[Sigia-l] So, how did you become a [Information Architect|UsabilityEngineer|Interface Designer|etc.]?

[Peter Boersma]

Ted Han wrote:
> [..]  What appeals to me about IA is that it is a
> holistic enterprise.

That sounds like you're talking about Big IA(*). Are you?

> [..] I cant remember if i
> read it here or somewhere else, but someone out there's made the point
> that even if your title isn't Information Architect or User
> Experience Designer or whatever, that there are people out there doing
> Information Architecture just by the nature of the projects that they
> undertake.

That could be interpreted as "if I want to be a surgeon, I'll just pick up a
knife and call it surgery". That's dangerous.
Now, most IA isn't really about life-or-death situations, but if your bad IA
decision makes a lot of people pay too much tax (or too little for that
matter), or worse, deliver the wrong amount of medicine, a lot of people can
get into trouble.

> So i would surmise that i could stick to the stuff that i
> do now and delve just as heavily into the world of IA as i could
> anywhere else.

Now you're talking. There's plenty to learn!
Start with Guerrilla IA(**), the shallow IA areas that are also useful (and
taught) in other fields. If you find an area you like, feel free to delve
into it.

>  However, the reason why i think the title/field
> matters, is that as an IA or whatever you can put that sort of
> holistic perspective at the front of what you're focusing on, where as
> if i'm simply just a web developer, or linguist, or webmaster, people
> make different assumptions about what it is that i do, and what it is
> that should be expected from me.

In that case I strongly suggest you stick with your title first, then expand
your knowledge, then *slowly* expand your responsibilities and only then
consider changing your jobtitle into "IA or whatever".

(*) Big IA:
http://www.peterboersma.com/blog/2004/11/t-model-big-ia-is-now-ux.html
or, in short: http://tinyurl.com/abts6
(**) Guerrilla IA:
http://www.peterboersma.com/blog/2005/02/piece-of-ia-pie-little-micro-lite-or.htmlor, in short: http://tinyurl.com/c7tw4
Peter
-- 
Peter Boersma | Consultant User Experience
Koggestraat 10A | 1012 TA | Amsterdam | The Netherlands
phone: +31(0)206245641 | mobile: +31(0)615072747
mailto:peter at peterboersma.com | http://www.peterboersma.com