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

[javier velasco]

Laurie Gray wrote:

>I was recently challenged by a colleague to define what makes us good at
>what we do. His argument was, anyone can draw wireframes - what makes
>what you do different, and better? 
>
>I have some ideas but I am curious to hear what the group thinks. This
>particular colleague is very much in support of my work, and the
>discussion related on how to sell my skills to other colleagues, who
>feel that anyone trained in HF can do IA work.
>  
>

I think that besides the technical knowledge and skills, a good IA would 
have the following features:

- Bird-eye view: that ability to look at little details and not miss 
track of the larger picture, ever.

- Empathy: the ability to get permeated by the kind of project you're 
working on and to step into the shoes of the users you're aiming at.

- Left / Right balance: you need to be able to deal with logic reasoning 
and at the same time be creative.

- Language / Abstraction : strong language skills and the ablity to deal 
with abstract concepts.

- Politics: most of the time you also have to be strong at handling 
stubborn cynical stakeholders, and negotiate.

....my couple of cents

javier
- now from Maine