[Sigia-l] Information architects organize content

[Gerry McGovern]

>Eric Reiss wrote:
>
>I can't help but feel that there is a parallel between the statements:
>
>A designer should have programming skills.
>
>and
>
>A writer should be able to type.
>
>Gee. Did Shakespeare use a Remington or an Underwood? And did he
>hunt-and-peck or touch-type 80 WPM?.

I know quite a few writers; they're not very good at typing. A great poet 
like W.B. Yeats was awful at spelling. If you want to write fiction, typing 
and spelling can help. However, what's more important is a facility with 
words, a strong imagination and the desire to be honest with your characters.

Great writers tend to write a lot and read a lot. Greta web information 
architects are constantly building websites and examining other websites. 
In art, there is a saying: 'Geniuses steal, beggars borrow.' Great IAs are 
constantly on the watch-out for clever IA implementations, so that they can 
'steal' the best from them.

Information architects should be able to organize content. They should be 
able to develop processes for content that are easy to follow and quick to 
complete. Knowing HTML or Java is helpful, but it doesn't make you an 
information architect. Being able to organize does.

An IA looks at a pile of unstructured content and sees maps and 
relationships. They get excited about sorting out the mess. They bring 
order to things.  They think about how people like to navigate, how people 
like to search.

An experienced IA will always place a Privacy Policy link beside a 
subscription process, because they know people are less likely to give 
personal information if they don't know your privacy policy.

At core, the Web is about connections; about links between this piece of 
content and that piece of content. An IA is a map-maker, a road-maker, a 
sign-maker. They see forms, shapes, structures.

Information is the communication of knowledge. Information finds its roots 
in the Latin 'forma,' which means 'to shape.' Information architects shape 
content in order to facilitate the communication of knowledge.

Gerry McGovern


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