Boxes And Arrows : The Design Behind the Design

I actually enjoy the longer articles, they are through and nicely explained. As you stated there are plenty of places out there to get a short opinionated rant. B&A should keep the quality magazine/journal style writing.

I don’t mind either way. Maybe it’s more about setting the expectation up front. Perhaps we can call long pieces “articles”.

Maybe there’s a nice term for shorter pieces. Baudelaire had “rockets”. Quips. Blasts. Essays.

I surely agree with Sara. There are lots of other sites or blogs where we can get shorter articles about the same topics, but it is very nice to know that at B&A you can get deeper thoughtful thoughts, as Christina said.
Keep on with the good work, it’s always delightful to read B&A content!

I enjoy the meaty-ness of B&A articles and like to see the in-depth treatment of ideas, especially as I use B&A as a trusted resource. I don’t think that precludes shorter articles but I don’t want to see longer ones become the exception. (Also, glad to see the forum added! Great resource!)

i vote for both: long and indepth is of great value, but there are times when a snack is just the right size

Something I’ve heard a lot since getting into IA…it depends.

I think that articles should be as short as they can but, for instance, Peter Jones recent article ‘We tried to warn you’ consisted of two longish articles and as far as I’m concerned it was just right.

I vote for both as well.
In general, is better to be able to express your points in a few lines, but some topics require some theoretical background which is good to be refered. So just maybe it is important all the writers to have in mind writing sorter articles for the ease of reading but this will not be always the case!

I’d like to read a bit more in-depth, usually that results in longer articles. So that is my answer.

We all trying to makes complex information easier to understand and to use.
Our stories inform, inspire and define our rapidly growing discipline.
Our results / our deliverables should be short and easy – but we have to think cross-functional and to anticipate complex processes ever.
We and our business came up from a mutlifaceted enviroment and on our way we have to connect a lot of ideas and conditions …
... but – last but not least … it depends on …

Mixing long-form and short-form articles is an interesting prospect. Maybe including short articles should also increase the editorial cycle, perhaps by rotating stories out of top spot within a few days and keep the two-week-or-so rotation in place for the long ones.

The publishers would just have to make sure there’s a nice consistent rhythm. This could preserve the meatiness a lot of us love and mix in a few provocative “thought snacks” here and there.

But doing so may change the identity of B&A a little. Right now it feels like an academic journal and a community of serious exploratory UE practitioners…adding snacks may make it feel more like Time Magazine and attract a different mix. Widening the appeal may be a good thing.

I actually enjoy the long articles, and think they define and keep BAA different and better.

Can short format articles give you the opportunity to reflect on subjects and look for real life uses in you own organisation? I’m not sure they can.

Let’s keep the format BUT let’s make sure BAA doesn’t stagnate.

It seems there are a few different audiences for B&A, those who enjoy the long article that are more in depth and analytical, and some that like the short and sweet articles (or quips, blasts mr. govella likes call them). I enjoy the different sections B&A offers. Stories, Ideas and Forums to accommodate these varying audiences.

Good question Christina.

Jon