[Sigia-l] Programming IAs was: Little things an IA MUST know/do

[Donna M. Fritzsche]

Good question Dan. My business partner and I were just discussing 
this yesterday.

At 11:37 AM -0400 4/24/03, Dan Saffer wrote:
>I think an IA should know enough about the medium/environment she works
>in (Java, HTML, Flash, C++, etc) to know what is possible, although
>knowing how to accomplish (i.e. program) this need not be part of her
>skill set.

I think that the quality of any designers/architects/engineers work 
measurably improves if they have some hands-on experience with the 
medium that they are designing for.

For instance, a close friend of mine is a carpenter/building 
contractor and constantly complains about the blueprints that he 
receives from architects who clearly haven't a clue about the process 
of building or city codes (according to him!).  This isn't the first 
time I have this kind of complaint though.

Our IA work will be "created"  in the medium of software.
I'm in the same camp as Chris Crawford!  I have a pretty extensive 
programming background.  Because of that, I can usually understand 
the basic design constraints, etc of any programming medium.  But 
frankly thats not enough for me.  I haven't actually programmed in 
awhile and I think its time to renew my understanding with some 
hands-on work.  Right now, I am trying to decide what environment I 
will use to renew my skills.  I am thinking some combination of Flash 
and XML.

My .02 cents. Hope it is helpful.

Donna



>
>Chris Crawford, in The Art of Interactive Design, is decidedly in the
>other camp, however, and is adamant in his belief that IDs/IAs should
>know how to program. To whit:
>
>"There are at least 23.7 scads of reasons why the lead designer must be
>able to program...Programmers always use trumped up technical excuses to
>influence the design process. {You] must understand the technical
>strengths and weaknesses of the target platform to best fit the design
>to that platform...The prime reason...is simple: interactivity design is
>an ambassadorship between user and computer; anyone who does not speak
>both languages will fail."
>
>He goes on to say that "the programming ability is so fundamental to
>interactivity design that, within 10 years, this requirement will have
>asserted itself in Darwinian fashion."
>
>We've talked a lot about gaining business acumen here, but what about
>technical acumen? Thoughts?
>
>Dan
>
>dan saffer
>sr. interaction designer, ameritrade
>http://www.odannyboy.com
>
>"there's a lot of things
>  if I could I'd rearrange." -U2
>
>
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