Yup, that is pretty much my dream. After about a decade fixing electronics and another as a network manager, I realized that the only place I would be happy is in academia. (Should I spell that with a capital A?) I’m more into standards design than pure computer science, myself but I still think I can make a contribution. I think a lot of problems in computing could be solved by a well designed standard for communicating information between systems or platforms.

But I also really enjoy teaching people things and helping people learn and figure out things. So I think it will be a good move on my part.

Victoria wrote:

that’s the problem with most software interfaces done by programmers

Yep. I’m not going to deny this. I do tend to churn out crappy GUI’s when I’m preoccupied with other stuff. But I do know that that GUI is important. It is what makes or breaks the app usually. It’s what shapes user experience.

Also, this is why it is good to have a professional designer do these things. Or at least to spec them out. I may read up on composition, user experience, and best practices in GUI design but this is not necessarily what I do every day. So when I’m making a GUI I’m either:

a) winging it
b) going with the “path of the least resistance” route

Photoshop is something I use sporadically, and each time I do I learn a new thing. Like: oh, I didn’t know you could use a mask to do that. :O

I still don’t exactly know how to do all them Web 2.0 effects. If I need them, I usually steal them from some other website. :P

Victoria wrote:

I used to work in the IT department of the bank and hated Outlook ever since

I still do work in IT capacity on some days (small company == wearing many hats… Way to many hats… ) and Outlook is not my friend. For example, I love how in some versions the PST files can’t be bigger than 2GB. And if they get that big, Outlook just stops working completely. :)

“Yeah, GUI – that most insignificant part of the software most of us throw together the last minute” – that’s the problem with most software interfaces done by programmers :)

Anyways, on the topic of thankless job – our development team has been reduced drastically (with top programmers just allowed to leave, no trying to keep them despite the fact that they were the only ones who really knew the system core). So basically we have now more QA guys and MORE project managers then developers. And somehow those QAs and PMs find something to do, they appear to be constantly busy. When the bug is found, it’s always dev fault. Even when it’s a clear requirement omission – it still turns into ‘developer should have thought about that’. When I insisted on pushing the CSS upgrade project because the system threatened to become unmaintainable, it became the scapegoat of the year – nobody knew what CSS upgrade meant so they assumed it was what broke everything. When system calculations turned out wrong, it still was the CSS project fault :) and that’s not fine programming I’m talking about :) so I guess the only gratifying thing is to talk to people like you – when I do something I’m proud of, I’m boasting about it.

P.S. I used to work in the IT department of the bank and hated Outlook ever since :)