Interaction Design careers dead?
I can’t help but comment on the Tom McCoy article on Interaction Design being a dead-end job.
Interaction Design is certainly no more weak a profession than Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Photography, or any other creative profession. Any single individual could take it upon him or herself to circumvent using a professional and do the work on his or her own using off-the-shelf tools, hacks or just *winging it*.
Frankly I think his blog post is shameless FUD used to gain “link” attention… and Cooper should know better.
I believe all professions evolve over time as technology and business models change. Look at how architects used to work 100 or even 50 years ago now and you’ll probably find that the current breed has a totally different skill set.
Even old sciences like Chemistry and Physics are completely different now than the old 19th century profs toiling about in their primordial labs.
Interaction designers who are really talented treat the profession more like a research effort than a “photoshop” effort. The reason is because the tools and techniques change on the delivery side, but the
desire to capture user or customer needs is always there. Even if the iphone SDK hands beautiful, simple ui components to you on a silver platter… I guarantee if you are writing a mobile banking application, you need to do some user research.
This little gem of his is a great example of flawed and almost bizarre commentary:
really?? REALLY???
So I just drop in some widgets, checkboxes, and fade-in fade-out doohickeys and people will be able to use my personal accounting or banking application? I am not sure of his point here, at all.
I do however agree with his assessment that Interaction Design is transitioning into User Experience design, but I do not think this is because new technologies are pushing designers out of that space. It is simply more economical for design firms or freelancers to bring their skills to a general audience.
At EchoUser we are continuously trying to improve our research and design methods, as well as expand our client base into the general customer experience realm. This is NOT because we are getting less work in the tech space, but because we want to grow beyond it.
Well put, Etan. I tend to agree with you, though I would guess that this shameless FUD is mostly a response to shifting economic times and a need to justify expensive services - and maybe a sign that Cooper isn’t changing with the times?
In any case, I think it’s a good thing that designers (whether interaction, UI, experience or whatever) are being forced to deepen their understanding of what it means to do quality work and what that work entails. As the public’s awareness of design evolves, ours must too - gone are the days when a “designer” could call the shots merely because s/he knew HTML, or CSS. And good riddance!
Leave your response!