IDSA's new web site

That is an awesome benchmark, really nice and fun site. I like this page:
http://www.ixda.org/local/network

or this one:
http://www.ixda.org/resources

what is the membership fee for IxDA?

I have been one of IDSA’s supporters and have always learned that there is more to a story then what one sees. But the website is a big disappointment on so many levels especially after all the propaganda about how it would issue in the start of a new era and for IDSA to make excuses just follows suit. Far to many time is something completed then the explanations come as to why it wasn’t done the way they wanted it. In the end although there is effort for change it seem as if things are still being executed in the same fashion which has gotten IDSA into their current state.

I completely understand that it is hard to change direction of a large corporation (which is what IDSA is) and that unless you are a intricate part of the system there are many factors that effect things both positively and negatively which you cannot be aware of. But in the end I still have not seen the growth and development of the society that was promised.

What the solution is I can’t say but I do know that if things don’t change IDSA will lose to many current members and never be able to attract the younger generation. I would personally love to read the business plan that outlines the course of action…

On the join page, it says you only have to fill out the form… so free? :open_mouth:

that was my point :wink:

http://www.ixda.org/about/participate/donate

The member-supported IxDA gratefully accepts financial contributions from both individuals and organizations.

Without the generous contributions, participation and support of the global interaction design community, IxDA wouldn’t be where it is today. The Interaction Design Association, a 501(c)6 not-for-profit organization, is member-supported rather than membership-supported. You are a member if you say you are, and pay no dues. It’s that simple.

In order to support the development and maintenance of platforms such as IxDA.org, we rely heavily on our members’ contributions of volunteer time, as well as on revenue-generating events like our annual conference and the direct financial contributions of sponsors and members like you. We conduct semi-regular fundraising efforts, but appreciate contributions from our constituency at any time of year.

We thank you for your support! To donate to IxDA, please use this button:

Now that’s a membership model I can get behind! Also I’m sure greatly encourages satisfaction as you won’t complain if you don’t donate, and if you do, you help strengthen the popular events, etc. as opposed to paying for all and not liking what you get (IDSA).

R

There is now a Mr-914, IxDA. Pretty cool.

Having said that, it looks like IxDA does a lot less than IDSA outside of Cal. At least that’s my impression after crawling the website for a while.

Not sure if anyone’s checked it out in the midst of all the uproar, but a group of us here at Ziba have been helping out IDSA recently to get this up and running:

http://idsadiy2010.org/


It’s the microsite for the upcoming IDSA conference, and I’d be curious to hear what people think. Still a work in progress, built on a Wordpress platform with a fairly narrow range of content, but it’s aiming to address some of the concerns that have come up so far about information overload, navigability, visual consistency, etc.

I’d love to get feedback and opinions from the target audience (i.e. most of Core’s readership), as we’re going to be adding a lot more content between now and the conference in August, and are hoping to make it useful to the ID community in general, even if they’re not coming to Portland.

Carl, lets just say I wish this was the IDSA website! It’s contemporary, fun, and easy to use. Lets me get to the good stuff quickly. I like how this is handled: with the roll overs and such:
http://idsadiy2010.org/speakers/

Much appreciated! It’s been a far flung collaboration and a labor of love, but the topic keeps it interesting.

Other feedback?

We’re just starting to load up the Blog portion, so suggestions on content are much appreciated – basically, anything that helps get the DIY vs. traditional design conversation going. I know Mike’s got some very well- considered thoughts on this, but if anyone is interested in contributing, or has come across some interesting perspectives on the topic, please don’t be shy. This only happens once a year.

I browsed the ISADIY2010 site quickly and also have to agree that it’s great. Excellent, even. Fun, easy to use, graphically relevant. A pleasure to use. I don’t think I’ll get a chance for further review, but it seems like you have it above par on the whole so I don’t see the need to get into details and nitpick. Great work.

Can you maybe hack the IDSA site to make it as good :wink: ? (even half as good would be an improvement).

I’m watching from afar (up here in Canada) but the quality of the site alone makes me wish I could attend. I’d say that is a ringing endorsement!

R

Want to add my comments based on looking at the site today. It still needs quite a bit of polishing. The typography is terrible. Right and left justified sans-serif type is painful to read, and unneccesary in most places. Many spelling and grammatical mistakes. And someone should regularly update it so events that happened 3 months ago are not called “upcoming”. Keep working on it!

My suggestion to you and any other member is that these comments should be directed directly to IDSA. Sad to say, despite any shortcomings that the website has, we’ve received very little specific comments/suggestions/criticism from the membership. I encourage each of you to first, use the the website and then submit specific issues you’d like addressed. You can Clive Roux at cliver@idsa.org.

The more participation we have, the better the website will be.

Thanks,

w

Wouldn’t hurt if idsa perhaps checked out this thread… Wasn’t that the whole idea with this forum. I would think core represents a large percentage if members and potential members…

R

That’s true, and it wouldn’t hurt to ask our members to directly engage IDSA with those comments. We do monitor this board but the staff is asking for direct feedback. So why not contact them as well?

Anonymous posts don’t carry the same weight IMHO.
w

I see a new tag line “IDSA, always asking for something”

I just couldn’t help myself.

If they can’t trust the authenticity of comments on here, I think there is a deeper issue. Many of the posters here are not anonymous… especially with a click or two. I’d say that anything on here would actually carry more weight. Keep the discussion public guys! Join the new transparent reality.

How specific do you want? I’m ready… to post on here…

Agreed. I’m sure we’ve been very specific on this thread. The navigation, hierarchy, organization, type, use of words, have all been addressed. I know people hate email, and I believe that reading this thread is way more convenient… Just send a link to this thread.

Honestly, it’s at the point where there are SO many “specific criticism/suggestions” that it’d basically be another redesign of the site (which I don’t think is a bad idea). I know a recent grad was nice enough to do it, but he’s a recent grad… who came in with 0 experience with Drupal. How does IDSA get away with assigning such a vital part of itself to an intern? I don’t mean to offend the designer. He’s a recent grad and it’s completely understandable about his lack of experience. But come on, IDSA… we pay all that money each year and I’m sure you have plenty of connections in the web UX design area.

Also, this way of getting community feedback is pretty backwards. Asking for feedback after the website is completely built and “finished” is asking for trouble… changing basic elements that just dont work (like the navigation and org of content) is HELL, and is basically a redesign. IDSA should’ve been asking for our feedback since the beginning of our project? Where’s the user-centered design? Contextual inquiries?

Anyway, it’s probably not gonna change for a while.

Okay I am going to have to play both sides of the coin here.

I am going to start on the positive side of IDSA. As some of you have seen in other posts I been putting my work out there to see where it might get me. IDSA has been a big contributor when it comes to contacting others. I have used contacts through IDSA to help me get into contact with certain companies that have been part of my career goals scenes day one. This has been huge for me. It has provided great opportunities me.

On the other side of the coin, I still think IDSA is stuck in the past. Face it gentlemen, times are changing. Your website is behind the times (even though it was just “redesigned”), the profession is changing and it seems that you don’t want to accept it. You NEED to bring us back together!!! If you want to be what you say you are you NEED to start showing value. I am a member because Mars pays for it. If I was a student (which I hear now has to pay $50 which is big money for a student and it used to be free) or an unemployed designer, I don’t know that I would pay the $375 to join. My question for someone in that situation is what are they getting for their money? A website that is hard to navigate? Sections that as I know from experience are not really defined (Warren I know you are working this out)? Conferences that I need to pay more money to go to? Honestly guys I am struggling with the value. Other than the fact that it creates a community that when looking for a job you can say “I too am a member of IDSA” I don’t get it, and if that is your thing than please play that up. Make it worth the money!! Make the conferences about networking!! There are a ton of designers out of jobs right now and there is a hug opportunity for you to help others. That shows value.

As far as the website goes…I agree, it is awful!! I have been trying to set up a Pkg section and wanted to do a happy hour at the HBA show. I tried to find the name and contact info of the NYC chapter leader (which is a bigger problem that I did not know who that was) and I found is name, but there was no contact info to be found. What is the use of showing me his name if I cannot get in touch with him?

Does IDSA think this is a good site? Are they happy with it?

These are important questions because if the answer is yes, then there is a problem.
Industrial design is fun, exciting and creative, this site is none of those things. It’s plain, poorly executed and leaves us no reason to return on a regular basis. I don’t like being so negative, but I have been thinking about this for a few days now and there is no other way to put it.


IDSA has the potential to be a really great site and resource for designers and students.

http://idsadiy2010.org/ <<<---------- This is a good site. Fun, interesting and the information is easy to navigate. The blog makes me want to check in to see what’s new. Whoever did this should work on IDSA.org.

I want to clarify my last post…

Like I have mentioned before, I have started to see the one on one value of IDSA. Ironically after posting a flame post on the NE conf I have met many designers that are heavily involved with IDSA and made many great friends that I think I will keep in contact for the rest of my career. I have taken on the role of creating a Pkg Section and even though it has been challenging, it has been a great experience and allowed me to really get a great perspective on this decently large area of ID. Not only has it allowed me to connect with other designers both personally and professionally, but it has also helped me grow as a design manager. So this is just a short description, but when you put in the effort and try with IDSA it does bring personal value.

Now to throw that las statement on its head, what I have done is a very small percentage of the members. My biggest issue with the organization is that not enough people either have the time or want to devote that amount of attention to the organization. Now some would say that if the member does not want to engage than that is their fault. My point is that you need to make the member want to engage. I am engaging now, because it is interesting to me and I want to grow my area of ID. Honestly I think this is because I am at the point in my career where I am no longer a real hands on design as now I am a design manager, and I want the new grads that I hire to be ready for the Pkg business.

My personal objective of growing the category is not appealing to a 19 year old ID student. Those are the ones that you are loosing. You already have me the 30 year old design manager all the way up to the 50 year old Principle. How do we attract the young entry level guys? I don’t know the answer to that, but what you are doing is not working. Do you have any stats on what the ages are that of your members? I think that if you look at this and take the students out of the equation, as they are a bios, you will find that most entry level straight out of school drop you. This is due to them not seeing value. You are no different than any other brand, you need to show value to the younger crown to keep them coming back as they get older. If you loose them in the beginning then it will be hard to get them back.


Edit::

One thing that would help ^^^ is a bit more visibility. Warren, I know we see you here addressing us and our issues, but I would like to see more IDSA representation on these boards. It would be great to see Clive and others on here addressing the IDSA issues as well as joining the other discussions. We have said this over and over, but you will get more feedback on these boards than anywhere else. Also by joining other discussions you will only develop a relationship (even if it is just online) with the member you are trying to recruit.