[spam] The Value of "IA" or Whatnot, was Re: [Sigia-l] The New Nielsen?

[Peter Merholz]

So, in the discussion that ensued following Paula's little firebomb, I think
a major point was missed. And paula sets it out right at the beginning:

> Hogwash! Find the evidence. The value equation of the Web as a channel is
> not for entertainment or exploration. The value equation is in 'finding'
and
> 'doing'. Our eyes should never stray from that being the primary goal of
> accomplishment for design.

Now, I might now have been as dismissive as Paula then went on to be
(calling everything else "eye candy"...  I seem to be mellowing as I near my
30th year), but I think she is imploring us to properly keeping our eyes on
the ball.

This came up quite a bit at the 5th Advance for Design Summit, which just
took place this weekend.
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?contentalias=fifthadvancefordesignsummit

We expended a LOT of energy discussing how designers can best communicate to
folks outside of design, in particular people in business (i.e., the ones
with the money).

I tend to think that arguments like Christina's only threaten to obscure the
point, and thus potentially dilute our energies. Yes, of course the Web is
more than just a utility medium, with art museums, web sites, ezines, etc.
etc. And, yes, IA can help in all of these.

BUT, I think raising these as alternative cases distracts from the point
that we as a community need to be able to communicate our value, which, in
the world of our work (and, face it, we're pretty much all here because we
*work* in this field) is related to money, and to Paula's point, I would
guess that something on the order of, oh, 95% of the monetary value
associated with the web involves things like "finding" and "doing."

And for us to pooh-pooh that is a cop-out, and only ends up justifying our
other fears about "selling IA."

Now, this value claim ("95%") is a generalization. We can all be happy, and
all get along, if, in each project we're working on, we clearly understand
the objectives, set measures and metrics that reflect the achievement of
those objectives, and, if we find the measures and metrics met, consider the
project successful. Those measures might relate to "finding" and "doing," or
those measures might relate to "memorability" and "enjoyment".

All I'm saying is that we are responsible for proving the *value* of our
work. This is important both for us as individuals and for the community as
a whole.

--peter