Tog wants to use a new name for interaction design.... Bruce Tognazzini is a prinicpal at the Nielsen Norman Group, and used to publish regularly on his AskTog site. Now he's back, with a call to arms for Interaction Architects.
The tone of the article seems somewhat needy, with its "Why we get no respect" title. But that no-respect sentiment seems to echo throughout the UX community in all its niches. And Tog does identify some key considerations. I'm just not sure that a branding argument will be what gets respect, over having UX practitioners of all stripes understand business better. [ia/ - information architecture news]
So the HCI/interaction/usabilty community needs another association and another title. And they've spent 25 years gettin' no respect? Sound familiar? It does to me. I don't buy Tog's argument about how perfect his choice of names is, but I do buy the branding argument. We technical writers/technical communicators/information developers etc. etc. etc. do a lousy job of selling our value to employers. We do a lousy job of generating respect from our peers. We do a lousy job of convincing each other that we even deserve more respect, much less more money.
Just when I thought STC was serious about "designing the future of technical communication," along come SIGDOC and changes their name to the SIG for "Design of Communication." STC's branding campaign began and ended with a new logo poorly received by its members. But maybe the real branding campaign needs to come from the grass roots, where we define ourselves for each other and for our coworkers. One step at a time.
I need to think this one out some more. Read Tog's piece, replace the job titles with your favorite writer title, and see what you think--not about starting a new organization, I don't think we need that, but about the branding and selling angle, and how to get more respect. Let me know what you think.
Oh, and feedback to Tog already, suggesting more inter-organizational cooperation, rather than a new org:
5-Aug-2003 -- An Open Letter to Tog. An Open Letter to Tog (Croc o' Lyle) -- "My suggestion would be for people to get active in UPA... [WebWord]
9:33:57 PM 
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