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INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. Why would you want another job?. SUMEET AMBRE ERIC SNAJDR ROSS DURRER. From Wikipedia:.
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INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE Why would you want another job? SUMEET AMBRE ERIC SNAJDR ROSS DURRER
From Wikipedia: Information architecture (often abbreviated "I.A.") is the practice of structuring information (knowledge or data) for a purpose. These are often structured according to their context in userinteractions or larger databases. The term is most commonly applied to Web development, but also applies to disciplines outside of a strict Web context, such as programming and technical writing. In the context of web design (or design for related media) information architecture is defined by the Information Architecture Institute as the structural design of shared information environments. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape. An alternate definition of information architecture exists within the context of information system design, in which information architecture refers to data modeling and the analysis and design of the information in the system, concentrating on entities and their interdependencies. Data modeling depends on abstraction; the relationships between the pieces of data is of more interest than the particulars of individual records, though cataloging possible values is a common technique. The usability of human-facing systems, and standards compliance of internal ones, are paramount. WHAT IS INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE?
What is an Information Architect? From Wikipedia: Information architecture (often abbreviated "I.A.") is the practice of structuring information (knowledge or data) for a purpose. These are often structured according to their context in userinteractions or larger databases. The term is most commonly applied to Web development, but also applies to disciplines outside of a strict Web context, such as programming and technical writing. In the context of web design (or design for related media) information architecture is defined by the Information Architecture Institute as the structural design of shared information environments. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape. An alternate definition of information architecture exists within the context of information system design, in which information architecture refers to data modeling and the analysis and design of the information in the system, concentrating on entities and their interdependencies. Data modeling depends on abstraction; the relationships between the pieces of data is of more interest than the particulars of individual records, though cataloging possible values is a common technique. The usability of human-facing systems, and standards compliance of internal ones, are paramount.
Professional Resources for the Information Architect Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) http://www.asis.org/jasist.html Annual Review of Information Science & Technology (ARIST), http://www.asis.org/jasist.html Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology http://www.asis.org/jasist.html The ACM Digital Library http://portal.acm.org Journal of the ACM (JACM) http://portal.acm.org ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) http://www.acm.org/tochi/ Journal of Usability Studies (Usability Professional's Association) http://www.upassoc.org
Professional Organizations for the Information Architect American Society for Information Science and Technology(http://www.asis.org/) Usability Professional's Association(http://www.upassoc.org) Human Factors and Ergonomics Society(http://www.hfes.org/) Society for Technical Communication(http://www.stc-va.org/) Association for Computing Machinery(http://www.acm.org/) SIGCHI(http://www.acm.org/sigchi/) American Society of Indexers(http://www.asindexing.org) The American Center for Design(http://www.ac4d.org/home/home.asp)
Professional Organizations for the Information Architect cont'd http://iainstitute.org/ • - Information Architecture Library • - Job board • - Mentoring Program • - Moderated IA discussion lists • Design tools • IA Wiki see http://iainstitute.org/pg/partners.php • …and more http://www.boxesandarrows.com/
http://www.iasummit.org/2007/ Attention All Nerds www.alden-conger.org/.../brette/pics/nerd.jpeg Examples of topics from previous years - Refining our craft – Meeting, discussing and sharing with other IAs our experiences. - Making Connections – Finding ways to make connections between fields within the umbrella of information architecture. - Crossing Boundaries – Energizing connections across geographic, academic, and cross-disciplinary boundaries in order to drive best practices and innovation in all of our IA endeavors. - Breaking New Ground – Strengthening the foundation of the discipline and widening the scope of IA practice. http://www.iasummit.org/2007/previous.html
Information Architect Openings http://www.dice.com • Information Architect Job (Location: Chicago; Compensation: 110K) • Provides internal and external knowledge; works with timely, consumable and relevant unstructured and semi-structured content • Background/Working Conditions • Background in the concepts and application of standards/practices for capturing, organizing, managing, searching, retrieving, presenting and archiving unstructured and structured information/data, with a working knowledge of current data and content integration methods and an understanding of records management and information lifecycles • Typical Work • Information architecture and design • Application development using FileNet P8, Mobius, J2EE, XML, and HTML • Problem solving and communication skills
Information Architect Openings http://www.dice.com • Information Architect Job (Location: Alpharetta, GA; Compensation: 88K) • Skills in wireframes and web applications desired • Key job responsibility is to create, read, update and maintain wireframes • Own and control the user interaction experience and information flow on the company websites • Maintain a successful and compelling user experience • Background/Working Conditions: • Experience with MS Office, MS Visio, Flash, DHTML, Director • Prototyping tools • Experience with writing for the web • Web Development
Information Architect Openings http://www.dice.com • IA/Usability Specialist Job (Location: Fairfax, VA; Compensation: N/A) • Support Sr. IA in collecting user and system requirements and convert them into simple, intuitive designs for web-based systems • Develop wireframes, mockups, and prototypes for websites and web-based applications • Organize information and functionality into a logical presentation layer • Design attractive, intuitive, accessible websites • Typical Work • Work with wireframes and web design • Use HTML, CSS, XML, MS Visio • Interaction design/user design • Educational Requirements • BS in Human Factors, HCI, Information Science, Technical Communication • Library Science, Graphics Design
Website Design Comparison http://www.2advanced.com http://www.activision.com/en_US/home/home.jsp http://www.blitzagency.com/ http://www.microsoft.com http://www.adobe.com http://www.bls.gov/
Some IA Deliverables Retrieved from : http://www.gdoss.com/web_info/information_architecture_deliverables.php Content Inventory User Profiles Use Cases (User Scenario, Task Analysis) Process Flow (User Flow, Interaction Flow, User Interaction Flow) Site Hierarchy Map (Blueprint, Hierarchy Diagram, Flow Diagram, Site Architecture Map, Site Flow Chart, Site Wireframe, Web Map) Wireframes (Page Architecture, Low Fidelity Mock-Up, Page Schematic) Paper Prototype (Low Fidelity Prototype) Story Board (Blueprint, Schematic, Grey Model, Interaction, Interaction Wireframe, IA Requirements Document, Design Document) Style Guides
Skills/Tools of an Information Architect • Drawing • Computer Aided Design / Vector Drawing Programs • Microsoft Visio (Windows) • CorelDraw (Windows) • Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop • Macromedia Flash (windows, Mac) • Concept Draw, Omnigraffle (Mac) • Dia, Inkscape (open source) • Prototyping & Agile Development Tools • Hyper text markup Language (HTML) • RAD Tools – Visual Basic, Borland Delphi • User Interface APIs • http://iainstitute.org/tools/download/CavazzaWireframe.pdf
Skills/Tools Continued • Stylesheet Languages • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) • Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) • Programming Skills (+) • Markup Language (HTML, XML) • Scripting Languages (PHP, Perl, ASP.Net, VbScript, Javascript etc.) • Soft Skills • Effective Communication, Listening • Creativity, Analytical Thinking, Problem Solving • Team Building, Diplomacy, Leadership
Information Architecture Career Paths Entry Level Positions • Web Designer/ Developer • Documentation/ Configuration Management • Information Engineer • Architecture Analysts • Data Architect • Information System Developer • User Experience Designer High Level Positions • Senior IT Architect • Technical Director • Lead Architect Specialist • Senior User Interface Designer • Program Manager • Web Content Specialist