[IxDA Discuss] US News thinks we have potential!

[Fred Beecher]

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:38:59, dave malouf <dave at ixda.org> wrote:
>
> Graduate education is really such a personal decision. I think Dan and
> Eva outlined all the great reasons there can be for doing it. Then
> there is just taking that time to explore things for yourself. Doing
> a thesis at a program like ITP or an ID masters can be quite a
> cathartic and well self fulfilling task that ends up nurturing your
> soul.
>
> To me I've always had to face the cost:benefit:ego fulfillment
> ratios with a lot of due diligence. Now that I have a family it is
> even more difficult, though I feel the pull towards post-graduate


Exactly. Is ego fulfillment worth the $20-40k? If I were single, maybe. If a
lateral move would result in a significant pay raise, maybe. But the truth
is that an IxD with enough experience, these days, is so in demand that this
huge pile of cash may not be a wise investment.

And responding to Dan and Eva's thoughts about graduate education teaching
you the "why" behind the decisions we make as designers... don't we already
do that through user research? Granted, this is "the why" on a much
different level, the level of context. The way I'm interpreting what they
said is that a graduate degree will give you the whys about smaller design
decisions... personally, I've never needed to justify those decisions (they
are, though, based on my functional understanding of color, typography,
layout) ... only the big decisions are the ones that typically require
justification.

Notice how above I said "interpreted..." so did I interpret wrongly? Because
I'm still sitting here thinking that it would take some serious promise of
advancement for me to make a huge investment in a graduate education.

Thoughts?

Fred