Right then. If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?
[Rule – you’re only allowed to nominate yourself, if you’re, like, Alan Kay or The Coop.]
Petafloptimism 
The Spanish bloke from Doors of Perception – a perfect warm up. Or for something a bit more on topic, Jared Spool is a great speaker.
Nathan?
I’d suggest Bill Moggridge of IDEO – Alledgedly he coined the term ‘interaction design’ and is a very inspiring speaker.
Other than that – Bill Verplank is another option.
my mate Gilly? or, Dr Simon Gill phd
http://www.usercentricity.com/contributors/simon_gill.html
I don’t know the others, so I can’t really say with authority, but I have attended seminars by Jared Spool and he /is/ very magnetic and entertaining, and his message is worth being heard.
The only trouble is, now nearly 10 years since I attended his seminar, I follow his mailing lists and it’s not /him/ I find myself quoting the most, it’s The Coop!
I might also go for Jeff Raskins, but there again, like Jared, I like what he says and basically agree with him, but I don’t see any demonstration by either author to say they can apply their own principles!
There’s another annoying thought I’d like to put on the table here, one that I keep asking at conferences and no one ever answers: If UI is so important, why then are the UI guru sites not the most profitable? Put another way, do any of these principles actually influence human behaviour, or are they just nice to have. Like the heated Corinthian Leather Seats of an import sports car — it doesn’t really help you do your shopping at the mall (it actually makes finding secure parking more of a problem). Do we actually have proof these Very Good Ideas /really/ matter?
Maeda?
(Someone seriously suggested *shedroff?*)
Yo, Matt, tell us more about these 100 designers…
Could you seriously get 100 designers together who had never heard of Interaction Design?
I have a good list, which I’ll link to this entry via Trackback, but knowing the audience will help me rank my suggestions.
Cheers!
Hey, what’s wrong with Shedroff? I could pick out just as many bad points about Maeda, plus he’s at the very least got a book called “Experience Design”… not that I’m saying that’s who I’d pick, just tossing in options.
His humility has somewhat prevented him from getting to Cooper-like guru status, but I’d recommend Marc Rettig for exactly that reason. He’s an engaging speaker, smart but not highfalutin, and deeply knowledgeable about not just the ins and outs of interaction design, but what it takes for teams to pull it off well.
Alternately, you might just send your folks to Marcs tutorial [ http://www.dux2003.org/tutorials/tutorial_rettig.html ] at DUX.
Gah! Your trackback setup is seriously hosed.
I don’t know what the deal is, but I posted my suggestions on brad lauster (dot com) today.
Sorry for the multiple trackback pings.
I’d second Marc Rettig for the reasons cited above, and also suggest Richard Buchanan – I’ve been fortunate to hear them both speak almost daily for the last few months.
Buchanan is less well-known: he’s been the editor of Design Issues and head of the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon for a number of years. He’s a philosopher who explores deeper, core issues of design but still seems to keep it relevant and meaningful. His definition of “interaction design” is a bit broader than most: think Shedroff’s Experience Design, but with a more structured framework and much, much better references going back to guys like Plato and Aristotle. He was a keynote speaker at UPA a few years back, and I’ve enjoyed his lectures during the last two semesters immensely.
Definitely, Carol Moore
http://www.lbbinc.com/CMooreDMJ.pdf
Inspirational introduction to Interaction Design?
Matt Jones asks, “If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?” Here’s my list: John Grimes — professor o…
Inspirational introduction to Interaction Design?
Matt Jones asks, “If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?” Here’s my list: John Grimes — professor o…
Inspirational introduction to Interaction Design?
Matt Jones asks, “If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?” Here’s my list: John Grimes — professor o…
Inspirational introduction to Interaction Design?
Matt Jones asks, “If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?” Here’s my list: John Grimes — professor o…
Inspirational introduction to Interaction Design?
Matt Jones asks, “If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?” Here’s my list: John Grimes — professor o…
Inspirational introduction to Interaction Design?
Matt Jones asks, “If you had to get someone of guru-status to both introduce and inspire a group of about 100 designers from various backgrounds about the field of interaction design, who would you pick?” Here’s my list: John Grimes — professor o…