Bob Jacobson sees DUX 2007 conference as fundamentally off the mark
Bob Jacobson, design consultant and editor of the anthology Information Design (MIT Press, 1999), is on a roll these days. Today the focus of his provocative commentary is the DUX 2007 conference, which he thinks is “ideologically discomforting” and “fundamentally off the mark”.
“The DUX 2007 conference begins today in Chicago. Thematically, content-wise, and in terms of approach, this is the consummate conference on cutting-edge design. The speakers are top-notch, too. But ideologically, DUX is discomforting. For all its virtues, DUX embodies a set of values that, while commendable, are incomplete and off-kilter. It’s user-centric, not human-centric. And experience, if it is anything, is human.”
Go Bob, I think you are absolutely right.
Mark, I appreciate your comments.
One of the commentators on my blog noted that my remarks are high level and not directly relevant to most designers’ practices. Yes and no. Yes, because it’s true that if a task needs doing, worrying futilely about larger issues can delay and even prevent its accomplishment. No, because the hit rate for DUX designers remains appallingly low. When designers venture too far from product, interface, and technical systems requirements — into service or media design, for example — they invoke all of the concerns I raised in my blog entry. BTW, most have been raised before. I merely connected some dots and sketched out lateral meanings. Others can draw their own conclusions and act accordingly.
It’s always a privilege and an honor to be covered in PPF, Mark. Thanks again.
Bob