, MA
Forgive me if it sounded as if I wanted to skip "the big issue". It was not
my intention to imply that your points were unimportant. Quite the contrary.
They go right to the heart of what makes great IX Designers great. I was
merely trying to get a feel for what others saw as the essential skill sets
for a lead IX Designer. I was making the assumption that anyone who could be
considered for the role of lead IX Designer would *have* to have the kind of
abilities you put forth.
Perhaps we could start another discussion entitled, Most important abilities
of an IX Designer. It cuts close to my original question but really takes us
deeper rather than broader.
Joseph Selbie
Founder, CEO Tristream
http://www.tristream.com
-----Original Message-----
From: David Malouf [mailto:dave.ixd at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 5:10 PM
To: Joseph Selbie
Cc: IXDA list
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
Bit thinking, sensemakong etc. is the most important skill, IMHO.
Skipping it to me is a big issue and dissolves the role to a
production person instead of a designer/director.
Dave
David Malouf
dave at synapticburn.com
http://synapticburn.com
http://beta.ixda.org
(Sent from my iPhone)
On Aug 16, 2007, at 7:29 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
wrote:
> Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into
> another
> channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was
> to add
> yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and,
> two, was
> to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
>
> Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most
> interested in
> is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be
> a lead
> IX Designer.
>
> Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below)
> and then
> ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following
> skill
> sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are
> unimportant).
> Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking
> everything as a
> "1" ;).
>
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes, work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
> 6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
> 7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
> 8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related
> programming
> and coding
> 9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
>
> I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
> comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and
> I think
> 8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
>
> (David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
> subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For
> the sake
> of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
> relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it
> implies the
> person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about what
> qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with
> excellence. A
> good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
>
> Joseph Selbie
> Founder, CEO Tristream
> http://www.tristream.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
> [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
> David
> Malouf
> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:38 PM
> To: IXDA list
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
>
> I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes, work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>
> Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
> the zone" so to speak.
>
> but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
> Why parts of design?
>
> What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
> visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
>
> Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
> just general thinking.
>
> I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good "management
> skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
> (deconstruct), analyze, etc.
>
> BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
> someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH of
> the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
> pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no? He
> even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
> remember correctly.
>
> But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
> 1. ability to conceive ideas
> this can happen through deconstruction
> this can happen through just generation
> 2. ability to communicate those ideas
> At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
> person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
> stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
> Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
> photoshop, etc.
> 3. Critique and analyze and judge
> You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and again
> communicate that)
>
> -- dave
>
>
> --
> David Malouf
> http://synapticburn.com/
> http://ixda.org/
> http://motorola.com/
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
Ok i feel better.
David Malouf
dave at synapticburn.com
http://synapticburn.com
http://beta.ixda.org
(Sent from my iPhone)
On Aug 16, 2007, at 8:25 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
wrote:
> Forgive me if it sounded as if I wanted to skip "the big issue". It
> was not
> my intention to imply that your points were unimportant. Quite the
> contrary.
> They go right to the heart of what makes great IX Designers great. I
> was
> merely trying to get a feel for what others saw as the essential
> skill sets
> for a lead IX Designer. I was making the assumption that anyone who
> could be
> considered for the role of lead IX Designer would *have* to have the
> kind of
> abilities you put forth.
>
> Perhaps we could start another discussion entitled, Most important
> abilities
> of an IX Designer. It cuts close to my original question but really
> takes us
> deeper rather than broader.
>
> Joseph Selbie
> Founder, CEO Tristream
> http://www.tristream.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Malouf [mailto:dave.ixd at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 5:10 PM
> To: Joseph Selbie
> Cc: IXDA list
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
>
> Bit thinking, sensemakong etc. is the most important skill, IMHO.
> Skipping it to me is a big issue and dissolves the role to a
> production person instead of a designer/director.
>
> Dave
>
> David Malouf
> dave at synapticburn.com
> http://synapticburn.com
> http://beta.ixda.org
> (Sent from my iPhone)
>
> On Aug 16, 2007, at 7:29 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into
>> another
>> channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was
>> to add
>> yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and,
>> two, was
>> to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
>>
>> Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most
>> interested in
>> is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be
>> a lead
>> IX Designer.
>>
>> Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below)
>> and then
>> ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following
>> skill
>> sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are
>> unimportant).
>> Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking
>> everything as a
>> "1" ;).
>>
>> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
>> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
>> brand
>> design
>> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
>> prototypes, work flows)
>> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
>> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>> 6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
>> 7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
>> 8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related
>> programming
>> and coding
>> 9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
>>
>> I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
>> comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and
>> I think
>> 8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
>>
>> (David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
>> subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For
>> the sake
>> of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
>> relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it
>> implies the
>> person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about
>> what
>> qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with
>> excellence. A
>> good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
>>
>> Joseph Selbie
>> Founder, CEO Tristream
>> http://www.tristream.com
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
>> [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
>> David
>> Malouf
>> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:38 PM
>> To: IXDA list
>> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
>>
>> I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
>> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
>> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
>> brand
>> design
>> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
>> prototypes, work flows)
>> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
>> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>>
>> Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
>> the zone" so to speak.
>>
>> but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
>> Why parts of design?
>>
>> What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
>> visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
>>
>> Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
>> just general thinking.
>>
>> I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good
>> "management
>> skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
>> (deconstruct), analyze, etc.
>>
>> BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
>> someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH
>> of
>> the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
>> pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no?
>> He
>> even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
>> remember correctly.
>>
>> But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
>> 1. ability to conceive ideas
>> this can happen through deconstruction
>> this can happen through just generation
>> 2. ability to communicate those ideas
>> At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
>> person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
>> stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
>> Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
>> photoshop, etc.
>> 3. Critique and analyze and judge
>> You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and
>> again
>> communicate that)
>>
>> -- dave
>>
>>
>> --
>> David Malouf
>> http://synapticburn.com/
>> http://ixda.org/
>> http://motorola.com/
>> ________________________________________________________________
>> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
>> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
>> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
>> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
>> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
>> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
>> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>>
>
Bit thinking, sensemakong etc. is the most important skill, IMHO.
Skipping it to me is a big issue and dissolves the role to a
production person instead of a designer/director.
Dave
David Malouf
dave at synapticburn.com
http://synapticburn.com
http://beta.ixda.org
(Sent from my iPhone)
On Aug 16, 2007, at 7:29 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
wrote:
> Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into
> another
> channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was
> to add
> yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and,
> two, was
> to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
>
> Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most
> interested in
> is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be
> a lead
> IX Designer.
>
> Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below)
> and then
> ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following
> skill
> sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are
> unimportant).
> Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking
> everything as a
> "1" ;).
>
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes, work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
> 6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
> 7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
> 8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related
> programming
> and coding
> 9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
>
> I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
> comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and
> I think
> 8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
>
> (David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
> subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For
> the sake
> of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
> relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it
> implies the
> person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about what
> qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with
> excellence. A
> good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
>
> Joseph Selbie
> Founder, CEO Tristream
> http://www.tristream.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
> [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
> David
> Malouf
> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:38 PM
> To: IXDA list
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
>
> I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes, work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>
> Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
> the zone" so to speak.
>
> but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
> Why parts of design?
>
> What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
> visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
>
> Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
> just general thinking.
>
> I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good "management
> skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
> (deconstruct), analyze, etc.
>
> BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
> someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH of
> the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
> pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no? He
> even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
> remember correctly.
>
> But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
> 1. ability to conceive ideas
> this can happen through deconstruction
> this can happen through just generation
> 2. ability to communicate those ideas
> At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
> person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
> stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
> Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
> photoshop, etc.
> 3. Critique and analyze and judge
> You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and again
> communicate that)
>
> -- dave
>
>
> --
> David Malouf
> http://synapticburn.com/
> http://ixda.org/
> http://motorola.com/
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into another
channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was to add
yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and, two, was
to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most interested in
is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be a lead
IX Designer.
Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below) and then
ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following skill
sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are unimportant).
Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking everything as a
"1" ;).
1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand
design
3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
prototypes, work flows)
4.) the skills to test and refine the design
5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related programming
and coding
9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and I think
8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
(David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For the sake
of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it implies the
person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about what
qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with excellence. A
good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
Joseph Selbie
Founder, CEO Tristream
http://www.tristream.com
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of David
Malouf
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:38 PM
To: IXDA list
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand
design
3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
prototypes, work flows)
4.) the skills to test and refine the design
5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
the zone" so to speak.
but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
Why parts of design?
What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
just general thinking.
I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good "management
skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
(deconstruct), analyze, etc.
BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH of
the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no? He
even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
remember correctly.
But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
1. ability to conceive ideas
this can happen through deconstruction
this can happen through just generation
2. ability to communicate those ideas
At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
photoshop, etc.
3. Critique and analyze and judge
You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and again
communicate that)
-- dave
--
David Malouf
http://synapticburn.com/
http://ixda.org/
http://motorola.com/
________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
Questions .................. list at ixda.org
Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
[Forgive me if you have gotten this twice -- but it appeared to have gotten
lost in the discussion posts.]
Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into another
channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was to add
yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and, two, was
to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most interested in
is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be a lead
IX Designer.
Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below) and then
ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following skill
sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are unimportant).
Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking everything as a
"1" ;).
1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/brand
design
3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes, prototypes,
work flows)
4.) the skills to test and refine the design
5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related programming
and coding
9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and I think
8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
(David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For the sake
of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it implies the
person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about what
qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with excellence. A
good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
Joseph Selbie
Founder, CEO Tristream
http://www.tristream.com
It's the last in my long laundry list of skills, but perhaps it's for
the same reason Joseph cites. Clearly the #1 skill of an IxD
professional is the ability to invent and visualize a coherent
solution (and be able to effectively communicate
it to others).
Robert.
On 8/16/07, David Malouf <dave.ixd at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ok i feel better.
>
> David Malouf
> dave at synapticburn.com
> http://synapticburn.com
> http://beta.ixda.org
> (Sent from my iPhone)
>
> On Aug 16, 2007, at 8:25 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Forgive me if it sounded as if I wanted to skip "the big issue". It
> > was not
> > my intention to imply that your points were unimportant. Quite the
> > contrary.
> > They go right to the heart of what makes great IX Designers great. I
> > was
> > merely trying to get a feel for what others saw as the essential
> > skill sets
> > for a lead IX Designer. I was making the assumption that anyone who
> > could be
> > considered for the role of lead IX Designer would *have* to have the
> > kind of
> > abilities you put forth.
> >
> > Perhaps we could start another discussion entitled, Most important
> > abilities
> > of an IX Designer. It cuts close to my original question but really
> > takes us
> > deeper rather than broader.
> >
> > Joseph Selbie
> > Founder, CEO Tristream
> > http://www.tristream.com
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David Malouf [mailto:dave.ixd at gmail.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 5:10 PM
> > To: Joseph Selbie
> > Cc: IXDA list
> > Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
> >
> > Bit thinking, sensemakong etc. is the most important skill, IMHO.
> > Skipping it to me is a big issue and dissolves the role to a
> > production person instead of a designer/director.
> >
> > Dave
> >
> > David Malouf
> > dave at synapticburn.com
> > http://synapticburn.com
> > http://beta.ixda.org
> > (Sent from my iPhone)
> >
> > On Aug 16, 2007, at 7:29 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into
> >> another
> >> channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was
> >> to add
> >> yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and,
> >> two, was
> >> to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
> >>
> >> Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most
> >> interested in
> >> is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be
> >> a lead
> >> IX Designer.
> >>
> >> Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below)
> >> and then
> >> ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following
> >> skill
> >> sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are
> >> unimportant).
> >> Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking
> >> everything as a
> >> "1" ;).
> >>
> >> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> >> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> >> brand
> >> design
> >> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> >> prototypes, work flows)
> >> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> >> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
> >> 6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
> >> 7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
> >> 8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related
> >> programming
> >> and coding
> >> 9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
> >>
> >> I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
> >> comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and
> >> I think
> >> 8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
> >>
> >> (David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
> >> subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For
> >> the sake
> >> of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
> >> relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it
> >> implies the
> >> person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about
> >> what
> >> qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with
> >> excellence. A
> >> good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
> >>
> >> Joseph Selbie
> >> Founder, CEO Tristream
> >> http://www.tristream.com
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
> >> [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
> >> David
> >> Malouf
> >> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:38 PM
> >> To: IXDA list
> >> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
> >>
> >> I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
> >> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> >> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> >> brand
> >> design
> >> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> >> prototypes, work flows)
> >> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> >> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
> >>
> >> Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
> >> the zone" so to speak.
> >>
> >> but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
> >> Why parts of design?
> >>
> >> What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
> >> visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
> >>
> >> Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
> >> just general thinking.
> >>
> >> I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good
> >> "management
> >> skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
> >> (deconstruct), analyze, etc.
> >>
> >> BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
> >> someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH
> >> of
> >> the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
> >> pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no?
> >> He
> >> even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
> >> remember correctly.
> >>
> >> But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
> >> 1. ability to conceive ideas
> >> this can happen through deconstruction
> >> this can happen through just generation
> >> 2. ability to communicate those ideas
> >> At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
> >> person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
> >> stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
> >> Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
> >> photoshop, etc.
> >> 3. Critique and analyze and judge
> >> You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and
> >> again
> >> communicate that)
> >>
> >> -- dave
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> David Malouf
> >> http://synapticburn.com/
> >> http://ixda.org/
> >> http://motorola.com/
> >> ________________________________________________________________
> >> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> >> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> >> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> >> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> >> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> >> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> >> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
> >>
> >
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
--
Robert Reimann
President, IxDA
Manager, User Experience
Bose Corporation
Framingham, MA
Hi Allison,
If technical opportunities don't present themselves at your workplace,
consider taking on a volunteer project, or alternately creating your own
portfolio site from scratch. Either path will help you get familiar with the
webcraft required to implement a design. Volunteering your services feels
pretty good too, especially when you get kind thank-yous from site visitors.
Projects you work on as a volunteer tend to not have the
insane-schedule-of-doom quality that professional jobs often do, so you have
the time to relax and learn along the way.
At your workplace, there may be ways you can help to implement a design
without being an actual coder. For instance, one of the things I do as a
designer is create production art for software applications. The developers
are typically delighted when I volunteer to edit the XML properties files
that set art in specific locations within the interface and map the graphics
to application states. This is something of a tedious job for them, but it
lets me see how each of the graphical assets work within the interface and
gives me an opportunity to immediately note and correct any mistakes I've
made with the art.
Related to your user research strength, you might consider making site
visits in the company of a systems engineer or other similar technical
person if that is appropriate within your domain. This won't apply as much
for web apps or e-commerce as it does for designers of devices or complex
system software. Although system engineers think that they're onsite to
solve technical problems, designers will often note an underlying design
flaw that created the need for the visit in the first place. Watching users
struggle with your products, and then watching skilled engineers struggle to
help them, is powerfully humbling as well as getting you more familiar with
the technical realm your products must thrive in. And whenever I've gone
into the field with engineers and introduced myself as a designer on the
product team, customers have given me ideas (aka "an ear-full") on how to
make our stuff work better. Hope this is helpful,
Michael Micheletti
On 8/16/07, Allison <alliwalk1980 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> As a side topic, I'm probably better at user research, but I'd like
> to get technically better. Any suggestions?
>
>
On 16/08/07, W Evans <wkevans4 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I seriously doubt such a person exists. I know people who are amazing design
> researchers - and decent interaction designers. But all those things roled
> up into one?
> No.
I disagree. As I think someone else said a good interaction designer
should be a good design researcher.
I would even challenge you can do one without a good deal of
experience of the other. When carrying out ethnographic research my
knowledge of potential interaction solutions allows me to test early
hypothesis with real users (not via porotypes but through their views,
attitudes and ways of going about tasks).
> Quite simply, you will not ever get a phenomenal Kioken/2advanced
> interaction designer who also happens to know a whole lot about HCI and is
> also a great communicator.
>
> Doesn't exist.
First up there are those who do very 'experiential' design - that is
lots of visual impact and general 'wow' factor. These are not
interaction designers as such but specialists in creating a certain
type of experience. There are a lot of design houses out there that do
this well and tend to end up doing 'microsites'. It's an extension to
the field of visual design and a specialist will build up a pallete of
flash codes snippets and techniques, sources of media and visual
styles. But in terms of interaction, often it's not phenomenal but
deliberately enigmatic and emotive. In interaction design terms this
is only part of the spectrum.
I think many here would disagree. To be a good interaction designer I
feel it helps have experience of research, experience of visual,
motion and sound design, programming, presenting ideas to small and
large audiences, creation of detailed specification from a visual,
brand and technical point of view, ability to understand and liase
with business drivers and prioratise what they want, understanding of
the importance of content, understanding the balance between usability
and the need to 'guide' the user, the ability to work with a new
medium and adapt to it....
I've done all these and I've met others who have - but one person
can't do all this as part of a role, that's why all effective projects
are team efforts built from specialists.
Also I consider HCI and outdated term, but maybe that's just me.
--
Stewart Dean
Why rank them at all ? Its like ranking protons, neutrons, electrons-
which do you think are the most important ingredeints for making good
matter?
•Sini
On Aug 16, 2007, at 7:29 PM, "Joseph Selbie" <jselbie at tristream.com>
wrote:
> Allow me to regroup and clarify this discussion before it veers into
> another
> channel. I noticed a couple of trends in the comments made: one, was
> to add
> yet more skills to my list of five (more on that in a second) and,
> two, was
> to discuss whether or not such a person could exist.
>
> Neither theme quite hit what I was looking for. What I'm most
> interested in
> is what you think are the *most important* skill sets required to be
> a lead
> IX Designer.
>
> Let me modify my list a bit in response to your input (see below)
> and then
> ask the question in another way. Could you please rank the following
> skill
> sets in order of importance (since none of these skills are
> unimportant).
> Start with "1" as the most important. Andrei -- no ranking
> everything as a
> "1" ;).
>
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes, work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
> 6.) the skills to "sell" and persuade clients/stakeholders
> 7.) the skills to gather and determine business requirements
> 8.) the sills/ability to interpret/translate/understand related
> programming
> and coding
> 9.) the skills to express the design as a technical specification
>
> I may have missed one or two but I think I caught the gist of several
> comments. I've merged some comments to come out with 9 not 10 -- and
> I think
> 8 and 9 could be combined, but I left them separate.
>
> (David, I am not ignoring your comments but I'm hoping to stay on the
> subject of skill sets and not get into the qualities required. For
> the sake
> of this question I'd like everyone to assume that when they rank the
> relative importance of one of the nine skill sets above that it
> implies the
> person can do it excellently. Your comment seems to be more about what
> qualities a person needs to posses in order to perform with
> excellence. A
> good discussion but perhaps another thread.)
>
> Joseph Selbie
> Founder, CEO Tristream
> http://www.tristream.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
> [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
> David
> Malouf
> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:38 PM
> To: IXDA list
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
>
> I'm going back to the original 5 for a moment:
> 1.) the skills to conduct user research/ethnographic research
> 2.) the skills to deliver high level visual design/graphic design/
> brand
> design
> 3.) the skills to develop interaction solutions (wireframes,
> prototypes, work flows)
> 4.) the skills to test and refine the design
> 5.) the skills to lead a team through a complete process
>
> Having just read a "NextD" piece last night, I might be a little "in
> the zone" so to speak.
>
> but all of this is about production and "what". Where is the How and
> Why parts of design?
>
> What I mean to say here is just b/c I can do a wireframe well or even
> visual design doesn't mean the content is worth a hoot.
>
> Where is the sense making, ability to create, ability to conceive,
> just general thinking.
>
> I like that Dan wanted someone with what I would call good "management
> skills", but I also want someone who can construct and critique
> (deconstruct), analyze, etc.
>
> BTW, i also agree w/ Andrei. While I also agree it is hard to find
> someone w/ all of it, I do think they are out there, or with ENOUGH of
> the pieces at different levels of quality to say they have all the
> pieces. some of them are on this list. Well Andrei for example, no? He
> even is pretty technical. Did all the PHP on Design by Fire if I
> remember correctly.
>
> But i do think a designer needs 3 things:
> 1. ability to conceive ideas
> this can happen through deconstruction
> this can happen through just generation
> 2. ability to communicate those ideas
> At some point an idea needs to take a form so that more than one
> person can understand it and buy into it. This relates to the selling
> stuff someone mentioned, but it is also related to collaboration.
> Usually this leads to some sort of craft. The ability to draw, use
> photoshop, etc.
> 3. Critique and analyze and judge
> You need to know what is good, what is right, what is wrong (and again
> communicate that)
>
> -- dave
>
>
> --
> David Malouf
> http://synapticburn.com/
> http://ixda.org/
> http://motorola.com/
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
> Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> Questions .................. list at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
Thanks for your suggestions.
Back to the discussion topic, Stewart's point about the ability to
respond a user's activities during research is the point I was
trying to make with my first post with persons 3-4.
After the reclarification, I wonder if it's all just semantics, or
perhaps in our minds we have what we understand as two types of
people? An interaction designer and a 'user-experience' designer? I
see the latter as someone who is more research focused, while the
former has more technical skills.
However, if you are going to be a *lead* designer, then you should
have leadership skills.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://beta.ixda.org/discuss?post=19386
How about, in a lead IxD Designer...
The ability to leverage or direct user research activities to drive the most
value into interactive designs. [Perhaps this combines the roles and
doesn't require the designer to *do* the research].
- Bryan
http://www.bryanminihan.com
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Allison
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 5:52 PM
To: discuss at lists.interactiondesigners.com
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Most important skills of an IX Designer?
Thanks for your suggestions.
Back to the discussion topic, Stewart's point about the ability to
respond a user's activities during research is the point I was
trying to make with my first post with persons 3-4.
After the reclarification, I wonder if it's all just semantics, or
perhaps in our minds we have what we understand as two types of
people? An interaction designer and a 'user-experience' designer? I
see the latter as someone who is more research focused, while the
former has more technical skills.
However, if you are going to be a *lead* designer, then you should
have leadership skills.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://beta.ixda.org/discuss?post=19386
________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines
List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help
Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe
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Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
designers interactifs, the professional association I founded in 2006 with 7 other designers in France, has started to write profession descriptions (\"fiches métiers\" in french). Here is what we started for interaction designer (work in progress):
http://designersinteractifs.jot.com/WikiHome/Metiers du design interactif/Interaction Designer
Benoît Drouillat
www.designersinteractifs.org
Sorry for coming a little late to this discussion, but I wanted to
toss out a point I think hasn't been made yet:
When discussing what makes me a good _lead_ IxD, I often talk about
how I had to learn to delegate, to trust, and to manage. The skills
listed for an interaction designer so far are important, I agree, but
for a lead position I also feel I need to add:
- ability to divide and delegate work
- ability to mentor and organize junior designers
- ability to manage contractors and other outside resources
They're really hard skills to demonstrate as well, because none of
them tend to end up in your portfolio.
Best,
--Alan
I also wanted to respond to a point Stew Dean made. Possibly it's
semantics, but let's see...
On 8/17/07, Stew Dean <stewdean at gmail.com> wrote:
>... a good interaction designer should be a good design researcher.
>
> I would even challenge you can do one without a good deal of
> experience of the other.
I think I want to distinguish design goodness from design fit. For
example, we recently saw some prototypes for redesign of the Bloomberg
interface. In looking at these designs we can rate them as better or
worse design-qua-design.
But the major objection to them was that no matter how good the design
was it wasn't appropriate for the typical user of today's Bloomberg
systems. Today's users want extremely high information density, flat
and direct access to data, etc. This produces a second rating of
design "goodness", on which all three of the designs are rated poorly.
Now I would never argue that design skills or design research aren't
necessary components. What I'm arguing for is the ability to create a
design that follows good usability and interaction design principles,
absent knowledge of the specific users. This kind of design skill is
grounded in fundamentals like color and typography, layout and visual
perception, that are generally shared. An appreciation of aesthetic
and how form and function interact don't require detailed
understanding of the user population of stock traders and portfolio
managers. Empathy for peoples' struggles and stresses in general
isn't the same as knowing that traders hate to use the mouse because
they're often typing one-handed while holding a phone/blackberry in
the other hand.
Is this making any sense to anyone else?
--Alan