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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: September 12, 2002 Lessons to be Learned (Boxes and Arrows) -- "There are serious problems with the way user experience-related programs are being taught. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against academic degrees. My father was a professor and I’ve been an instructor myself. But that experience makes me worry that current academic programs aren’t well-suited to serving the needs of their students, nor our professions. Let me count the ways…"
Reader Comments...
Anyone got a mod for the bookmarklet that forces font color changes? I could use one that forces all text to black by default so that I can read boxesandarrows on-the-fly, instead of bitching every time John posts a useless link like this one. Posted by: Jack on September 12, 2002 10:16 PM
I'd like one to change that horrible sky blue colour used for hyperlinks (sky blue? ugh) to something more legible. Mr. Kung finds the site unreadable and actually supports Mr. Schonchin. Posted by: Kung Pao on September 13, 2002 01:16 AM
The biggest problem is what people thing University should be. In a traditional sense University is a place were you learn how to learn as an undergrad. If you expect to come out known how everything your wrong, you will learn a little about a lot. Then you are in a position to make one of two step, that being apply your learning skills in the so called “real” or learn how to conduct research as a post grad. If you want to do a course were at the end you are spat out ready for the workforce do a certification or some other for of institute course.
Sorry to derail the thread even further: CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a technology that Boxes & Arrows uses to enable a strong visual design, while also allowing user choice and preference. For anyone having trouble reading the dark grey on white text, it is a simple matter of going to preferences, and asking the browser to apply its own colours (it defaults to Black and White). Thus rendering the site readable to anyone. If you are feeling tricksy you can also apply your own CSS style sheets to the entire www, rendering 40 pixel, black fonts on a bright yellow background if that suits you... That is exactly what CSS was invented to do. Rather than using dodgy hacks, why not use the internet in the way it was intended. You can then thank the authors for complying with w3c and web accessibility initiatives. Posted by: Timo on September 13, 2002 03:55 AM
I love it. Have the world change for you, instead of you change for the world. As if we're going to reconfigure our browser for one web site and then change back for the world, and change back again every time we want to visit this one site. As if. What arrogance. This measure would only make sense for someone with a severe disability that cannot cope any other way. Oh, but wait, that's right, Timo thinks disabilities are a preference. Posted by: Jack on September 13, 2002 02:22 PM
My new nihilism web site will be all white. White text. White background. White images. The images will have alt tags, so they're ok. And if you have trouble reading the text, you can always reconfigure your browser to apply its own colors, or event apply your own CSS style sheets. You can thank me for complying with W3C and web accessibility initiatives. That's right. Meeting technical guidelines doesn't mean squat if you can't see the forest for the trees. Posted by: Jack on September 13, 2002 02:28 PM
I sometime work with programmers who respond to all user requests with a comment like "that's not a problem, they can change line 74 in the config file to 0x6h and then it will work the way they want it to" I don't work with those programmers for very long. Posted by: Mac on September 13, 2002 02:30 PM
Is there a name for when you think one word and type another? Like "event" instead of "even." I find that my typos often emphasize a word I use more often than the one I intended to type. (Not so in this instance.) For a while I found myself calling MadMan "ManMan." And please don't say pargh. There must be a medical or psychological name for my affliction. Posted by: Jack on September 13, 2002 02:35 PM
Back to the topic: I was invited to go and talk to some college students about 'the real world'. Once I had explained what my 'talk' would consist of, the lecturer quickly backtracked, apologised and didn't continue the relationship. It seems that my views (based on my experience) just don't match up with what some of the Computer/Technology/New Media courses want to 'teach'. Jack: I always read the print versions on BandA, but of course even that doesn't work if you want to read the discussions, as the 'print' option just redisplays the article (aarggggh). Jack: I always blame being left-handed for my lack of hand-brain-coordination (or HBC Syndrome, as everthing seems to be a syndrome these days) oops parghon me.. Posted by: Mac on September 13, 2002 02:50 PM
Oh, and another off-topic thing: I do wish Kung Pao wouldn't refer to himself as Mr Kung. It's creepy and makes my skin crawl. And Erasmus doesn't like it either.
I'm curious what the credentials are of someone teaching "user experience" and why they're spending their time in the classroom. In my observation, there are generally two types of professors. Ones who have worked almost entirely in academic circles, and ones who come to a university after 15-30 years of private sector experience. What constitutes expertise in "user experience" and who's doing the teaching? Posted by: Jack on September 13, 2002 03:05 PM
Jack writes: What constitutes expertise in "user experience" and who's doing the teaching? I am an expert in my experiencing my experiences. There is no teacher; there is no spoon.
[I]t’s wise to show a little humility. Recent grads who claim to be the “expert” only undercut their own credibility. Good advice. Posted by: Timo on September 16, 2002 06:45 PM
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