Comments on Coming of Age

lyn — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:49 GMT

I think the look/feel of the AIFIA site is both appropriate and pleasing; content is concise and comprehensive. Best wishes to the group; I look forward to its growth and success.

cmcbride — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:49 GMT

I always find it so strange that some people jump in and criticize a site that has barely just launched first on its look and feel. Maybe I somehow just gloss over that stuff because I am only in search of the content? I dunno. I just think it’s a bit early to worry about that stuff. It think the message of the group is far more important right now. And maybe someday if I ever find work as an IA again, I’ll join ‘em.

dawn — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:49 GMT

Erin isn’t the only one thinking of IA’s sudden popularity
http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Oct-02/dillon.html

christina — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:49 GMT

interestingly enough a visual designer who thought the site was designed by Zeldman thought it was gorgeous. the designer is also the author of this article.
http://www.photomatt.net/p308

funny how much our prejudices inform our judgments. i wonder if we had listed our site to have been designed by kalibar 1000 the reception would have been different. After hearing a lecture today on captology, i suspect it would have.

I put in my four years of art school where I learned many things are subjective. the aifia site has usable and unusable aspects, but I feel comfortable saying I feel also that it is gorgeous. subjectively, I delight in the color and layout. and as for the rest, we have time to make it better… with good constructive criticism.

Eric Mahleb — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:48 GMT

Interesting and accurate article. However, i want to comment on the site AIFIA, mentioned in this article.

Indeed, i am surprised at how much of a poor experience i find this site to be. I am not refering to the content itself, which i have not explored in depth yet. However, the overall look and feel is not very compelling. I know this is a very subjective opinion, but i have been around enough talented visual designers to know a good visual design when i see one. There is enough talk about emotion in design at the moment that i find myself feeling quite offended these days when i see a site which screams at me: “i was built by IAs!”. BTW, i am not a visual designer, simply someone who thinks that one of the factors to get a good user experience is to marry usability with solid aestethics. I want to get my info and feel warm and cosy about it, not like i am staring at a faded 1960s picture of someone’s living room. As Christina Wodtke mentioned in her “autoroute” article, it is very very important for IAs to understand Visual Design(and vice versa). But it is not about about simply understanding the capabilities and limitations of each. It is about using and feeding off each other, about creating usable experiences which appeal to our senses. Hard to measure but necessary.

In addition, it took me quite some time to understand the interaction of the home sub nav. OK, so these are just important topics you want to bring forward. Fine, i chose “Who are we” and oops, where am i now? My eyes are looking at the content and i see “People”. Fine. I am in “People”. I look back at the left nav and see “People” highlighted, but then the rest of the choices there are confusing me. Some i seem to recognize from the home page, but not all. Then i look up and see “About AIFIA” highlighted in the main nav. Ok, i get it now. I am in this section of the site. So why isn’t the section header in the left nav more clearly and prominently displayed? Why is it treated right now just as another link? It is not indented, not bigger…it does not look like a section header or a title. It looks like another choice i can make, on the same level as the others….
This threw me in for a serious loop…there is a serious lack of contextual orientation in this site.

That being said, this site seem to be a great resource which will hopefully continue promoting IA throughout the world.