Patterns & best practices are useful guidelines - but they're just that. An "Interaction Design for Dummies" book would provide reinforcement for our credibility and sense of identity. Its greatest value will probably be as a consciousness-raising tool among the many UI hobbyists out there

It's always been an interesting, dynamic debate.

I have exercised my programming skills since the 80's, but - as a UxP guy - I don't consider it to be a job description for me now. I consciously opted out of that arena when I realized that dynamism = schizophrenia when you try to do everything. It is difficult - if not impossible - to wear both hats effectively.

The challenge is for these two radically different mindsets to play together gracefully.

Conventional IT teams tend to be programmer-centric, both in terms of philosopy and staffing. Documentation, Process and Design (in the sense of Interaction Design and Usability) are rarely well-represented.

The debate hinges on "territoriality creep" between Development and Design.

The Interaction Design discipline is neither well-integrated nor well-protected in the conventional IT environment. In that situation, qualitative issues (i.e. Usability) become a political football.

In such a game Interaction Design is already at a profound disadvantage: The size of the team, boundaries, homefield advantage, leadership, scoring system, resources, time of play, rules & enforcement all lie with the programmers.