In light of the CHI 2010 paper reviews that were due last week, I created a comic strip about the academic research, review, and publishing process. I previously noted that this was one of my tips for “dealing with the rebuttal process!”
This comic has elements of truth and exaggeration, but is meant to bring awareness to the contrast between the experiences of an academic who operates in an established culture of academic rigor and anonymous peer-review and an entrepreneur whose culture embraces experimentation. Many would consider the entrepreneur to have a more successful outcome, while the response from academics may be that this is just what it takes to do research.
I have lived a bit in both of these worlds, and neither one really makes sense. You can decide for yourself!
(Be forewarned that there are some “insider” jokes in here. If you don’t “get” something, feel free to ask me about it!)
All my comics can be found on my scribd account.
7 Comments
Very nicely done, Brynn! And, so true …
Hi Uma,
Thanks! I see that you study how people use images for various tasks. Do you study the use of comics in storytelling or in explaining problems/situations? That’s my interest in it these days.
Best of luck! And hang in there
haha, thank brynn. i was just playing with comic life last night while taking a break from my literature review paper on ’social entrepreneurship.’ how’s that for parallel lives? i think i’ll have to share this with my cadre. ;0
I assume you’ve seen http://xkcd.com/664/ =P
Nicely done. Raises the question whether you’d recommend the PhD track to other people interested in UX/entrepreneurship?
Dave — yep, saw that
Mark — thanks! From my experience and gleanings, it seems that the Ph.D. is good if you want to do research or teach. This can happen within UX/entrepreneurship, but I’m guessing that you mean a different type of practice. In that case, if you’re looking for higher education, try the Master’s in some creative/HCI/interaction design program
Also beautifully done: