[Sigia-l] IA or UXA? Which do you prefer?

[David Malouf]

Why not UXD or UED? Design? Isn't that a good word?

When I hear the term architect used, I think of system architect and that we
are somehow an engineering-rooted discipline, but UX is a more about design
than engineering. YES! I KNOW! Architect by itself is a design discipline
that has facets of engineering involved and so does interaction design, BUT!
a lot of the reason people have cited being pulled towards architecture is
that they are looking to be taken seriously. A noble cause, but misguided in
nature. Architecture is a multi-millennial design discipline that by itself
has nothing to prove about its roots and connection to design. UX on the
other hand is a fledgling  of a design discipline (actually collection) that
still needs to ground itself in DESIGN in terms of the community, practice,
and methods that we should be doing.

When I hear this term, I feel it distances us from our greatest
collaborators, so I have always been against its use for us as
professionals.

To Ziya, Yes! we know that IA has a long history, but is most popular use of
the term is connected less to Linneus and even lesser to Richard Saul Wurman
than it is to our fond Polar Bear Book authors. IA might have a long
history, but its practice by 90% of those holding the title or carrying the
role is almost completely tied to the LIS/Findability community. Any
remnants of RSW or other historical IAs has gone the way of the Do-Do or
have started calling themselves other things like Information Designers.

-- dave

On 10/3/07, Jayson Elliot <jayson.elliot at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I think this conversation has convinced me that UXA is the new direction
> the
> discipline has gone.
>
> One person had the point that User Experience Architect is easier for
> laypeople to understand, and I think that's a major point. It also does a
> better job of including all the various elements that go into User
> Experience, including interaction design, information design, strategy,
> library sciences, usability, etc.
>
> This has helped a lot, because I am planning to speak to our CCO about
> this
> issue this week. I think I'll be recommending that our IAs be titled UXAs
> from now on. If we want to be really sexy about it, we might just use the
> shorter term "XAs."
>
>
>
>
> On 03/10/2007, W Evans <wkevans4 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I used to be pure IA (for 2 years), but over the past 5 years, have
> spent
> > more time with business strategy, conceptual modeling, interaction
> design
> > (as well as some classic IA), which is why I have changed over in the
> last 2
> > years to UXA - it fits better with the scope of my responsibilities and
> > deliverables.
> >
> > --
> > ~ will
> >
> > IxDA Interaction 08 | Savannah
> > http://interaction08.ixda.org/
> > -------------------------------------------------------
> > will evans
> > user experience architect
> > wkevans4 at gmail.com
> > -------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On 10/3/07, Tom Donehower <tdonehower at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I personally prefer "Wireframe Monkey."
> > >
> > > Seriously,
> > >
> > > At this point in my career I think of myself more as a "User
> Experience
> > > Architect."  I handle strategy, define success metrics, conduct
> > > research,
> > > create IA deliverables, and inform and advise on technology, design
> and
> > > content, all with the intention of creating that illusive "perfect"
> user
> > > experience.
> > >
> > > Perhaps more important, I chose to name my consultancy UXConcepts not
> > > IAConcepts and have had much more success generating new business
> > > describing
> > > myself to clients as someone that architects user experiences as
> opposed
> > > to
> > > information.
> > >
> > > -Tom
> > >
> > >
> > > On 10/3/07, Jayson Elliot < jayson.elliot at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > We've been debating the difference between Information Architects
> and
> > > User
> > > > Experience Architects.
> > > >
> > > > Which title do other IAs/UXAs go by? Do you see a difference between
> > > the
> > > > two
> > > > descriptions?
> > > >
> > > ------------
> > > IA Summit 2008: "Experiencing Information"
> > > April 10-14, 2008, Miami, Florida
> > >
> > > -----
> > > When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible.
> > > *Plain text, please; NO Attachments
> > >
> > > Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
> > > ________________________________________
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> > > Changes to subscription: http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigia-l
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> ------------
> IA Summit 2008: "Experiencing Information"
> April 10-14, 2008, Miami, Florida
>
> -----
> When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible.
> *Plain text, please; NO Attachments
>
> Searchable Archive at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
> ________________________________________
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-- 
David Malouf
http://synapticburn.com/
http://ixda.org/
http://motorola.com/