WebReference.com has an interview with Rosenfeld and Krug. Most of the short interview isn't all that interesting (did we need to know that Steve Krug snores?), but I liked Lou's response to the question of why he was "hopping on the UX [User Experience] bandwagon?":
I'm typically anti-wagon (I much prefer to walk). But I do happen to like this particular bandwagon. We need UX because contemporary design challenges are too complex; no single established field, such as graphic design, computer science, or technical communication, can provide the array of techniques and wisdom necessary. There are newer fields, like information architecture and usability, which are on the right track - these espouse multi- disciplinary methodologies. But they're each still a bit narrowly focused and come with baggage. UX could provide a broad design umbrella for us all to get under, compare notes and techniques, maybe even come up with a shared design methodology. If nothing else, UX could also help provide a framework that would enable interdisciplinary conversations. After all, one of the hardest parts of working in a multidisciplinary environment is that we literally don't speak the same language.
Posted by Karl
April 13, 2003 06:38 PM