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August 04, 2003
Tog on Titles
I agree with Molly on Tog's Why We Get No Respect article. Although "interaction architect" isn't exactly unknown until now, it's not as common a term as "interaction designer." It's pretty much the agreed-upon term for university-level programs like Ivrea or at the Royal College of Art or the HKU in the Netherlands, which I think is a reasonable way to judge its acceptance into common practice.
My problem isn't my job title ("Information Architect" at the moment, although I would have preferred "Interaction Designer"), it's having a good elevator pitch that describes what I do.
I do agree that "design" has become a wimpy word. Several people I know doing this kind of work actively avoid having that term in their job title, on any documents they create, or in conversation about their work; it's too often associated with the painting-the-corpse that happens at the end of a project.
(I see NNG's still using "Interaction Design" to promote their events.)
Posted by Andrew at August 4, 2003 12:39 PM
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We also have quite a nice Interaction Design graduate program here in the U.S.:
http://www.cmu.edu/cfa/design/programs/graduate/mdes/mdes.html
There's also an undergrad program being proposed for UC Irvine:
http://www.idblog.org/archives/000213.html
Europeans don't get to have all the fun :-)
Posted by: Chad at August 4, 2003 11:20 PM
Andrew,
I agree wholeheartedly with your point about titles and elevator pitches.
I wrote up my response to Tog in "An Open Letter to Tog" with my thoughts and suggestions.
Check it out:
http://crocolyle.blogspot.com/2003_08_03_crocolyle_archive.html#106006020105643315
Posted by: Lyle, Lyle, Croc O' Lyle at August 5, 2003 09:44 AM