Although it is a really easy trap to fall into, if you simply ask users about what would make life better, you will rarely get meaningful answers. They are just not good at envisioning revolutionary solutions, and basing your designs on those responses won’t get to a breakthrough in your design. In this presentation, Amy Cueva and Megan Grocki discuss how research inspires design and how reality inspires creativity. They focus on activities such as Laddering, Game play, Storytelling and Tr...

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Is there any theoretical framework information architects can use to inform their design decisions? Perhaps our field is too young to have a mature theory, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a set of immutable principles that give us a sense of quality in IA. Daniel Brown talks about eight principles that influence the rules and frameworks that govern the experience, why each is important, and why they are immutable. After sharing examples of each principle, he concludes with a r...

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You don’t get a second chance to make a great first impression—and that includes kickoff meetings. After one too many unproductive kickoffs, Happy Cog reinvented its project definition process around full-day, interactive activities and collaborative design exercises. Kevin Hoffman, Experience Director at Happy Cog East, explores approaches for identifying business strategy, company culture, and project risks before you even shake your client’s hand for the first time. He then ...

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At Mad*Pow, they leverage the disciplines of Human Factors, Psychology, and Visual Design to create engaging experience that maximize customer acquisition, increase attention, and reduce costs. The American Society of Information Science & Technology: Since 1937, ASIS&T has been THE society for information professionals leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information.The IA Summit: the premier gathering place for information architect...

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At Mad*Pow, they leverage the disciplines of Human Factors, Psychology, and Visual Design to create engaging experience that maximize customer acquisition, increase attention, and reduce costs. The American Society of Information Science & Technology: Since 1937, ASIS&T has been THE society for information professionals leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information.The IA Summit: the premier gathering place for information architect...

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At Mad*Pow, they leverage the disciplines of Human Factors, Psychology, and Visual Design to create engaging experience that maximize customer acquisition, increase attention, and reduce costs. The American Society of Information Science & Technology: Since 1937, ASIS&T has been THE society for information professionals leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information.The IA Summit: the premier gathering place for information architect...

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It took both the telephone and the mobile phone 15 years to amass 100 million users, but Facebook did it in 9 months. We see more and more people becoming connected on online social networks, and it seems our networks are growing exponentially. But the reality is, social networks rarely add to our number of connections. We’ve already met almost all the people we’re connected to on social networks. We’re already connected to these people offline. Social networks simply make the ...

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How do we determine the hierarchy of Attributes? My research led me to believe that most people find it intuitive when the Attribute-Location breadcrumb simply replicates the order in which un-selected facets are presented (most typically in the left nav bar). Replicating the order in which un-selected facets appear also provides an effective way to integrate search and browse by treating the Category as just another Attribute in the breadcrumb. In vast majority of finding interfaces, Category a...

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