[IxDA Discuss] What sets the 'best' interaction designers apart?

[Phillip Hunter]

So, we have sort of a promising list going, it seems.  Is there a way to
preserve it beyond this thread?

>From Daniel:
1) Letting go of their design (not getting close)
2) Talking through the rationale behind elements in a design
3) Demonstrating how it provides value to user/business or both
4) Open to iterating and moving forward
5) Thinking holistically (hard one)

>From David:
1. Well travelled, especially foreign
2. multi-lingual
3. formal design education, (or well mentored career paths) 
4. love DESIGN of all kinds 
5. are opportunistic, optimistic (always seeing the next opportunity in a
constraint). I really loved Jared's response to me in the whole thread about
enterprise.
6. Can draw
7. have worked with web, software, hardware, systems, etc.
(multi-environments)
8. Can present their own thoughts
9. Fearless in front of CEOs  (PH: Love that!  Had a good argument with mine
just this week.)
10. Can defend their thinking
11. Detailed oriented
12. Thinks holistically, ecology or system 
13. good writer  (PH: Should really be communication, overall.  A designer
should be confident and successful in varying mediums.)

So,

14 (or 20). Summarized from below, a multi-faceted education and life
experience, with a mixture of the structure and the unstructured.  To
extrapolate this, most good designers I know are just interested in a ton of
different things.

15/21. I want to re-emphasize empathy, as well.  It's not school-taught
skill, but the ability to walk a mile in someone else's shoes is hugely
valuable, at least in my area of practice.  I go back and forth about
whether strong empathy is a gift/curse one is born with.  But I do believe
we can all develop it to some degree.  And that if you don't have it, your
chances of being a successful designer are very slim.

16/22. I'll extend the skill of empathy to the general study of people; not
in the psych sense alone, but by being acutely observant of the everyday of
others around you. Having both the self-awareness to know the traits that
make you you and then the other-awareness to see and accept and even be glad
for the things that make other people other people is also a key
characteristic.

17/23.  Based on observing the list so far: the ability to operate well
within conflict, whether task, self, interpersonal, or corporate.  (This is
of course tied to the optimistic opportunism mentioned above)

18/24.  I have also noticed that many talented designers (and developers)
have an avid hobby or side gig that is highly creative (and usually
necessarily therapeutic).

ph


-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Mark
Schraad
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 9:09 AM
To: dave at ixda.org
Cc: 'discuss IxD'
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] What sets the 'best' interaction designers
apart?

Great take David. This gets to the real point of the question!

If I were doing this now... I would find an undergrad school that had  
a design theory or design thinking program. A program that stressed  
the fundamentals and let you dabble in application from ID,  
interiors, architecture, graphic and 3d design. I would also take  
classes in CS, psych (both cog and behavioral), sociology,  
anthropology, business, marketing and engineering. Sounds like a 6  
year degree... but I would spread myself that thin. I would learn a  
second language and learn how to write effectively. The I would work  
for a few years in a design thinking environment (how to find that  
would make a great book all by itself). Then and only then would I go  
back to grad school and study interaction design.

If this was 10 or more years ago, I would definitely agree that  
either industrial design or a good architecture school would be the  
place to go.

Mark


On Feb 3, 2007, at 8:44 AM, David Malouf wrote:

> If, I was to go back to school all over again in this day and age,  
> BOY would
> I do things differently. ;)
>
> If I was an undergrad, I would study Industrial Design. Or maybe  
> find an
> undergraduate minor in IxD. I think SCAD has one. But I would stick  
> to a
> design school.
>
> I choose industrial design (or architecture) because both of these  
> usually
> have aspects of use involved in them and many of their problem sets  
> deal
> with interactivity at some level. But they also really structure  
> themselves
> around studio work.
>
> Yup, I'd do ID with an emphasis in human factors and design  
> research. That's
> what I'd do. ;)
>
> For those of use who came up the dot.com chain-gang with English,  
> Anthro,
> History, Poli Sci, International Studies, Biology, etc. majors and  
> who love
> our adopted careers as designers ... How would you have played it
> differently considering that this organic method of career growth  
> in IxD is
> probably not nearly as doable as it was circa '94-'99? To be  
> honest, as I
> wrote this, I love my past and my growth pattern. I loved being  
> part of a
> huge state college (Berkeley) with all that had to offer in community,
> x-disciplinary studies, etc. so its really hard for me to imagine  
> the design
> school life for myself that I described above. But I think with  
> what I know
> now that's what I would have done diffferently. 20-20 hindsight!
>
> -- dave
>

________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
List Guidelines ............ http://listguide.ixda.org/
List Help .................. http://listhelp.ixda.org/
(Un)Subscription Options ... http://subscription-options.ixda.org/
Announcements List ......... http://subscribe-announce.ixda.org/
Questions .................. lists at ixda.org
Home ....................... http://ixda.org/
Resource Library ........... http://resources.ixda.org