With our deadline just extended, there's a bit of breathing space for students to consider entering. Just in case you were wondering what it's like to take part in the a design challenge, we're continuing a series of interviews with finalists and co-chairs of previous years.

In this interview, we caught up with Liz Danzico and Andy Poliane, co chairs of the last IxDA design challenge. We started by asking what they liked most about the challenge in Boulder:

AP: Apart from working with Liz and you wonderful judges (I really enjoyed our discussions about the work and process), the best thing was seeing what those brilliant students could achieve in such a short amount of time. I was immensely heartened by the support and response from the IxDA community too.

LD: Seeing students from different schools work both separately and together. The challenge is this great opportunity to be designerly competitive in a collaborative space -- sharing work process, stories, ways of making -- all in a compressed timeline. The connections I made there with many of the students still continue today, and I’d imagine the same must be true for many of the students.

Crit sessions on day 1 of the design challenge in Boulder

It's definitely wonderful to see the finalists working together, and demonstrates a lot of what is great about being a designer. What kind of an experience do you think finalists can expect?

AP: A lot to take in and do in a very short amount of time, all the while weaving that together with attending the conference. They will get to see and meet some of the very top people in the business who are usually only too happy to offer help and advice. They will also achieve more in a few days than they often will have managed in a semester at uni.

LD: To make something worth remembering. Whatever happens during the span of that short time, it is sure to be memorable. With collaborators from the top practitioners (the judges) to the top students (the participants) to the audience (the conference attendees), there is no better place than to challenge yourself to do work you care about.

…expect to get a lot done in a short time. Izac Ross presents on day 2

It is amazing the amount of work that gets done in just a few days! This year we're hoping to build on the collaborative vibe of the previous challenges by running the on-site challenge as a masterclass, and workshop.

A lot of students wonder what they should include in their initial entry. What advice would you give to someone thinking about entering the challenge?

AP: Present yourself and your idea well. Think about what story you are trying to tell and keep winnowing it down until it’s totally clear. Then deliver it clearly and interestingly. It doesn’t mean you have to wear a chicken suit with bells on, but just be an interesting person. Find something personal and simple and generalise that to the larger view of society.

LD: Then again, a chicken suit would demonstrate a point of view! And in addition to what Andy’s said (which I agree with), presenting a clear point of view is paramount.

Thanks again Liz and Andy for catching up with us to talk about the IxDA design challenge! In our next conversation we'll talk with some of the 2010 challenge finalists

Students: if you're wondering about entering the challenge you have until the 9th December to get your entries in! Good Luck!

maybe. but only if it's in the pitch! by slopjop on Flickr

Liz Danzico is part designer, part educator, and part editor. She is co-founder and chair of the MFA in Interaction Design Program at the School of Visual Arts, lectures widely, and serves on advisory boards for the Austin Center for Design, CreativeMornings, and desigNYC. Liz is an independent user experience consultant whose recent clients have included This American Life, Teach for All, and The TED Prize. Liz has been user experience director at Happy Cog, editor-in-chief for Boxes and Arrows, co-founder of A Brief Message, and an advisory board member for Rosenfeld Media, Design Ignites Change, the Information Architecture Institute, adjunct faculty at the New School University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. In the past, Liz directed experience strategy for AIGA, and the information architecture teams at Barnes & Noble.com and Razorfish New York. Liz has written for Adobe ThinkTank, AIGA Journal of Design, A List Apart, Boxes and Arrows, Business Week, Core77, Eye Magazine, Gain: AIGA Journal of Business and Design, Interactions Magazine, UX Matters, and writes ongoing for Bobulate.com.

Andy Polaine is an interaction and service designer, lecturer, researcher and writer He's been involved in interaction design since the early 90s and was co-founder of Antirom in London. He was a producer at Razorfish, UK and later Interactive Director at Animal Logic, Sydney. Later, he became Senior Lecturer and Head of the School of Media Arts at The University of New South Wales, Sydney. He holds a PhD from the University of Technology, Sydney in which he examined the relationship between play and interactivity. Andy is now a Lecturer and Research Fellow in Service Design at the Lucerne School of Art and Design in Switzerland. Alongside his academic work Andy continues to work as a interaction designer, service design researcher and writer. His personal site is Playpen and can be found on Twitter as @apolaine.