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

[Robert Reimann]

I think I have posted this list in the past. The best interaction
designers excel at the core skills, and do well at a good proportion
of the other skills. It's probably impossible to find any one person
with all these skills, but the list is good to consider if you are
building a well-rounded design team.

Robert.

---

INTERACTION DESIGN SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE


Core Skills
   Research techniques                (online and paper-based)
   Ethnography and discovery          (studying 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                   (GUI component-level interaction
principles and concepts)
   Information architecture/design    (content structure/presentation
principles and concepts)

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

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, etc.)
   Knowledge of existing/new technologies and constraints

Tools/Prototyping Skills
   PowerPoint
   Visio
   PhotoShop/Fireworks
   Illustrator/Freehand
   Director/Flash
   MS Word/Framemaker/InDesign
   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 2/2/07, Bret Hekking <bhekking at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi all -
>
> In your experience, what qualities set the 'best' (defined as you like)
> interaction designers apart?
>
> In hiring, what design exercises have you found effective in identifying the
> 'best' interaction designers?
>
> Thanks,
> Bret Hekking
>
>
>
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-- 
Robert Reimann
President, IxDA

Manager, User Experience
Bose Corporation
Framingham, MA