Designer Profiles: Dave Malouf

Meet Dave Malouf. He’s a design consultant, coach, and educator, and was one of the founders of IxDA.

Please briefly describe your career path, including the reasons behind job changes and shifts.

I started out in the 90s as a job jumper with various Web Design, UI Design, Producer job roles. By the end of the decade I had my first IA role but also a management role. With the .dot bubble burst I moved to CA as an Interaction Designer. 

I helped found the fledgling IxDA before moving back to NY as a principal designer. I then shifted into education when I became a professor of Interaction Design at the Savannah College of Art & Design. 

Then when I went back into industry I became a practice lead in Interaction Design, and a design manger, right up until 2 years ago when I help create a new practice called Design Operations and became an independent consultant which I still am today.

What excites you about being a designer?

I love everything about design, from aesthetics to solutioneering.

What’s one thing every designer should know?

There is always someone who came before you. Respect that.

What are the challenges that the design field faces today?

Having a coherent message of why we really exist.

What’s the most annoying design debate out there?

There are no annoying design debates. There are just the annoying people who keep saying they are annoying. Debate is natural and important. Silencing debate is never a good thing for any practice. Level up the debate, don't silence it.

What’s your favorite NYC bagel spot?

Murray's Bagels on 6th Ave & 11th St.

What’s the most ridiculous fact you know?

That officially — according to a ruling by the Supreme Court — Long Island is not an island and therefore not the longest island in the US.

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