Hi Pedro,
This is an area which is dear to my heart.
I have had the great advantage of living in a country that is not just democratic but fundamentally egalitarian. This has enabled us to progress in this kind of work for some decades, long before UX became fashionable in the USA and other Market driven economies. Moreover, we have the depth of knowhow that comes from over 30 years of continuous public and private support.
But we are living in dangerous times and my fear is that many of the gains we have made will get lost as markets lose customers and governments are continually squeezed financially. I fear that customers and citizens will lose out.
As an example, a financial institution which was badly in need of overhauling its customer communication came to us recently with an absurdly tight deadline and tiny budget and asked for our help. Their principle objective was not to improve customer communication but to prevent their customers from leaving them. They were so nervous about our suggestions, which were very modest, that they decided to do nothing and decided to just hope that the market would change and the haemorrhaging would stop.
Over the last year I have been having internal discussions with our Fellows and Board Members about these sad developments. So concerned are we that we are considering altering the focus of our activity from research, design, and advice to one of advocacy and critical review.
I'm putting this all together as a strategy for our future. If you or anyone on this list is interesting in being involved with this strategic development, as well as participating in our future activity, please become a subscriber to our Institute newsletter (it's free). That will be the main vehicle through which we will keep you informed of these developments and invite you to participate in our work. http://communication.org.au/wp-login.php?action=register
I also invite you to read some of my blogs on this subject in the 'critical commentary' category. http://communication.org.au/category/critical-commentary/
David
--
blog: http://communication.org.au/blog/
web: http://communication.org.au
Professor David Sless BA MSc FRSA
CEO • Communication Research Institute •
• helping people communicate with people •
Mobile: +61 (0)412 356 795
Phone: +61 (0)3 9005 5903
Skype: davidsless
60 Park Street • Fitzroy North • Melbourne • Australia • 3068
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