Apparently, I’m not the only one considering what we do as interaction designers as a “craft.” Social Design guy Joshua Porter has posted his slides from a presentation he gave on the topic. From his site:
For my talk, I picked something I’ve never talked about before: web craftsmanship. I chose this topic because I’ve been thinking a lot more about it since going out on my own last August. I also consider both Dan and Ethan craftsmen, obsessed with doing quality work vs. gaining notoriety or getting rich. So I thought it would be a good fit for the audience as well.
Passion shouldn’t be about making money (social or physical). Coincidentally, there’s a name for that kind of passion: Greed.
Passion is being driven to do what you love, your craft. What do you love? How can you share it with people?
Josh’s post made me think of a post I wrote last summer in which I drilled down to my passion: design. I was driven to talk about an abuse of the word because I realized that “design” as a verb, doesn’t quite cut what it means to me. Anyone can be a designer and no one can tell them they’re not. My work deserves more than that, I like to think of it as a craft.
Definitely, stop by Josh’s site and flip through his slides. Very inspiring.
(Found at Bokardo – Social Design by Joshua Porter.)