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Let Us Introduce Ourselves: The NavigationArts IA Team November 1st, 2008
No Comments The title “information architect” was coined by the innovative architect and designer Richard Saul Wurman in the mid-1970s, but it didn’t emerge as a profession until around 2000. At the height of the first internet frenzy the internet industry needed a title for this skill set. Information architects are experts at organizing information and designing user interfaces. We work at the crossroads of content and technology and use both to create highly usable online experiences.
Generally speaking, information architects (IAs) tend to have diverse professional backgrounds. We often have unique experiences that shape our abilities and our approaches. So that inspired me to wonder…what characteristics make exceptional IAs?
I interviewed my fellow information architects on the NavigationArts team to find out.
Meet the NavigationArts IAs
The most senior IAs on the NavigationArts team were working in the discipline before the title was commonly in use. These five team members each have more than ten years of IA experience. We also have a core group with five to nine years of experience, and a handful of talented newcomers who have experience in fields ranging from print journalism to design to human factors.
Each IA identifies with areas of practice within the broader Information Architecture profession. Our team includes experts in web strategy, interaction design, content strategy and user research, plus a few who consider themselves generalists.
Traits of a NavigationArts IA
NavigationArts has assembled a highly-experienced team of information architects—it’s a group that is smart, experienced, and extremely talented. We share the following traits:
- We all have diverse backgrounds
- We believe that the simplest solution is the best
- We are visionary and detail-oriented
- We have outstanding communication skills
- We’ve all worked in publishing, and/or communications, and/or information technology
Diverse Backgrounds
IAs at NavigationArts have diverse backgrounds. Most of us did not study user-experience in college and most had at least one other entirely different profession before becoming an IA.
My own career is an extreme example: My education is in business—I studied economics as an undergrad then went on to earn an MBA. Professionally, I’ve had careers as a programmer, a budget analyst, a marketing research analyst, and a project manager before becoming an information architect. I’ve worked for a natural gas pipeline company, The Washington Post, Fannie Mae, and a large scientific society—and this list of companies excludes my agency work.
Having a diverse background means bringing several perspectives to bear when solving business problems. It exposes you to different solutions and helps you see information patterns even across projects and dimensions of projects that have unique variables. Diversity of experience adds insight and dexterity when developing IA solutions.
The Simplest Solution is Usually the Best
Keeping it simple is our guiding principle, something we learned while tracking submarines on a P3 Orion aircraft or while crafting web strategies for non-profits. We are focused on delivering solutions that give primary importance to the most important user needs.
Ironically, when an IA is successful their work is—well—unnoticeable. It’s rare for an end user to say, “Wow, that IA is fantastic!” Users may notice a great visual design, but typically only remember an interaction design when it is hard to use.
Visionary and Detail-Oriented
Two equal and opposite themes emerged when interviewing my colleagues:
- We excel at the "big picture" and envisioning new solutions
- We are highly analytical and detail-oriented
That makes us both visionary and detail-oriented—a unique combination of traits that is crucial to our success. Why? As one colleague phrased it, we are called upon to “drink from the fire hose of information that is turned on at the beginning of a project. Then we must sift through that information, make sense of it, and leverage it toward a solution.”
Outstanding Communication Skills
A colleague who studied psychology observed two types of IAs: empathy-driven and data-driven. Empathy-driven IAs find it natural to step into a user’s shoes and have keen instincts about what people want and need. Data-driven IAs let the data do the work—like a scientist, they are a conduit between the user research results and the IA solution.
Whether their approach to developing a solution is empathy-driven or data-driven, every IA at NavigationArts stressed the importance of having strong communication skills. Most IAs I spoke with mentioned they enjoy talking to people and listening to their stories. We must ask the right questions and listen to what people are saying—even when they aren’t able to express their needs clearly. Sometimes we need to look beyond what people say to identify what they really need.
The work we do results in organizational change—and that can be stressful. Being able to communicate clearly and sell a vision while remaining sensitive to the impact of change is crucial to our success.
The IA Triangle: Publishing — Communications — IT
I was surprised to uncover that every IA on the NavigationArts staff has a connection to one or more of the following fields: publishing, writing/communications, or information technology.
IAs with experience in publishing have worked on everything from page layout and production to graphic design. Some started in the print world and migrated to the Web. These IAs excel at the details—especially content management system implementations—and they recognize the importance of layout to legibility.
Those with experience as writers or marketing communications professionals excel at shaping a vision that maximizes the messaging potential of the medium. They also excel at selling their visions. These IAs often work from the bottom up—analyzing the content to uncover patterns that will shape the final solution.
IAs with information systems/technology backgrounds understand the technologies that drive the Web and how IA solutions intersect with the backend implementations. They excel at synthesizing complex requirements into an implementation blueprint.
The same skills required to be a good IA are required to manage a Web site well. The best teams blend an operations (publishing and design) function, with a content creation (writing) function, and a technology team.
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