We know a product has a lifecycle, but does the language we use for that product also have a lifecycle? From TiVo to the Internet Superhighway, Rice shows us how the metaphors we use have an evoluation all their own.
Process and Methods
As information architects, we are not just architecting information; we are using information to architect change. Bob Goodman shows us how we can use business and management techniques to help us be more effective agents of change.
Change Architecture: Bringing IA to the Business Domain
Just when you thought you fully understood the three circles of information architecture, your assumptions are being challenged again. Withrow comes around with an argument for looking at the context circle differently.
Competitive Analysis: Understanding the Market Context
Interaction modeling makes design decisions explicit. In principle it’s simple: record what users “should” do, what they actually do, and then explain the differences between the two. Of course there’s more to it than that, and Matt Queen gives us all the details in this story.
Interaction Modeling
User State-Trace Analysis
Not every upgrade comes with a big budget, so you have to work with what you’ve got. Here are a couple of ways you can work with an existing UI to give it a new look and a new function.
Change It Up!
Adapting an Existing UI for a New Purpose
The recent rise in more powerful technologies that provide richer user experiences online has presented us with a challenge. As designers, we are moving from from designing for “PIAs” to designing for “RIAs.” Does our documentation style change with the technology? Will our standard ways do the job?
Storyboarding Rich Internet Applications with Visio
User journeys are a method for conceptualising and structuring a website’s content and functionality. These journeys allow us to shift away from thinking about structure in terms of hierarchies or a technical build; instead you create a narrative around your user’s needs.
An introduction to user journeys
Personas and scenarios tell honest stories that are sculpted from diverse and comprehensive sets of data. Parrish Hanna and his Experience Planners demonstrate how to keep it honest throughout the organization.
Customer Storytelling at the Heart of Business Success
Collaboration Sessions encourage multidisciplinary collaboration while creating a unified design vision–all within a compressed time frame.
Collaboration Sessions: How to Lead Multidisciplinary Teams, Generate Buy-In, and Create Unified Design Views in Compressed Timeframes
Network audio devices provide a convenient way to play digital audio through your home stereo. How do they provide remote access to your music library, given the UI limitations of the first generation of devices? This looks like a job for an information architect.