[IxDA Discuss] Microsoft Surface (Who Made It)

[lachica]

"I dream about a kind of criticism that would try not to judge but to bring
an oeuvre, a book, a sentence, an idea to life; it would light fires, watch
the grass grow, listen to the wind, and catch the sea foam in the breeze
and scatter it. It would multiply not judgments but signs of existence; it
would summon them, drag them from their sleep. Perhaps it would invent
them sometimes -- all the better.

"Criticism that hands down sentences sends me to sleep; I'd like a
criticism of scintillating leaps of imagination. It would not be sovereign
or
dressed in red. It would bear the lightning of possible storms."

-Michel Foucault, "The Masked Philosopher," interview in *Le Monde,*
1980

On 6/1/07, Chris Bernard <Chris.Bernard at microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> I've been through a crit or two and as creative and design director for
> over a decade so I've also played the role of destructor and made people cry
> and all that business but you're comparing apples and oranges and talking
> about how we teach versus how we interact as a professional group of peers.
>
> I'd also disagree with most old school art and design folks on this being
> a 'best' practice in terms of teaching people how to work effectively in
> teams (although I admit all designers need a bit of a boot camp during their
> foundational knowledge in both academia and the workplace). And as lecturer
> at the Institute of Design I talk extensively with incoming students about
> this very practice during a teaming and collaboration workshop but also
> caution that how you interact with your fellow students in school will most
> likely follow you for your entire career. I being polite here but basically
> if you're into Bob Sutton's work over at Stanford you'll get an idea of my
> perspective.
>
> But THAT as opposed to the craft of interaction design and how people
> constructively create new things and work together in cross disciplinary
> teams is different. Many designers don't get how self-destructive this
> approach can be in collaborative environments and I'll submit it's why
> design as a profession is still in a bit of stasis and is largely left out
> of some of these efforts that seem to be the topic of the day.
>
> The bottom line is that the majority of people that are active on this
> list (although not all) bitch about what is wrong with everything that
> people submit versus offering up ways to make it better or acknowledge what
> is done well and then conversation typically falls into summary and ad
> hominem judgments on the creators or sponsors of such work. I mean if that's
> all I or other designers want we can have this debate on Amazon or Slashdot.
> I simply expect more out of this community I guess.
>
> It's not a small irony that much of what is discussed on this board that
> involves IxD is not work that has actually had the participation of members
> of this list or community. Why do you think that is?
>
> We certainly don't need sycophant here and criticism is valid and
> necessary but anyone that's been to design school knows that the best hard
> asses that broke you down also frequently gave you the best advice about how
> to make things better. That last part doesn't exist here as much as it
> should.
>
> Also, we all know I work for Microsoft but I'm also a part of this
> community and have been a practicing designer way before I ever got involved
> with Microsoft and I'm passionate about advancing our profession. My
> comments here are not just about or specific to Surface but the general
> tenor of this list and the perception this tenor projects on all of us. I'm
> encouraged however by how this thread is evolving. And for the record I own
> 4 iPods and 1 Zune and like them both. :)
>
> Chris Bernard
> Microsoft
> User Experience Evangelist
> chris.bernard at microsoft.com
> 312.925.4095
>
>
>
> Blog: www.designthinkingdigest.com
> Design: www.microsoft.com/design
> Tools: www.microsoft.com/expression
>
> "The future is already here. It's just not evenly distributed." William
> Gibson
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:
> discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Nathan
> Kendrick
> Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 1:35 AM
> To: IxDA Discuss
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Microsoft Surface (Who Made It)
>
>
> Clearly someone didn't go to a art school and experience foundation
> year in life drawing =)
>
> destruction is the only way to create.
>
> On May 30, 2007, at 8:07 PM, Chris Bernard wrote:
>
> > I'll also agree that we are all critics from time to time but boy
> > is this a self-destructive posture for this community to embrace on
> > this board if we want to advance our profession and encourage our
> > fellow peers to participate here.
>
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