Last week I attended and presented at the 2011 Polish IA Summit. The organizers (the Polish agency UseLab) and presenters did a good job at showing the state of IA in Poland and, by listening to each other, asking the right questions, and socializing, helped promote IA in Poland. My closing keynote, “UX: (still) the next step for IAs?” aimed at doing the same thing; it was a call to look around at others in the field, at nearby fields, and User Experience as an umbrella for their work.
Both days of the program were mostly filled with case-studies, except for the bookend keynotes by Martin Belam, Claire Rowland & Chris Browne, Marianne Sweeny and me. Below are my observations, written down as extremes on different scales.
In Adaptive Path’s newsletter of September 28, I shared my views on the European UX scene. In response, several people wrote to me with additions to the landscape. Below are the most interesting ones, followed by my impressions of 3 more European conferences: Euro IA, UX Russia and Design by Fire. And yes, I will count Russia as part of Europe in this respect.
Updates to the European UX Landscape
I did not mention UXCamp Europe, but that event attracted 400 attendees last May and plans are forming for next year’s event. (thanks, Henning Grote!)
Are you a designer? Architecture fan? Interactive maven? Web junkie? Information epicure? Do you love mixing up history and current events to find something interesting and new?
Join us at Adaptive Path for a scintillating talk by Web-guru and architecture expert Molly Wright Steenson as she shares her latest ideas and research on information, architecture, interfaces and the rich history that has evolved into the information spaces of today (and tomorrow.)
Molly’s ability to take historical nuggets and dice & slice their meaning, frame them up in interesting ways and wrap them in “what’s next in the world”...
Although few of them would describe it this way, many of the people agitating for change to Facebook are really asking for changes to the user experience, not to Facebook’s policies or even functionality. This recent graphic from the New York Times summarizes the chief complaint with Facebook quite nicely. The unstated thesis of the graphic is that privacy management on Facebook is simply too complicated, with too many settings buried too deeply in too many categories. In short, this is an information architecture problem.
Implicit in many of these criticisms, however, is the notion that these settings were…
Will we look back on the desktop experience of today in much the same way we reflect on computer punch cards of yore? If so, when will the desktop and mouse become irrelevant? How do people who want to explore the world of technology experiences that are free from the tethers of the keyboard and mouse begin?
These along with a host of other thought-provoking questions were among the topics of discussion, debate, and jest at last week’s Beyond the Desktop panel discussion. I was honored to be in the company of six brave and talented designers who are…
Last week, Tim O’Reilly delivered a short address at the Web 2.0 Expo where he offered insight into the five applications he believes point the way for the evolution of the web.
Two themes stood out: sensors will surpass humans in front of their keyboards as the primary data source on the web and Moore’s Law will need to be applied to humanity’s greatest problems. (via ReadWriteWeb)
He cited Google Voice Search on the iPhone, an application that combines both voice and sensor input, as an important technology to watch.
A podcast of Jesse James Garrett’s impassioned closing plenary from this year’s IA Summit is now available online via Boxes and Arrows.
Jesse’s assertion that we are all experience designers has stirred controversy within the community, and justifiably so. Professional identity is a slippery slope. However, I can’t help but feel Jesse’s important message is getting lost in these discussion threads. Arguing over the definitions of our roles and judging the value of the contributions of each does little good if it becomes divisive within our community. Instead, it distracts us from working together towards…
About a year ago, Jesse came to me and suggested I change my title from Information Architect to User Experience Designer. He gave a number of reasons, but none of them resonated with me. I clearly remember commiserating with some dear friends at the IA Summit 2008 about this proposed change in title.
I didn’t want to give up the title. I considered myself an information architect first and foremost. I’ve called myself an IA for nine years now. I was proud of the name. It was who I was. So I didn’t change it.
Two years ago I inaugurated the IDEA Conference, an attempt to recognize the power of information architecture to help in all manner of our lives, not just on the web. I continued working on it last year, and this year, I handed the reins over to the very capable Jorge Arango. Jorge has put together a great program this year (including Jesse talking about Aurora!), spanning a range of interests, but all with IA at its core. Check it out!
