from benry blog
"I spent part of this week discussing with a variety of people the different between User Profiles and Personas. The terms, while often used interchangeably, it turns out are actually quite different and refer to different parts of the process in determining 'who' you are designing for. "
He pinged me for my definition, and it raised a lot of interesting questions for me about what is it you need to know about your audience to assure effective design. I hope one day Cooper finally writes a book detailing their persona process... there is obviously a market for it. Inmates is a tease-- it suggests what is possible but doesn't tell you how; and chapter 7 in Blueprints is an introduction to that how. But really, the techniques of personas and scenarios are rich and complex enough that they deserve a full fledged book.
"Good design starts before the first pixel has been pushed. Successful designers have learned to manage their organizations and demonstrate the business value of usable design. This presentation will give you proven techniques to simplify internal politics, increase the resources available to you, and deliver your best designs."
I'm really pleased to see more courses on how to be effective at our job on a social and polital level, rather than only courses on craft. While there will always be inarticulate genuises in design, it also takes salesmen to assure what they have to offer will be valued.
At Challis's urging, I've reread UX Roles & Titles: Trend or Profession. Other than pain at reading such a tiny font (god I'm old. old old old. I'm old.) which may have lead to free-floating crankiness, I've pulled out a bunch of goodness-- in particular I'd like to point to:
"Web Designer may seem like an overgeneralization to those of us practicing in this space. However the same may be said of those practicing as doctors, lawyers and engineers. Each works within a profession, yet has an area of specialization and may fill different roles at different times. One example is as follows:
Doctor (pediatrics, oncology, internal medicine, orthopedics)
...."
Which is a great model for us to consider. Many folks say this *or* that, IA or ED, design or graphic design, with out considering the range of special and general skills one may need to do one's job.
The professions are not only not diametrically opposed, but's not even hierarchal. Design professions are intertwined, and variable, depending on medium and nature of the work (like doctors--small company vs large, small town generalist, big city specialist).
As for being a trend, hey, if we keep at all this IA business, maybe we can work up to a full fledged profession. After all, dentists used to let blood, right?