ID and Engineer Battle

There have been many HCI courses that I have taken since the start of my graduate program. All have been focused on a particular section of interaction design (research, prototyping, usability testing, etc). I pretty much know what the courses will be like from now until I finish my program. So I also know what the courses won't be like as well.

In all classes, there has been discussion (even jokes) about the realities of really working on a design team for a particular product or with a particular company. Class presenters have also shared their real world experiences in this arena with us, giving us the low down about the relationships and interactions between marketing, business, engineering, and interaction design. At this point, I pretty much know that there will be difficulty fitting into a team as interaction designer because in some companies, we won't be taken seriously and there will be pull from each department to try and outdo each other and be "right". In essence, communication will be an integral part of this team effort.

So I wonder, why don't we have seminars or actual classes where the university does its best to integrate all these different individuals (computer science people, engineers, marketers, business people, and interaction designers) into a project in an attempt to simulate what a "real world" experience would be like. I think something like this would be phenomenal and help all parties better understand the different types of people and hence mentalities they will encounter. We would learn so much more from each other than simply reading or hearing about it. Seem like this would really help prepare us for the inevitable.

Since communication will be essential, I think we should start working on that a little early on in the game....just a thought.