David,
I wanted to respond to your questions in the reply to Keith Russell.
"My point is that as a matter of routine we are asked to provide hard
evidence of the economic and social benefits of what we design. Do
other designers not have to do this? I'm curious?"
The designers in the US are beginning to affect things like the US
government guidelines and standards for universal/assistive technology
design. This is growing out of the Center for Assistive Technology and
Environmental Access (CATEA)at Georgia Tech. The Center has a large
development team that must support itself with grant monies and many
designers are involved in the efforts. We are asked to provide
evidence of effectiveness and deliverables on a quarterly basis. I am
certain there are many more examples of design "results" in the US but
they are not collected, disseminated or put in front of people who
make key hiring decisions. The corporate sector is even worse at
collecting design information and they certainly won't share their
information.
Lorraine
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