Types of designers
Interaction with design teams
Preparation and training

Types of designers

Interface designers come in a lot of flavors -- there are more college programs offering human-computer interface degress than there used to be, but still not enough to supply the demand. In addition, interface design is a broad field; one degree probably cannot prepare a person for all the possible jobs that go under the name "interface designer."     Many people think that interface designers are simply graphic designers who have learned to use computers, but the backgrounds of interface designers frequently include: psychology writing rhetoric media production telecommunications instructional design computer science library science music, theatre and literature and of course, graphic design

Tom Erickson Pyschology & research Gomoll Research & Design Rhetoric & usability Ignition Design Graphic design, technical writing, instruction & media Cyan Programming, music & game design back to the top

Interaction with design teams

It can be fun to daydream about sitting in a brightly lit studio (or a dimly lit room full of techno-toys) and designing a brilliant interface for the next multimedia chart-topper ... in reality, designers spend more time than not in team meetings and design meetings and coordination meetings and demonstration sessions and editorial reviews and technical walkthroughs and usability analysis meetings.      Designing software of any complexity at all is a team effort -- interface designers have to be some of the most flexible, mutli-faceted people on a design team since their work pulls together almost everything else into the tangible forms that users will experience.      "If we're a team, why don't we act like one?" , by Karen Holzblatt, suggests concrete ways that multidisciplinary teams can communicate effectively in spite of their different perspectives.

Potential members of software design teams: project leader project coordinator programmer/engineer animation engineer interface designer graphic designer sound designer tools designer video producer documentation designer writer editor usability specialist technical testing engineer marketing specialist back to the top

Preparation and training

The ACM Education Survey Report details programs around the world that focus on HCI. You can also create independent majors in preparation for an interface design career at many universities, and you can simply major in a related field.      In addition to formal study, however, the best preparation for becoming a designer of any kind is to design. Take every opportunity to design products, work with other designers, and get your work critiqued and tested. A strong portfolio still outweighs all kinds of educational credentials in many situations ... so far!     interactions, an ACM publication, is the single journal an interface design must read, and preferably subscribe to - you won't want to turn an issue back in to the library after you've seen it!     The HCI Bibliography is the central Web-based resource for interface designers ... look here for the curriculum being developed and revised by the ACM to define required baseline education for aspiring interface designers.

VizAbility by Kristina Hooper Woolsey, Scott Kim, Gayle Curtiss & MetaDesign Great CD-ROM covereing visualization skills essential for interface designers. Also introduces process skills, like critique. back to the top