[Sigia-l] Which box are u in?

[paula.thornton]

Dave Heller and I have been continuing our 'offline' debate about CMS (at
this point I'm still at the 'any vendor' not 'getting it' as opposed to this
being a CMS-specific issue). Then David said something that totally put the
locomotive breaks on (hear headsplitting decibels of metal screeching
against metal).

Dave said:
"I was in my car on my way to work today and I think thought up what my 3
terms would be for what User Experience's goals are about: Engage, Teach,
Complete
Engage the User
Teach the User (who can then)
Complete the task

I quickly responded back to the effect of: No wonder! You're inside the
wrong box.

When designing things from the perspective of the 'recipient' there is no
possibility for "Engage" or "Teach". These are terms associated with doing
something "to" the recipient, not doing something "for" the recipient (the
latter being the correct approach). And in reality, any approach can only be
judged 'correct' when tested from the 'recipient's voice'. Would a
'recipient' ever say "user"; would they say, "I need to engage myself?" or
"I need to teach myself?".

In far more personal settings I have replaced the term "teaching" with
"learning". The change in focus results in phenomenal differences. In a
'teaching teachers' course, I ask them not to think of themselves as
'teachers' (doing something 'to' someone) but as 'facilitators of learning'
(doing something 'with' someone).

None of us will make the progress possible to us until we change this subtle
perspective in what we do.

Paula Thornton
Interaction Design Strategist
www.iknovate.com