[Sigia-l] Off Topic Posts

[Stewart Dean]

>From: "Paula Thornton" <paula.thornton at prodigy.net>
>To: <sigia-l at asis.org>
>Subject: [Sigia-l] Off Topic Posts
>Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 10:34:39 -0600
>
>Reality check.
>
>While many are in denial, I continue to collect artifacts which CLEARLY
>point out that the business community is willing to accept and 'pay for' a
>role that is a cross between IA/usability/experience design. I have a
>specific story where there was a team with each of these as distinct roles.
>That group has recently been reorganized and redefined for a single 
>resource
>to 'do it all'.

It's 1995 all over again :)

Seriously as an IA I often find myself doing more than IA, and it appears to 
be standard. I enjoy doing user research, doing workshops with clients and 
shifting through research and on a few occasions half mirrored in depth 
sessions. Then there's the working with content, designers, business folks, 
implimentation crew etc.

If information architecture is at the heart of things, which is what I feel 
most find, then it's natural we are capable of wearing many different hats 
and should rightly be paid for being kind of user experience swiss army 
knives.

All this doesnt really alter that IA is not visual design, copy writing or 
ethnographic indepth interview.

>If the clear momentum is a role in which individuals are doing all three
>disciplines, how might they make a distinction in their topics of interest?
>Moreso, should they?

As an IA I think it's natural to draw seperation between tasks :) I feel 
they should, often to allow clarity between roles. For example if you get 
too involved with the techncial implimentation of the CMS then it will limit 
the imagination of the wireframes as you are half thinking about 
implimentation rather than how the user will want to do things.

>Of greater consideration/concern (a point that I've been raising for now 6
>years, having seen the 'endgame' all along) where is there a professional
>association which embraces and supports this realistic role?

The problem is folks here often can't agree what the role is. There are 
groups like the UPA, the usability professional association. Maybe it's time 
for a user experience group?

>There's a lot of denial in the ranks...

We have a lot of work to do to add a degree of solidity to what we do in my 
view - thus my resent frustration.

Stewart Dean