The greatest lesson I learned at Interaction08 last weekend was from Bill Buxton, during his keynote talk. Here’s his list of things that, as a designer, you must know:

1. What makes you distinct.
2. Your value lies in your distinctiveness.
3. That makes you a minority.
4. There will be pressure to conform.
5. Your value is lost in assimilation.

Also, he made sure to counter Don Norman’s feeling by saying emphatically, Everybody is not a designer.

Great stuff. Can’t agree more.