Post #2680408

@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng @skry@mastodon.social I don't think you and I differ that much. I have always referred to my work as interaction design for the reason that "user experience" and "design thinking" were bowdlerizations of true IxD. This was done as a sop to management who dislike hard problems with time-consuming answers. Management repaid the favor by hiring "UX professionals" rather than interaction designers. Those UXers then exhibit all of the faults you describe. My earlier point was that the origin of this problem lay in the hands of management. They did not want to take the time and make the investment in good product design. They wanted quick and easy answers. The practitioner community gave them what they wanted in an act of self-debasement that was ultimately suicidal (something akin to refusing to unionize). Additionally, the growing consolidation and monopolization of the industry made it clear to business leaders that dark patterns and other bad behaviors generated more profit & revenue than good design and user satisfaction did. So, basically, everyone was miserable except the oligarchs. My company--being dedicated to quality--never got very big and because I spoke truth to people who mostly wanted easy affirmation of their opinions, never got very rich. The small cadre of practitioners who learned what good practice could accomplish never really moved the needle industry-wide. So, my opinion often centers on what I saw COULD be done, rather than on what WAS done. Such is life.