[Sigia-l] What makes an IA good at what he or she does?

[Austin Govella]

I think it's foolish to compare disciplines based on a 
common artifact like the wireframe. As an information 
architect, you're not selling wire frames.

And he's not choosing to buy wireframes between an IA and 
someone classically trained in HF.

While there is an overlap between HF and IA, when you buy 
IA, you're buying user-centered organization, 
classification, and long-term information growth. You're 
buying information management.

That's not what HF sells. Who cares who makes the wireframe. 
Good graphic designers produce low-fi wireframes, only they 
call them sketches.

I think you should shift the conversation to what you do 
that makes you different, and not try to differentiate the 
things you do that are the same.

The Art of War has one of the greatest pieces of advice I 
have ever read: only fight those battles where you have won 
before you walk onto the field.

There are corollaries. If your enemy wants you to fight on a 
field that's disadvantageous to you, withdraw and lure them 
to battle on a field where you have the advantage.

Secondly, though it may be possible to win any battle given 
enough resources, only fight those battles you can *afford* 
to win.

I doubt the resources required to educate people on the 
subtle nuanced differences between wireframes across 
disciplines would justify any benefit you could receive.

--
Austin