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ACIA Main Page > Strange Connections > Big Architect, Little Architect (July 27, 2000)
See also:
Elements of User Experience
by Jesse James Garrett
Punctuated Equilibrium
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The ACIA is sponsored by Argus Associates, a leading information architecture consulting firm.
Peter Morville's bi-weekly column on the evolving definition of information architecture
Big Architect, Little Architect
First came the primordial soup. Thousands of relatively simple
single-celled web sites appeared on the scene, and each one was
quickly claimed by a multi-functional organism called a "webmaster."
A symbiotic relationship quickly became apparent. Webmaster fed web
site. Web site got bigger and more important. So did the role of the
webmaster. Life was good.
Then, bad things started to happen. The size and complexity and
importance of the web sites began to spiral out of control. Mutations
started cropping up.
Strange new organisms with names like interaction designer, usability
engineer, customer experience analyst, and information architect began
competing with the webmaster and each other for responsibilities and
rewards. Equilibrium had been punctuated and we
entered the current era of rapid speciation and specialization.
As all of these new life forms struggle to define their roles and
relationships in a competitive environment, the dialog can become quite
heated.
Consider a recent posting on the CHI-Web Mailing List
in which Jared Spool, a dominant member of the usability engineer
genus attacked
the customer experience genus, stating:
* "i" omitted in consideration of communications decency
filters
Before we take any of these struggles too seriously, we need to remember a
couple of facts:
This brings me to the central and very serious topic of this article. I
have recently witnessed attempts to curtail the role of the information
architect, with the obvious sinister objective of reducing our precious
food supply. This is not funny.
It all began in March, when Jesse
James Garrett created a very good visual
model to illustrate the elements of user experience.
As with all good tools, shady people quickly found ways to subvert Jesse's
visual for their own evil purposes. Despite the fact that Jesse
explicitly states on the visual itself,
These people say things like:
or
"The information architect shouldn't be involved in the design of
navigation systems. That's the interaction designer's job."
There is a core to the practice of information architecture that involves
the structure and organization of information systems that provide
intuitive access to content and applications.
However, interpretations of the role of the information architect vary
depending upon the organizations, the projects, and the people
involved.
At one end of the spectrum, the little information architect may
focus solely on bottom-up tasks such as the definition of metadata fields
and controlled vocabularies.
At the other end, the Big Information Architect may play the role
of "an
orchestra conductor or film director, conceiving a vision and moving the
team forward," as described by Gayle
Curtis, Creative Director at vivid
studios.
While this diversity and fuzziness drives some people crazy, I think it's
a good thing. In the rich, dynamic environment of web design, it would be
foolish to draw thick black lines between and around professional roles
and responsibilities.
Some projects require a Big Information Architect. Others require a
little information architect. The best work comes out of collaboration
between information architects and interaction designers and other
professionals of all shapes and sizes.
By working together to design useful and usable web sites, we can ensure
that our food supply continues to grow. Evolution is not a zero-sum
game.
Do you have strong feelings about the role of information architects?
Please send your rants and raves to Peter
Morville.
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Survival of the Fittest
"I personally think the current "customer experience" movement is a crock
of sh*t. I think it's all a FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) campaign
to get executives to shift their consulting dollars."
These battles can be very upsetting or very humorous, depending upon your
perspective at the time (i.e., if you're the one being attacked, you're
less likely to think it's funny).
So, we all need to lighten up.
The Role of the Information Architect
"This model does not describe a development process, nor does it define
roles within a user experience development team,"
I have seen people trying to squeeze the role of information architect
into the box for information architecture on Jesse's visual.
"We don't need to involve the information architect yet. Their role
doesn't begin until after we've defined user needs, site objectives,
functional specifications, and content requirements. See, look at Jesse's
diagram."
We must challenge these architect-in-a-box threats or face a future
nearly
as bad as the prospect of being stuck into little
blue folders.
In Defense of Diversity and Fuzziness
End Notes
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