[Sigia-l] Information Architecture 3.0

[Stewart Dean]

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> Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2006 22:42:15 -0500
> From: dave.ixd at gmail.com
> 
> I find it funny that most IAs are still "stuck" doing "web stuff" b/c
> most information management has almost nothing to do with the web.
> Information problems are about the creation, collection, manipulation,
> presentation, flow, and consumption of information in spaces that
> might use a "web browser", but have almost nothing to do with the
> traditional web.

I think you're way off the mark on this one. Information Architect is a label applied to people who primary do function design for websites.  Let's not get above our station.  There are people who do the same kind of job for things outside of the web and internet that have different titles, such as editors in traditional print areas.

We are 'stuck' doing web stuff because that's the place IAs where born and breed. I also happen to do other interactive media but that's due to my roots not being in web but in general interactive computer media (my interaction days predate the web I've been doing it that long).

I also have to say that nearly all the information architects I work with don't really architect information but define functionality from a user's perspective. In essense the vast majority of information architects define the user experience. I am sure there are a few who never touch a wireframe but they are more like hard core library science folks.  

In short information architect is a handy title because it's become accepted but has long since been used to classify a user experience specialist.  

In my personal view organising information without doing it in the context of a task or tasks is a pointless activity and becomes a techincal rather than user centred thing.


 
> I also find it interesting that people feel that trying to narrow a
> definition of IA means denigrating the community. I think it will
> empower it.  Instead of having a blunt instrument that is over-used and
> mismanaged, we can have a sharp scalpel with which to slice with like
> a surgeon, making it harder for people to repeat our work because it
> requires such depth of understanding and such practice of craft that
> few can just step in our shoes. Right now, any BA or Product Manager
> feels they can "do IA" b/c they see IA as a sitemap and a wireframe.
> Visio + PPT and I'm an IA. But we all know the discipline is much
> deeper and any big "D" designer worth their salt will have to dive
> into that depth in order to reach the levels of understanding that
> many of us have achieved or are well on the path towards achieving.

I couldnt disagree more.  Information Architect  = User Experience Specialist these days  in a fairly broad way.  When people employ me I KNOW I will be creating site structures and wireframes. I may be doing user research, I may be doing other tasks like defining how the search engine works.   The level of knowledge required to be broad means that Business Anaylists simply can't get to grips with it.  Knowing how to create a compelling user experience is a science and an art and whilst anyone can create the deliverables few can actualy make them work and create an elegant solution.  Anyone can, in theory, draw up a building plan but only a trained architect can not only make the building functional and asthetically pleaseing.

In many cases IA IS the wireframe and sitemap - but those two things are really user experience NOT IA as I've seen it poorly defined elsewhere.  

Being an IA is NOT all about organising information!  And this is why many have been trapped in a web of confusion - the job title now poorly defines what an IA does but is now the defacto label that is understood by others that defines a user eperience specialist.  I for one am not looking to change this, just be aware what the label is USED for. 

So what is an IA.  It's the person who creates the overall framework for the user experience for an interactive project (non interactive projects have their own job titles and people and even some areas of interactive media have other folks covering that area - such as computer games).   You can get IAs working with IAs, ones that are focused on part of the pie, such as the aforementioned search engine, making sure like terms are linked or tweaking the weighting of different labels, and then you get other specialists such as visual designers, front end technologists, content folks, BAs etc working along side often, but idealy an IA should be somewhere in the centre ensuring the user needs and business needs are as close as they can be whilst ensuring the engineering efforts are kept in control. 

That's my take having done this stuff for well over ten years. 

Stewart Dean