I was chatting with Dave Lowe-Rogstad the other day co-founder of the upstart creative shop Substance in Portland. We were talking about how we as designers and communicators had to be the UE/IA (User Experience/Information Architecture) experts in addition to the title on our business card. In fact way back when they were really inseparable, or at least it was difficult to discern where UE/IA ended and design started. What he said has stuck with me…”Information architecture shouldn’t be about making coloring books for the designers to fill out”.
The UE/IA role is a rather new one. I won’t disparage what the good ones do. Like any profession…there are good and bad. I think what has actually led to the proliferation of the breed is our goddamn quest to speed everything up. That’s fine. So are IA/UE folks jobs are there to get things on a page suggest some positions and get clients to sign off on essentially a checklist of must haves set in an objective setting devoid of theme and color? Not if you ask one of them personally. First off they would say their job is “to protect the user”. From what? Paper cuts? A nasty multi-key combo? or the dreaded “no look confusion maker” of dare I say…the absence of a “home”button? Seriously though their aim is to make sure information user need is on pages in somewhat dependable areas…but that sounds like a designer who knows his job? IA/UE, lets call them “usability folks” from here out, are good at setting boundaries for tests and trials I’ll give them that. A creative would pull out before half the of the first of the pots of coffee of the 9 that will be consumed during a typical user testing scenario. Were weak that way. I’ll admit it.
IA/UE suggestions and decisions are also based upon case studies of human interaction with things that are already done. Usability people are wonderful at remembering rules and things that have been done in particular scenarios and cautioning against things and suggesting things that have been proven to work. But this is where it all goes to hell in a hand-basket. More often than not what agencies are presented with is a situation that has a particular set of rules and requirements that by the sheer nature of the client being unique, makes the problem unique. So how can you apply a set of rules based on past solutions that worked on past problems against problems that haven’t been solved yet?
And I think this is where I really try and get involved with the usability folks. It is valuable for a voice to provide some additional rules for the usability teams to truly be effective with their task. For example if a particular website for a company has a brand attribute…e.g.”helpful”…it would be a good idea to have a precedent built in that suggest that is considered during every step of the way. Here the usability folks can be diligent in placing “need help?” links or other aid devices. Additionally determining user flows that truly facilitate a particularly “helpful” experience is where i personally rely on the strengths of UE/IA folks. Why is this important? Because today, Brand is a promise…if that brand lives online than the experience there is the promise personified.
So Dave made a good point. “Information architecture shouldn’t be about making coloring books for the designers to fill out”. It should be about making a guide that was authored by a team of experts (Usability, Creative, and even Account folks? Sure as long as they pick up lunch) who understood a particular problem and developed a system of rules and hierarchy that strategically opens the door for creative to do some wonderful things.
Mr. Pringle
February 12, 2008
Ahh… how I miss the good ol’ days of PRE-production. To have time to develop ideas BEFORE putting ink to paper, or shall I say, pen to tablet.
Dwayne King
February 23, 2008
I think you guys have had some exposure to rotten user experience folks. In my opinion, the role of the UX person on the project is to make sure everyone is on the same page, bring in and flesh out all ideas (from all of the disciplines involved on the project) and vet them against the objectives and aspirations of the business and the users and ultimately come out with the best product.
Believe me, I know the type of folks you’re complaining about though.
Our definition probably varies a bit from others as we view IAs and Designers both as being part of the User Experience team.
Here’s to hoping you have experiences with better UX folks in the future.
angrybovine
February 25, 2008
I guess that was the point of my writing, I think. Here is where I am coming from. I still come from a little bit of an old school world…where the creative strategy, all of its objectives and aspirations, etc. were handled by…today, we’d call them creatives. But I would refer to them as designers, as you did. The UX thing is a rather new invention. I believe they are of huge value on especially large projects, where there are massive buying flows, or paths to be shown to the client before ideas become pixels. More often than not though what frustrates me about IA/UE folks is that they base a lot of their decisions on examples of things that have been done. I am more interested in doing what hasn’t been done yet, or at least, developing a presence and an experience that is unique to their set of problems. I truly believe the thing that most don’t get yet is that Brand is a promise. And if you experience that Brand online…that promise must come through, loud and clear. More often than not, IA and UE folks miss this fact. And give me meaningless wireframes that are devoid of any consideration for the “brand” and what it really is trying to say to the world. Therefore my creative centric view still puts me and my team (those responsible for coming up with and executing the “big idea”) at the center of the exercise.
I agree here is to better experiences with UX folks. I like Pinpoints (http://www.pinpointlogic.com/)
approach of more integrated teams. That is when UX is best. When I can get all us all in one room and really get down to business…its the only way it ever works.
Thanks for the comment
JAy
Imprecatory
June 19, 2008
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Imprecatory.