Article Idea:
Enterprise IA methodologies: starting two steps earlier
suggested by James Robertson on 2006/10/13
Information architects working with enterprises are confronted by unique challenges, relating to organisational culture, business processes, and internal politics. There are also some key differences in how the discipline of IA is applied, relating to frequent uncertainties around the exact nature of the business problems being solved.
In a typical project, the information architect is given a task:
• improve the design of the website for consumers
• develop a user interface for a new business application
• make it easier for staff to find information on the intranet
In all these cases, the problem is known, and the challenge is to work out the best way to design the solution. User-centered design methodologies then provide a rich toolbox for delivering an effective solution.
Within the enterprise space, it is often the case that even the problem to be solved is not well understood. For example, information architects may be approached with ill-defined ‘problems’ such as:
• improve the effectiveness of the intranet
• help call center staff to access required information
• increase the uptake of the document management system
• better support sales staff with online resources
In all these cases, the first task for the information architect is to better understand the problem. Only then can an overall approach be defined, and the normal user-centered design process started.
In practice, this means that enterprise IAs often start two steps earlier, focusing first on understanding the scope and nature of the problem, and then defining a strategy and approach.
(This article has already been fully written, based on my presentation at the Oz-IA conference in Sydney.)
Want to see this idea turned into a story?
4 people said yes. | 0 people said no.
Tony Byrne
0 Reputation points
Posted 2006/10/13 @ 13:32PM with
This article helped to crystalize and extend some vague ideas I’ve held after working on some very large projects. Thanks, James!
Patrick C. Walsh
30 Reputation points
Posted 2006/10/18 @ 05:31AM with
Couldn’t agree more. I work at creating and maintaining internal information systems and am employed long term to do this.
As each organisation is different so the problems, both human and technical, will inevitably differ. In order to attain an effective architecture as deep a knowledge as possible of the business and its processes is required before a single taxonomy is defined.
A further problem is that when the EIA finally gets a cogent overview she can often see problems/opportunities that are invisible to people within the organisation.
In organisations that have never had an information system I find some of the techniques such as card sorting of limited value at the start. Staff aren’t always aware of what is possible so asking their opinion of what an information system might look like or contain is often like the blind man trying to describe an elephant by feeling its trunk.
I think that a lot of the techniques may actually be of more use once a system has been in place for a while and the penny has dropped with the users.