[Sigia-l] What we do, How we do it, etc.

[Jonathan Baker-Bates]

> Although it's always nice if a label can improve the scent in 
> some way, a set of top-tier labels indicates the scope of a 
> site, not necessarily the specific content. Using your 
> argumentation, one could perhaps conclude that menus in 
> restaurants are ineffective when they list appetizers, main 
> courses, desserts, etc. And what about various office 
> applications? Are File and Edit and Help such bad generic 
> labels - and these are certainly used across a wide range of products?
> 

I think that goes to the heart of what Ziya and I were referring to on
this. As Information Architects, we use best practice to guide us into
making decisions to put "about us" on a nav bar because most other site
do it.

I have no problem with that per se. Users will know that when they click
on that link that they will get is some information about the company.

But (and here I don my flame-proof underwear), as User Experience
Architects, we think about what the user actually then *reads* at that
point, and what emotional or other reaction they will have to it that
will be the most positive. That then has a knock-on effect on what we
call that link.

My design process is not:

1. Analyse content
2. Categorise content
3. Design UI around categorisation

My design process is to consider the real interface between users and
the client that pays me to create user experiences for their customers.
If that means eschewing "about us" or "what we do" then I will have no
hesitation. And it may mean not listing the "appetizers" and "desserts"
of the available content either.

Jonathan






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