Computing is ubiquitous, but experiences are design-led

Knuth described the “art of programming”, but the relationship between art and code is somewhat uneasy. For many years we have seen papers at conferences making excuses for computing students’ inabilities when it comes to design. Those of us who teach computing have all sat through assessments where students show us something functional but truly ugly. Yet many of them will find themselves as web-designers or games-designers or exhibition developers (I could write a long list here). For some this will mean working with colleagues “who can draw”, for others, especially those in small businesses, they’ll be it. This panel explores the relationship between design and computing. The central question is whether we are appropriately preparing our graduates for careers where computing is ubiquitous, but experiences are design-led.

I’m preparing to chair a panel at CITRENZ next week, what are your thoughts on this?