SIGIA-L Mail Archives: RE: SIGIA-L: The Balance of Design (was
RE: SIGIA-L: The Balance of Design (was "What is wrong with this org chart?")
From: Dennis Huston (DPH_at_Nexiv.com)
Date: Mon Mar 12 2001 - 11:11:19 EST
Paula,
Amen. If this list was New Orleans jazzfest, your note to the SIG would be a
sermon in the IA gospel tent. Preach on...
There is no design without constraints. Those constraints for IA are the
aesthetics of information. Without an understanding of the rich and diverse
history of information (e.g. library science, interface research & design -
digital and atomic, literacy, semiotics, etc.) which are for the most part
rooted in successful retrieval of useful information to achieve a users
goals, design and creativity is devoid of structure and meaning to large
audiences.
Those who understand the aesthetics first before breaking them, in all their
many dimensions, or later following glimpses of creative genius (i.e.
prodigy), are the truely creative. Design may be less of an artifact of what
we do and more a parallel discipline which is obviously more visually
prominent, but which is strongly impacted by the effect of what we do as the
architects of information.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-sigia-l_at_asis.org [mailto:owner-sigia-l_at_asis.org]On Behalf Of
paula.thornton_at_luminant.com
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 8:51 PM
To: sigia-l_at_asis.org
Subject: SIGIA-L: The Balance of Design (was "What is wrong with this
org chart?")
Designing Web pages is an artifact of what we do. We create
"understanding" and provide environments for individuals to seek and act.
As more and more function is delivered via the Web, the demands for more
"highly trained" skills will become imperative for practicing IAs. The
Information Architect will adopt more of the skills of the cognitive data
designer. We already deal with naming/labeling (picking something that
uniquely identifies "this" from "that", which becomes more difficult as
the universe of things grows larger). We should be the ones who identify
the specific data elements that are coming from the databases and how to
cognitively arrange them for most effective mental processing
(particularly in the case of "form filling"). In what order the items get
arranged and in what groupings they get arranged will be defined by us,
not the visual designer. The visual designers, however, might help us see
how the groupings might be more effectively displayed, based on certain
graphical treatment. The collaboration will be so seamless that new ideas
will be spawned without being able to identify who initiated them.
But as demands increase on our role, they also increase for visual
designers. They too, need to learn more about the cognitive impact of the
visuals and how the most minute visual changes enhance the ability to seek
and act. They must add science to their art. In the world of print, they
were not subjected to supporting process (other than inciting an action to
buy, or to go to a retail outlet, etc.). Their craft must adopt new
methods to evolve and support an area that has been horribly devoid of the
esthetics that they can deliver -- esthetics that are more than just table
dressing, but that which truly change the outcome.
Together we bring the yin and the yang necessary to put the presentation
in balance.
Paula Thornton
Senior Consultant / Information Architect
Luminant Worldwide, Dallas
888-388-5023
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