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

[David Heller]

Hi Paula,

Ok, so I took a long breath, wrote one response and I'm starting all
over again. What's so interesting is that you and I usually agree on
stuff, but this time I really feel you are missing the bigger picture.

The prize isn't on the practical or the emotional. That is not where the
focus should be at all. The focus is on success and as Peter pointed
out, in ways that can be measured (as much as possible) to prove to our
customers be they internal or external that our work is required for
their success.

My point is that your piece is trying to focus everyone in a specific
direction at the expense of the other direction. I actually don't think
that is your intent, but that is the message I read and seems to be the
one that is being argued.

Practical vs. emotional (for the sake of this discussion), as I said
above aren't what we are focusing on. However, it is our right and left
that we maneuver manipulate. Move a little to the practical here, a
little to the emotional there ... Oh! That's the target. ;-)

I do agree that these two axis pull the attention of many (including
myself) as a sort of lens that shifts our view of the target refracting
it toward which ever side of this axis we prefer.

To discuss the specifics of where Documentum is at I feel for me would
border on in appropriate ... But I do think that you read into my e-mail
a tad too much and do not have all the information you need to make the
analysis you did.

In the end, the target is success. Each project has to define success at
its beginning to better understand its goals. For me, quite sadly
success is often measured, not on how usable a product is, but how
buyable it is, which is why part of Paula's statement can apply to most
software, and not just CMS and not just Documentum. 

-- Dave

David Heller
Sr. UI Designer
Documentum: The Leader in Enterprise Content Management
http://www.documentum.com/
 
T: 925-600-5636
E: david.heller at documentum.com
AIM: bolinhanyc // Yahoo: dave_ux // MSN: hippiefunk at hotmail.com
 
"If it is not useful, it will never be usable." --