I mentioned in a previous post how I’ve been working with Navid Sadikali to kick-start a professional interest group in our area around the topics of design and user experience. The response to our initial events has been terrific, so I’m pleased to announce today that when we kick off our new season in September 2007, it’ll be as an affiliate Face-To-Face group of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA).
I’ve been a member of the IxDA since its inception in 2003 and believe it’s the best supporting organization for interaction/user-experience designers. Its active discussion list is a source of learning, inspiration, connection, and of course debate. If you’re a practicing designer, I encourage you to check it out.
Our affiliation with IxDA plugs us into a valuable network of peers and experts while allowing us to build and operate our local group as we see fit. For instance, we’ll likely also affiliate as a peer-to-peer group of Communitech, an association that promotes Waterloo region’s technology businesses. Communitech has already supported our first two events (thanks Communitech!).
Two high-level goals are driving the formation of this new group, now affiliated with IxDA:
- To build a support community for local designers, whether they identify themselves as interaction designers, industrial designers, web designers, etc. We’re casting a wide net here, as we believe there’s a lot of value to be had in bringing together a variety of design disciplines.
- To promote the value that Design (note the capital D) and “design thinking” brings to business. This means we’ll strive to have active members from disciplines other than design, such as business strategy, marketing, product management, and so on.
Like to participate? Leave a comment here or send me an email and I’ll place you on our mailing list. Also be sure to check our next event on June 14, the 7-Minute Soapbox.
