A Day in the Life of an Information Architect

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Stacy Merrill Surla A Day in the Life of an Information Architect Stacy Merrill Surla UX Connect September16, 2013 Michele Kong

description

What would it be like to work as an information architect in Tokyo? Or be one of just a handful of IAs in the country of South Africa? Can you imagine yourself heading up your own boutique consultancy in a metropolitan city – and if so what would be your value proposition? What are your prospects as a freelancer in the rural south of the United States? Or as a newly graduated IA interviewing with a large commercial firm? View the Notes on each slide to read the transcript. You can also listen to the presentation and read the transcript on http://uxconnect.wordpress.com/past-talks/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-information-architect/

Transcript of A Day in the Life of an Information Architect

Page 1: A Day in the Life of an Information Architect

Stacy Merrill Surla

A Day in the Life of anInformation Architect

Stacy Merrill Surla UX Connect September16, 2013

Michele Kong

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Eddie James

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Research

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Concepts

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Rüdiger Kortz

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Jacksonville, Florida

Owner/User Experience Designer

Circling Sharks LLC

Mobile and tablet projects for financial clients

User research, service design, wireframes, interaction design, and working with decision makers

Eddie James

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Even if there are no jobs,

that doesn't mean there's not work

Eddie James

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One man shop

Hires freelancers

Often advisor to clients - on retainer

Built skills and focus through energetic engagement in his work experiences

Eddie James

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Naoko Kawachi

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Tokyo, Japan

Communications Manager

Concent, Inc.

Writing, editing, event planning, media relations

Improving understanding of IA, UX and Service Design; connecting people and things "in the right way"

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Naoko Kawachi

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She discovered her interest

was not on visual design but on

invisible structures

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Matthew Milan

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Toronto, Canada

CEO/Design Leader

Normative

Sales, Design Practice, and Project Direction

"We build software to drive organizational change, in a studio environment. "

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Matthew Milan

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We run on a pod-based model.

There's no broken telephone at out business. The client can talk directly to the designer, IA, and engineer.

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Jason Hobbs

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Johannesburg, South Africa

Owner/User Experience Designer

Teacher, Researcher, Practitioner

Clients: corporations, arts and culture, public sector, and non-profit

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Jason Hobbs

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IA is a powerful tool to help

people solve wicked problems

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Jason Hobbs

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Work on many projects, in diverse sectors

Get a mentor

Agency, client-side, and working for yourself

Different social, political, and cultural contexts

Learn from other fields

Be ambitious

Love doing it - or try something else

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Employment Outlook

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http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/salary_survey.php.

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Employment Outlook

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http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/salary_survey.php.

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Getting a Job

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http://www.slideshare.net/runger/career-workshop-ia-summit-2013

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Ivanoff

Takeaways

Know your core values

Even where there are no jobs, there is work

Solid skills are just the start

Client skills, strategic thinking, and domain expertise are distinguishers

Always On versus Unplugged is a choice

Find organizational settings that work for you

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Bowles, Cennydd. The fall and rise of user experience. ASIS&T Information Architecture Summit 2011. Denver, CO, http://www.cennydd.co.uk/2011/fall-and-rise-of-ux.

Leiman, Layla. "My Day Job: Jason Hobbs." 10and5 (March 14, 2013), http://10and5.com/2013/03/14/my-day-job-jason-hobbs.

Surla, Stacy Merrill. “Building IA means building local groups.” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Volume 33, Issue 2 (2007), http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Dec-06/surla.html.

The Information Architecture Institute. 2012 Salary Survey: Annual IA Salary and Benefits Survey (2012), http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/salary_survey.php.

Unger, Russ. Career Workshop: IA Summit 2013. (2013), http://www.slideshare.net/runger/career-workshop-ia-summit-2013

PhotosMichele Kong, Keeping A Balance: The Legacy of Shigemori Mirei (1896-1975) ,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx84-XXe3iY&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4bEEAWCPicKJgzq4RViDnQ

Rüdiger Kortz, "Charles Jencks Garden of Cosmic Speculation" www.ilona-grundmann-filmproduction.de/en/filme/charles-jencks-garden-of-cosmic-speculation/

Ivanoff. view from Saiho-ji (Kokedera) pond. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saihouji-kokedera01.jpg

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References

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Contact

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Stacy Merrill [email protected]