Thursday, November 17, 2005
the quiet revolution in information architecture
While I can't escape "doing" information architecture, I don't consider myself an information architect -- someone who truly focuses on the discipline. When I first encountered information architecture maybe 5 years ago, it seemed like common sense to me. I worked for many years as a technical information specialist, so working with classification schemes for text databases over Internet delivery seemed old hat.
How times have changed. Information architecture is a now discipline with great depth. It is no longer just common sense. There has been a quiet revolution in the past two years, exploring new standards and web technology, and experimenting with new conceptual approaches. Information architecture has gone from a field that seemed overly concerned with defining itself, to being a field that innovates, being experimental and empirical. I notice the gap between what I have a good knowledge of in IA, and what is good practice, is widening.
What hasn't changed is the capacity of IAs to be modest and practical. I found a posting on IA slash lamenting how boring information architects can be. IAs need to give themselves more credit.
How times have changed. Information architecture is a now discipline with great depth. It is no longer just common sense. There has been a quiet revolution in the past two years, exploring new standards and web technology, and experimenting with new conceptual approaches. Information architecture has gone from a field that seemed overly concerned with defining itself, to being a field that innovates, being experimental and empirical. I notice the gap between what I have a good knowledge of in IA, and what is good practice, is widening.
What hasn't changed is the capacity of IAs to be modest and practical. I found a posting on IA slash lamenting how boring information architects can be. IAs need to give themselves more credit.
Link to this article. posted by Michael Andrews @ 9:35 PM 
