Information architecture is to digital spaces what architecture is to physical places
By admin | February 25, 2010
That’s the catchy line that concludes my definition of information architecture…
Here it is in full (below) and you you can see all the other entrants to the ‘Explain IA’ competition run by Peter Morville of Semantic Studios on flickr: Explain IA
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Information Architecture is…
The user-friendly organisation of information
In the same way that an architect can help make the most of your home or building, an information architect can help you make the most of your website or digital application.
That’s why they’re called architects, because they’re responsible for the structure that upholds the design. They understand how things can work and the limits of what can be done.
The first port of call when you design a building is an architect. The first port of call when you design a website should be an information architect.
Information architecture is to digital spaces what architecture is to physical places
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This definition is also available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42840294@N05/4322913677/in/pool-explainia
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I love libraries. Especially the new Central Cambridge one!
By admin | February 5, 2010
Is it old hat to love your library? Do I care? I’ve always been a big fan and user of libraries. They’re great. They democratised learning, entertainment and access to information before the internet came along.
I could easily digress into the current state of print publishing (too much to say!) or the way technology news stories in the media fall into a handful of clichés that aim to polemicise our opinions (too annoying to begin), but I won’t!
The newly opened central library in Cambridge City centre nestles neatly into the newly updated shopping centre that has always been around it. The library has had a refreshing make-over that has brought it up-to-date not only in furnishing and habitat but also in technology. Read the rest of this entry »
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Top SharePoint (MOSS) IA / EIA links and resources (plus my advice for a successful SharePoint IA implementation based on my experience from the coal face)
By admin | February 2, 2010
I spent a fair bit of 2009 working with (enterprise) information architecture challenges presented by using SharePoint as a replacement for a traditional file storage system.
At the outset I was confident that my ‘transferable’ IA skills could be applied to this situation without too much difficulty. This turned out to be the case, and the main challenge it transpired was finding out about the nuances of SharePoint and how best to design an information architecture and user experience that would play to its strengths and not require aeons of development to implement and consequently a horrible maintenance overhead when a new release came along.
I searched high and low online to find the gems from other IA practitioners who I imagined would have it all sorted out. However, I didn’t find a load of useful blog posts as I expected…. Why the dearth of information about SharePoint? Read the rest of this entry »
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Smashing new book…
By admin | June 12, 2009
I’m a little biased it has to be said as the author is my big brother but the brilliant new Professor Potts book is out: ‘The Smash! Smash! Truck‘. It’s all about recycling told in a refreshing blast of punk style! I hasten to add that it has been read and approved by my 8 year old son who found it so dazzling he had to wear sunglasses and he’s not been able to put it down.
“It’s brilliant and smash-tastic” Reid, 8
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Why do I need two plugs?
By admin | June 12, 2009
Nearly everything electrical I buy insists on giving me two plug leads one that works in the UK and one that works in other parts of Europe. How wasteful is this? I don’t need the ‘other parts of Europe’ plug nor, I would imagine do 99% of people in the UK (and vice versa).
I don’t get two different nationality plugs with Apple purchases (well done there) but when I buy a new Acer or Samsung monitor or some other electronic thing (DVD, HDD etc.) I’m given an extra plug that I now need to dispose of.
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Dovetailing usability with the lean, mean, agile development machine…
By admin | September 8, 2008
To date I haven’t found much notable on the subject of how usability fits into the agile development methodologies and I’m not sure if that’s because there’s not much written on the subject or that I haven’t come across it yet…
So I was pleasantly surprised to find Marc McNeill’s piece on ‘User Centered Design in Agile Application Development‘ (PDF) on the ThoughWorks website. It makes some good points about how well UCD fits with Agile as they both share a similar process and philosophy and it makes the case for making sure that UCD is part and parcel of an agile application development for a number of very strong reasons (not least usability!). What I especially like is that it clearly explains the business benefits of doing so.
It’s always been obvious to me how easily agile development fits with internal IT development teams. What I have found less easy to understand is the best way to cost and manage an agile project when it is being delivered by an external IT/web technology supplier. The whole agile methodology runs counter to the traditional way IT services and projects have been delivered… Fixed price and fixed scope up front.
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I live in… the Bouvet Islands
By admin | August 5, 2008
For a number of years now I’ve enjoyed find the Bouvet Islands in the drop down country list of e-commerce sites and registration forms etc. According to wikipedia:
Bouvet Island (Norwegian: Bouvetøya, also historically known as Liverpool Island or Lindsay Island) is an uninhabited sub-antartic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, south-southwest of the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). It is a dependent area of Norway and is not subject to the Antarctic Treaty.
What the hell is it doing in a drop down list of where people live? Ahhhh, the sheer pleasure of a comprehensive country list that no one thinks to sift for countries where people can’t actually live. I chanced upon as the name intrigued me when I was scanning the list for Britain, England, UK, United Kindom, Great Britain or whatever they’d decided to use.
Topics: IA/Usability/User Experience | 1 Comment »
No I’m afraid I’m not ‘Linked In”…
By admin | August 1, 2008
Over a very genial pint in the Green Dragon a friend of mine explained that he saw no reason to get ‘linked in‘. “Why would I want to expose my valuable clients and contacts to all and sundry?” With a local offline network that works fine and great word of mouth referrals he could see no point in partaking.
I’m not a member either, so I couldn’t hold forth on the benefits that he was missing out on. I feel like I’ve quite enough on my plate without getting ‘linked in‘… Are we both behind the times, missing out or needlessly trying to protect ourselves from unwelcome callers? Who knows…
He’s been the new business point of contact for his business for a good number of years so his email is already prone to a deluge of highly targeted yet unwelcome approaches. We discussed the need for him to have someone manually sift that email account while he decamps to another one that only the privvy will find out about. The dilemmas of the modern worker eh? Should give him back a chunk of time though!
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