Learning From Others
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Bring Your Personas to Life!
by Zef Fugaz | [15 comments]
Method acting can take your personas from the page to the stage. Think beyond traditional practice to give emotional life to your personas. more...
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Competitive Analysis: Understanding the Market Context
by Jason Withrow | [10 comments]
Just when you thought you fully understood the three circles of information architecture, your assumptions are being challenged again. Withrow comes around with an argument for looking at the context circle differently. more...
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Content Strategy: The Philosophy of Data
by Rachel Lovinger | [27 comments]
As interactions proliferate, so does the content that supports them. Why should software professionals take a step back and examine their content from a philosophical perch? Rachel Lovinger takes a look at content strategy and the benefits of its perspectives. more...
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Deep Context
by Jorge Arango | [9 comments]
Most IA tools and methods focus on the users and the content being developed for websites. Jorge Arango uses the ideas from anthropologist Edward Hall as a starting point to dig deep into the idea of context, its variations, and the impacts on how people interpret information. more...
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Designing for Nonprofits
by Olga Sanchez-Howard | [9 comments]
During a two-year adventure designing websites for nonprofits, Olga Sanchez-Howard navigated waters both familiar and not. Now she shares her thoughts on what is shared and unique between the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. more...
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Focus on the Student: How to Use Learning Objectives to Improve Learning
by Wendy Cown | [3 comments]
As information architects we all know how important it is to keep the user in mind. The same is true in teaching IA: we must keep the learner in mind. Learning objectives are one tool to help keep your classes focused on the student. They will also help you develop the syllabus, lesson plans, and assessment methods. more...
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Getting Hired
by Olga Sanchez-Howard | [9 comments]
With the vigorous debate within the Design community about roles and domains of expertise, we sometimes forget that our monikers are for those who would hire us, not for us. Olga Sanchez-Howard helps us refocus our efforts with resume and portfolio tips for Information Architects and Interaction Designers. more...
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IA Summit 2008, Day 1
by Chris Baum and Jeff Parks | [6 comments]
The IA Summit was held in Miami, FL from April 10-14. Boxes and Arrows captured many of the main conference sessions. Check out the presentations from Saturday, April 12.
As the sessions are produced, they will
be added to the respective day here on B&A. You can also subscribe to the
iTunes feed to get the new ones automatically. more... -
IA Summit 2008, Day 2
by Chris Baum and Jeff Parks | [0 comments]
The IA Summit was held in Miami, FL from April 10-14. Boxes and Arrows captured many of the main conference sessions. Check out the presentations from Sunday, April 13. more...
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IA Summit 2008, Day 3
by Chris Baum and Jeff Parks | [2 comments]
The IA Summit was held in Miami, FL from April 10-14. Boxes and Arrows captured many of the
main conference sessions.
Check out the presentations from Monday, April 14. more... -
It Seemed Like The Thing To Do At The Time
by Joe Lamantia | [17 comments]
Joe Lamantia shares three stories of failure and how changing your self-definition can open the way to continued success. (Part 1 in the Lessons From Failure series.) more...
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Leaving the Autoroute
by Christina Wodtke | [12 comments]
By committing all their attention to a single craft, often literally over hundreds of years, each town in France has received the renown that comes with great work. But what happens when you leave the autoroute, lured by one of those signs proclaiming the town’s mastery and claim to fame? more...
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Lessons From Failure (Series Introduction)
by Christian Crumlish | [1 comment]
Christian Crumlish introduces a series on the messy realities and the honest lessons of failure. Read on to see how you can participate. more...
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Lessons From Google Mobile
by Max Lord | [2 comments]
When Google talks, people listen. Designer Leland Rechis presented the inside scoop on Google Mobile to a packed house in New York last month, and Max Lord was there to pan for nuggets. After polishing them up a bit, he now shares them with us. more...
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Long Tails and Short Queries
by Christina Wodtke | [6 comments]
Why haven't we figured out search yet? Amanda Spink talks with Christina Wodtke on why searchers still can't ask a useful question of a search engine, and how Google may be part of the problem rather than part of the solution. more...
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Practical Plans for Accessible Architectures
by Frances Forman | [13 comments]
Accessible information architecture builds a bridge between planning, design, and development. Frances Forman gives us a place to start thinking more deeply about how information can be structured and transformed to make user interaction more flexible for everyone. more...
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Putting the White Back in Strunk and White
by Christina Wodtke | [6 comments]
Where do we look for standards and guidelines that we can incorporate into our design work? In addition to the canon of trusted advisors, Wodtke reminds us of a teacher and student who created a series of uncommon guidelines that have a lot to teach about web design. more...
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Setting Up Business Stakeholder Interviews Part 2
by Michael Beavers | [2 comments]
In part one, Michael shared how to navigate company politics to set up great stakeholder interviews. Here he covers his five tips for navigating company politics, avoiding client bias, and eliciting the information you need to inform your design. more...
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Setting Up Business Stakeholder Interviews, Part 1
by Michael Beavers | [5 comments]
Gathering business requirements from stakeholders is critical to good design, but setting up quality interviews can be tough. Tossing out the org chart may be the best way to figure out who really wields influence over a company's website. more...
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Studying the Creation of Kindergarten
by Bill Lucas | [1 comment]
How does the pursuit of one man's interests result in the creation of kindergarten and timeless design principles? Bill Lucas shows us how Friedrich Fröbel took basic elements to create intricate, scalable systems that can serve as a model for creating new experiential systems today. more...