SIGIA-L Mail Archives: RE: SIGIA-L: IA notation
RE: SIGIA-L: IA notation
From: Dirk Shaw (dshaw_at_pmg.net)
Date: Tue Jun 27 2000 - 13:50:52 EDT
I agree with Gordon, in using UML as a basis for a notation syste.
In my organization the way we represent "processes, decisions to make and
who makes them" is by writing use case descriptions to textually explain a
process, and create sequence, activity and use case diagrams to visually
explain the process.
These diagram are are extremely helpful for people who understand UML or
software development, however they are not geared to a manager or lay user.
So whatever notation is created it must be easy to understand for all.
Dirk Shaw
Information Architect
PMG.net Inc.
www.pmg.net
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-sigia-l_at_asis.org [mailto:owner-sigia-l_at_asis.org]On Behalf Of
Montgomery, Gordon
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 12:00 PM
To: 'Phill_at_Systems Design'; sigia-l_at_asis.org
Subject: RE: SIGIA-L: IA notation
seems to me we could use UML [Rational.com]as a basis for a IAML [IA Markup
Language]
-----Original Message-----
From: Phill_at_Systems Design [mailto:phill.christian_at_systems-design.net]
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 11:17 AM
To: sigia-l_at_asis.org
Subject: RE: SIGIA-L: IA notation
I'll venture in here for a moment. I happen to be one of those folks who
think there is a great benefit in notation systems for the purpose of
communicating with teams, clients, partners, designers, IAs, etc. In my
work the greatest problems come not from designers or technologists knowing
where they're going, but everyone knowing where everyone is going, in
particular the client.
So, one problem (or situation) statement could be: we need a system for
communicating the relevant details about process, decisions, etc. with
relevant parties in a manner that accounts for process complexity and an
appropriate level of description, while doing so in a simple and easy to
create and read way. (kind of run-on %-)
I feel a notation system needs to show what the processes are, the decisions
to make, who makes them, time, logic, and the cycles (or loops-iterations)
and sub-cycles that must be accounted for in a complex system. My
contention is that web-based applications are complex, not merely
complicated. Therefore, we need to account for that complexity in our ways
of sharing information and meta-information with all relevant parties.
I have found that most clients don't have a good grasp of technical graphs.
So, they need to be simple and concise, with a minimum of explanation
necessary and a maximum amount of content. Flowcharts are not generally
good at describing complex situations because they don't account for
complex, iterative system behavior and, if they do, they get difficult to
read. The potential solution is a simple, graphic + text description that
contains decisions, who makes them, events, time and logic so that everyone,
especially clients, have appropriate expectations set and responsibilities
clarified.
cheers
phill
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-sigia-l_at_asis.org [mailto:owner-sigia-l_at_asis.org]On Behalf Of
Betsy Martens
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 11:13 PM
To: sigia-l_at_asis.org
Subject: Re: SIGIA-L: IA notation
Yeeks! As I re-read my message I realized I got a little wrapped up in the
details. So sorry. If I can venture a statement of the problem, here it is:
How to represent a 2D-and-beyond information space (e.g., a Web site) in a
2D-only format (e.g., paper).
All my stuff about boxes, grids, and line weights had to do with how you go
about creating this representation and ensuring its maximum accessibility to
your audience: the client, or the developer/programmers, or the interface
designers.
In this context, our little 11 by 17 pieces of paper are crammed with
information about how we envision organizing the information into categories
and how those categories relate to each other in the 2D+ space. We use boxes
to represent generic Web pages, and we use layers of type and arrows to make
comments, indicate flow, and to call out potential anomalies.
It would be <infinitely> easier to simply show something, as you suggested.
I'm trying to figure out how to do that without violating client
confidentiality.
Betsy
on 6/26/00 2:51 PM paula.thornton_at_luminant.com wrote:
I don't know if any of the "newbies" are as confused as I am about this
topic. I still haven't had my original question answered which I believe
will help with the confusion. While Betsy's recommendations, by far, fired
the most brain cells, I am still at a loss as to the context of "notation"
as a solution.
Since no one has volunteered a meaningful problem statement (which would
justify why a notation would be helpful), can someone offer up a sample of
what "one" type of notation solution might look like so that the rest of us
can figure out "what planet we're on" when this topic is being discussed?
Sorry for being so dense, but I don't want to show up for the '60s dance in
a sequined formal.
Paula Thornton
Information Architect
Luminant Worldwide, Dallas
on 6/26/00 1:17 PM bmartens_at_leapnet.com wrote:
At this point I think it is more important to agree on some notation
principles rather than developing an actual set of notation symbols. What
are important principles of an IA document? If we limit our focus here to
graphic representations and not text documents, we can come up with some
fairly basic but crucial principles:
1. Use of a grid system to align similar levels of a hierarchy and thus
communicate through visual pattern the similarities between pages and
between navigation tracks.
2. Use of layering to allow more important information to come to the fore,
and meta-information to recede visually.
3. Maintain consistent icon size regardless of content, to avoid calling
attention to the shapes of the boxes.
4. Vary line weights and colors to convey main actions, secondary actions,
and least significant actions.
We are finding that the more consistent we are able to be with our site
maps, site audits, and process flows, the more quickly our internal audience
of designers and programmers can grasp the increasingly complex mapping that
our documents illustrate. The consistent thread is the use of pattern to
communicate.
While these principles might seem fairly obvious, we are in the process of
codifying them, even though they will continue to evolve. Our senior
information architect, Mark Hines, has developed them in his IA documents
over the last several years.
Betsy Martens : Information Architect
Quantum Leap Communications
420 W. Huron St. : Chicago, IL 60610
312.528.2419 : bmartens_at_leapnet.com
on 6/18/00 11:55 AM Locatelli_at_aol.com wrote:
> The development of any notation system requires a general agreement on the
> meaning of arbitrary symbols, whether musical notation, Labanotation (for
> dance), or written language.
>
> The first step it seems to me, is to determine what concepts we want to
> convey (which was Paula's question) and develop a (complete as possible,
but
> ever-growing) list. We then establish the common base of symbols. As soon
as
> we have a core group using and explaining the symbols, they become the de
> facto language of IA.
>
> Process description fairly simple, the process itself complicated.
>
> Fred Leise
>
>
> on 6/16/00 4:13 PM davidp_at_hesketh.com wrote:
>
>> Is there a notation system for use in IA, or in
>> any other aspect of Web design, for that matter? And if there isn't, how
>> about we set ourselves to the task of creating one.
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