[Sigia-l] Gray is a shade of black

[Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com]

Hey, I like this thread! (As if anyone cares)

Paula makes some excellent points and reminds us all that the end goal 
in business is usually to provide "stakeholder value".  We need those 
reminders now and then.  IA and UX/UE aim to use customer satisfaction 
(via usability,  usefulness, "findability" or whatever) to create at 
least the opportunity for stakeholder value, profit, sales, revenue, 
ching, etc.  Paula is mainly focusing on the end-game.  Patrick is 
talking about middle-game: where to put IA in the organization so it 
can implement effective Information Architectures that create 
stakeholder value.

I think Patrick's list of questions is a good start.  Keeping in mind 
that we are trying to decide where IA resides in an organization:

> What is the organization's purpose?
> Who are its customers?
> What is the website strategy?
> Who are the site's users?

I'd refine and add to the list like so:

- What are the organization's goals?
- How do those goals translate to objectives for IA/UX?
- Who are the site's (or sites') audiences?
- What are the strengths of the groups within the organization?
- How much do the group's goals/focus/skills align with the IA/UX 
objectives of the organization?
- Sponsorship: how much support from above does each group have?
- Effectiveness: what's the group's track record?  Can they effect 
change as needed?  Can they lead the organization to a successful IA 
implementation?  Can they lead the related IA/UX processes?
- Credibility: what kind of relationships does the group have with 
other stakeholders in the site (e.g. customers, IT, 
communications/public relations, HR, business units/operations, 
marketing/branding, etc.) 
- Financing: Are there differences in how groups are funded or how 
costs are recovered?

What other considerations should be added to the list?   I think you 
have to consider many factors when deciding where IA fits -- after all 
you're really talking about organization *design* -- design always has 
to juggle many types of requirements and factors.

If we don't figure out a mid-game strategy, we'll never achieve the end 
game goals Paula so rightly pointed out.

Regards,

Lyle Kantrovich - "turd polisher"

Croc O' Lyle: personal commentary on usability, Information 
Architecture, and web design
http://crocolyle.blogspot.com

Crappy definitions:
Purveyor of crap = furnisher of fecal matter
Turd polisher = finisher of fecal matter