I recently indulged my inner geek and re-watched The Matrix. I hadn’t seen it since, oh, around 2000 (right after the world was supposed to end). [Read more…]
Take the You out of Usability
In the past week I’ve read Facebook posts from two separate friends talking about mistaken identity. Said friends were going about their daily business when out of the blue a complete stranger starts talking to them, stating they look like a particular famous person. Actually, one was described as Paul McCartney (of Beatles fame – did I just have to describe who Paul is?) while the other was Norman Bates (Tony Perkins’ character in the 60s Hitchcock thriller Psycho). Sometimes when people are mistaken for others, we can look at them and say, “Oh yeah, you do kinda look like so-and-so.” But, in this case, neither of these gentlemen look like their famous counterparts. Back to this topic in a bit. [Read more…]
What the heck is an instructional designer? – Part 1
Being thrown back into the job hunting market has made me acutely aware of the fact that nobody understands what I do. Methinks it’s time for an intro to my world and what it is I actually do. I do not design software. I do not fix computers. I do not produce marketing materials. And I am not restricted to only working in the industry of my last job (healthcare).
I am an instructional designer. What exactly does that mean? I get a lot of blank stares and misinterpretations about my profession. First question posed to me: So, you are like an architect/interior designer? Half the time it’s architect, the other half it’s interior designer. Not so much. [Read more…]
On being an ID: A cautionary tale
I am an instructional designer. I am a multimedia developer. I have my Master’s degree in Instructional Design & Technology and have been working in the field for five years. I’ve seen plenty of learning examples, from paper to CBT to rapid e-learning and everything in between. I think I have a pretty good sense of what works stylistically and from a UX point of view. I have a fairly good grasp of the technology and the theory behind instructional design. With that being said, it’s hard sometimes not to be a little smug and sit on top of my Vygotskian throne dispensing wisdom to the inept SMEs who cross my path. “You want to do THAT? Oh, well, {insert choice learning theory here} states you should do THIS…”, or “we tried that approach 4 years ago and they didn’t get it” (as if it is the exact same approach with the exact same learners, tools, time frame, etc.). [Read more…]