Information Architecture (I.A.) Podcast Show Notes

New iTunes Feed

2007-09-15T10:02:00.001-04:00

If you are still using this site to get the I.A. Podcast, please note that I've had to change the subscription to iTunes. If you click on the iTunes icon on the right side navigation, it will pull in a new feed to iTunes. (Apple messed up the feed and the staff at iTunes couldn't resolve the issue).

My apologies for the inconvenience and late notice. Life has been busy and work has been coming in steadily.

I'm working on a sponsorship for the Podcast with a major vendor and the next show will be with New Zealand's Rebecca Hope and her company Tecads and their product Motivate Infographics.

Thank you to all my listeners. One further announcement, I'm going to be doing the Podcast for Boxes and Arrows. I'll be recording the first four shows in later this month on the following articles with their authors:

Getting a Form's Structure Right by Afshan Kirmani

Foundations of Interaction Design by David Malouf

Blasting the Myth of the Fold by Milissa Tarquini

PDF Prototypes: Mistakenly Disregarded and Underutilized by Kyle Pero Soucy

There is a Podcast page on the Boxes and Arrows main navigation at the moment - bare with us as we figure out the best way to incorpoarte the Podcast on the site.

In the mean time, if you'd like to hear the first Podcast I did for Boxes and Arrows, check out the show I produced with Jeff Lash and Chris Baum on transitioning from the role of UX professional to Product manger,

Mesh - User Experience and Community

2007-08-24T16:21:00.000-04:00

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I attended the Mesh Conference in Toronto Ontario last week. In the process, I rounded up a few of the speakers and attendees to participate in a discussion around User Experience and Community. There was no set agenda for the discussion other than to talk about some of the main themes from the conference - connect, share, and inspire. A huge thank you to the organizers of mesh for everyone who took the time to share their ideas and projects at the conference. It was a pleasure meeting everyone and I look forward to next year's conference.

IBM's Mike Moran - Search Engine Marketing Inc.

2007-04-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

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I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Moran, IBM Distinguished Engineer and co-author of the book Search Engine Marketing, Inc. - Driving Search Traffic to your company's Web Site.

We discuss a number of topics in his book including: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) versus SEM (Search Engine Marketing); landing pages and doorway pages; organic search versus paid; how major search engines index websites; the Bow-tie theory; and eye tracking analysis - to name only but a few concepts.

Want to find even more about Mike? Check out Biznology - his email newsletter and blog.

A new website for I.A. Consultants is going to be published in the coming weeks! The I.A. Podcast will be integrated into this new site. A whole lot of easy to use features including streaming audio and multiple ways to subscribe and publicize the show to others. Stay tuned!

Many thanks to Mark Blevis and his efforts in helping me edit the sound on this show. Mark has several initiatives under way with respect to Podcasting. The following are a few examples of his work:

http://www.electricsky.net (interviews and documentaries)
http://www.justonemorebook.com (great children's books and author/illustrator interviews)
http://www.canadianpodcastbuffet.ca (supporting the Canadian Podcast community)

Mark is also coordinating the Podcasters Across Borders event in Kingston, Ontario. This will be the second annual not-for-profit international podcasting extravaganza, will provide you with a full suite of podcasting how-tos — from audio production techniques to podcast promotion and podcasting in an educational setting — and a chance to spend a weekend with generous, talented, friendly members of the Canadian, American, British and Argentinian podcasting community.

Thank you to John Wiseman and his efforts in helping me create a new website for I.A. Consultants - coming at the end of April 2007!

I presented at this past weekend's third BarCamp in Ottawa. I had the pleasure of meeting Bryce Johnson and W.R. :-) I look forward to having Bryce on a future I.A. Podcast.

On Friday April 13th the CapCHI Workshop, Web 2.0 - The Human Web is taking place at the NAC here in Ottawa. Register today!

Findability and Fraud Investigations

2007-02-18T14:04:00.000-05:00

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We sit down with Chris Pierre from Glencastle Security to discuss the importance of findability when working on fraud investigations. Sorting through enormous volumes of data in order to create a logical flow of information is paramount when building such cases. Chris outlines the variety of tasks involved in this process including the tools he uses such as X1, Access, and Excel to organize all of this data in presenting each case. He also illustrates how findability extends beyond data to people; intellectual; and personal property.

The White paper, Best Practices to Deal with Threats to Your Intellectual Property in the Supply Chain is the paper we discussed in some detail. Check it out!

Chris also discusses the following in our conversation:

Forensic Data Recovery Inc. ("FDR") provides world-class computer forensics Professional Services, Software Solutions and Training for corporate, government and law enforcement clients across Canada. Our clients are served from offices in British Columbia and Ontario.

Hi Tech Crime Investigators Association - The purpose of the Ottawa chapter is to encourage, promote, aid, and effect the voluntary interchange of data, information, experience, and knowledge about investigative methods, processes among the membership of HTCIA in Ottawa Canada, specifically the National Capital Region, and abroad.

The CapCHI Workshop is set for April 13th. If you'd like more information about our speakers check out their bios in detail, below:

Peter Merholz - Adaptive Path
Maggie Fox - Social Media Group
Derek Featherstone - Further Ahead
Mike Atyeo - Neo Insight

The IA Summit will be held in Las Vegas this year! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so I guess that means we won't be Podcasting any of the events, eh? ;-)

The Book I.T. Podcast is coming together. This show will be hosted on IT Conversations - launch date coming soon!

A Discussion with Copywriter and Blogger Kristina Mausser

2007-01-21T08:57:00.000-05:00

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I recently had the opportunity to have lunch with local copywriter, Kristina Mausser. In this conversation, Kristina talks about the challenges of writing for the web versus that of writing for print material. We also cover the topic of organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO); the various streams of copywriters, proxy blogging, and the process Kristina follows in developing quality content for online publication.

Kristina runs her own copywriting company, digital word and also writes about her passion for writing, the Internet, and all things digital on her blog Word Up! Life in the Digital Hood.

I talk about a podcast recorded earlier that morning with Social Media expert Maggie Fox who will be one of our presenters at the April 2007 CapCHI Workshop on Web 2.0 and CHI. Registration for this event will be up in the coming weeks.

I will be taking on a Podcast for IT Conversations called BookIT! I will be speaking with authors of IT publications; starting in early February. My first two Podcasts will be with Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld on the O'Reilly publication Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. This will be followed by a discussion with Peter Morville on his book Ambient Findability.

The BookIT Podcast will cover more than topics related to IA. I have also asked to talk to the authors of Dreaming in Code, Wikinomics, Prioritizing Web Usability, Straight to the Top - Becoming a World Class CIO and Everyware. If there are IT books you have read lately that are of great interest to you, please pass them along to me. Ideally I'd like the books and questions to the authors to be guided by our listeners.

I will also be speaking about Podcasting at the upcoming Demo Camp here in Ottawa. If you're in the neighbourhood, please come out to the next event by adding your name to the Wiki.

Be sure to take the time and check out the brilliant new publishing tool, Public Square!

John Wiseman's Blog Post about Apple's new iPhone availability in Canada.

Creating User Friendly Websites for Non-Profit Organizations

2006-12-21T14:17:00.000-05:00

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This morning we spoke with Olga Howard from Beaconfire Consulting. Olga is an Information Architect and Usability consultant based in Arlington Virginia. The focus of her work is in helping non-profit organizations, such as Big Brothers / Big Sisters, design and build web services and online marketing programs.

The challenges of working with non-profit communities are discussed and how creating a solid Information Architecture and User Experience for this sector is just as important, and in some cases more critical, when compared with the Private and Government sectors.

You can find Olga at creative experience design, as well as the company Beaconfire for whom she currently works.

The focus of our conversation focused on the presentation she gave at World Usability Day around her work in building the Big Sisters / Big Brothers website.

I also discussed the fantastic re-design of the Children's Bridge Foundation website and how this non-profit organization who helps orphans in China has embraced many of the key usability points made by Olga.

We talked about the upcoming IA Summit being held in Las Vegas in March 2007.

Olga will be at the Usability Professionals Association conference in Austin, Texas in June 2007.

This one time...at Bar Camp Ottawa!

2006-12-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

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We take you on a virtual audio tour of Bar Camp Ottawa held this past weekend at BitHeads. The conversations include discussions with other presenters and participants.

Topics range from social tagging and writing for the web to Adobe's new tool Flex, to conversations with other participants on a range of topics and ideas. A great day in Ottawa!

Due to the nature and length of this podcast I thought I would include the time intervals for various discussions. Those downloading the Podcast into iTunes or other feed readers can scan forward to the areas of greatest interest:

Intro to Podcast 00:00 - 02:28
Peter Childs opening address to kick off Bar Camp - 02:28 - 06:02
An overview of the next discussion on Social Tagging / Folksonomy - 0:6:02 - 7:00
Social Tagging / Folksonomy Discussion - 7:00 - 11:14
An overview of my conversation with James and Jennifer at Bar Camp - 11:14 - 11:31 (My sincere apologies to Jennifer for using "Brown" instead of her correct last name, "Bruce" - a long day of editing :-) ).
Conversation with James Cogan and Jennifer Bruce - 11:31 - 20:49
Video Podcast for Ottawa - Video TWIT for Canada - 20:49 - 21:46
Kristina Mausser on writing for the web - 21:46 - 36:33
Content today is still King...or Queen - 36:33 - 37:43
Mitch Brisebois on his experience at Nortel in the creation of telephone services for third world countries - 37:43 - 49:34
Overview of Adobe's presentation on Flex 49:34 - 50:04
Stacy Tyler Young presents on Adobe's latest solution: Flex 49:34 - 1:06:46
Conclusion - 1:06:46 - 1:07:04

Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with me. Those that I couldn't include in this podcast who were kind enough to share their thoughts include:

Janet Wilkinson - repositbox
Melany Gallant - Ramius
Brett Tackaberry - 76design
Steve Palmer - 76design
Erik Hagborg - Axionic
Sunir Shah - Ingenius
Tobi Lutke from Jadedpixel
Wayne Larsen - nanoware
Dan Langille - BSDCan
James Poulsen - edigenous Technology
Chris Lamont - Sitebrand
Francis Moran - inmedia Public Relations
James Neilson - James Perly Consulting Inc.
Darlene Moore - DriveTraffic

In this podcast I mention a few other initiatives and publications:

Another two great events being coordinated by Peter Childs here in Ottawa are the Demo Camp and Case Camp. Sign up today for the next event!

The Chicken Test - a brilliant video blog by Bryce Johnson from Navantis who couldn't make it up to Ottawa because of the horrific weather we had the day before.

Ottawa Meet-up groups - Two that may be of interest to others include the Blogger and Podcast meet-up events.

Another interesting application that is still in beta is James Cogan's efforts to create video.ca

And one final note, I assisted in the testing of a great new Blogging / Publication tool called Public Square - check it out!

Thank you one and all for an amazing Bar Camp - I look forward to the next event!

Discussion with Information Architect Bob Goodman

2006-11-13T23:55:00.000-05:00

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Tonight we speak with Information Architect and Usability expert, Bob Goodman.

In this discussion Jeff talks to Bob regarding his article on Boxes and Arrows about the concept of the Information Architect creating a "Change Architecture" within businesses. Bob also shares his thoughts about Web 2.0 and the value add this new approach to the web will bring to organizations. As well, we discuss different approaches to IA and Usability including card sorting and Bob's experiences with Listening Labs.

Bob’s interests include visual perception and the psychology of individual and group decision making. He is active in several trade groups, including the User Experience Network, where he serves as Boston Ambassador. He writes frequently about technology and culture, and his work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the Boston Phoenix, ACM's Interactions magazine, UXMatters, and on his blog, UXCulture.Com

Boxes and Arrows article:Change Architecture: Bringing IA to the Business Domain

Dr. Timothy Lethbridge's presentation on Integrating HCI into Software Engineering: The Imperative and the Resistance

My apologies to Dan Brown for not having his wonderfully crafted book Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning, in front of me during the show. A great book that should be on the shelf of every developer and Information Architect.

Sarah Rice article on using Metaphors to Increase Customer Acceptance

Mark Hurst Gel Conference website and an overview of Gel with a video by host Mark Hurst

What is a listening lab? Listening Labs are a method of testing Web sites and other interactive experiences in front of users. In the industry, this genre of testing is often called "usability testing" or "user testing." The name "Listening Labs" reflects the focus on listening intensely to what users have to say.

We briefly discussed Donna Maurer's work to date in the creation of a book on Card Sorting. Best of luck Donna, we're all looking forward to its' publication!

User Centered Design, Web 2.0, and AJAX

2006-10-04T18:18:00.000-04:00

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We listen to the Design Critique Podcast around User Centered Design, a discussion from the UXPodcast with Donna Maurer on Card Sorting, and look at a better understanding of "bottom-up" versus "top-down" approaches including a definition of Web 2.0.

This Podcast also touches on the importance of understanding your end users within UCD for other professionals like software engineers. Finally we listen to an excerpt from the South by Southwest presentation with Jesse James Garrett about how the term AJAX came into being, how it is used, and the future for this Web 2.0 methodology, using the web as a platform.

Upcoming CapCHI presentation by Mike Atyeo from Neo Insight about AJAX and Usability will be presented on October 19th. We are working on a method for recording this presentation. I will also be looking into a Podcast with Mike after the presentation to provide an overview of his presentation and his thoughts on the future for AJAX.

Design Critique: Products for People Podcast: Tim and Tom are joined by guest colleague Serena for a wordcast episode on User-Centered Design (UCD). What is UCD, where did it originate, and how can it help you improve customer experience with a product?

Bob Goodman will be a special guest on the I.A. Podcast. Tim and Tom refer to the Usability Glossary that Bob created and how this assists in a better understanding of projects which focus on User Centered Design. I look forward to talking with Bob and sharing his own insights into Usability and the methodologies he uses including Listening Labs.

Dr. Timothy Lethbridge's presentation on Usability and HCI - The imperative and the resistance. Brilliant insight into the need to bring Usability into the Software Engineering domain to improve applications and other similar products today.

UXPod - User Experience Podcast - Card Sorting with guest Donna Maurer. Donna also has a fantastic website and blog that everyone should check out!

South by Southwest audio clip featuring Jesse James Garrett discussing the origins of AJAX, where it will lead us, and what we can expect in the future. The first AJAX article written by Mr. Garrett which started all of the excitment around this new approach to designing with the web as a platform.

Plain Language and Usability / Business Process before Technology

2006-09-01T12:34:00.000-04:00

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Today we pull from various podcasts to discuss the effectiveness of plain language to improve usability; including conversations with one of the founders of Information Architecture, Peter Morville and Vice President of products and usability at Google, Marissa Mayer. As well, we listen to a podcast from CIO magazine talk about SOA and how process and architecture need to be put into place prior to developing a Service Oriented Architecture stragetgy.

Whitney Quesenbery of Whitney Interactive Design discusses the Plain Language Movement, and how task completion for each project should be the focus. Can the user easily understand the text and therefore the process to complete each task? Whitney is also the ex-president of the Usability Professionals Association.

Peter Morville talks about the Folksonomy / Ontology debate as well as his desire to see applications such as Blogs, Wiki's and the like be combined into an application that doesn't put such a burden on the end user to both find and use information.

Small is the New Big by Seth Godin

The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Dr. Barry Schwartz

The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid

Everyware - The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing By Adam Greenfield

Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Products and Usability at Google discusses the idea that putting your users ahead of the desire to make large sums of money will ultimately lead your organization to an understanding of what your customers want. Pursuing projects and the development of applications is then guided specifically by what your clients want - not what the organization thinks they want or need.

SOA's True Challenge - It Aint Technology discusses the role of SOA and how the two main concepts of Process and Architectural Planning have been neglected in the past. Plain language and communicating with your end users about what they want - defining the purpose of the tools you create - will help to improve both process and architectural design.

CIO Magazine - Tracks in the Snow - "IT projects are usually judged successes or failures when they go live. But look back and you will see the real judgment comes later - and that requires a new set of value criteria."

Using Metaphors / The Information Architect as Universal Translator

2006-08-01T06:01:00.000-04:00

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In this month's Podcast we look at using metaphors to describe complex ideas, simply. We also look at how the Information Architect can play the role of a Universal Translator between IT and business leaders.

CapCHI, Ottawa's ACM SIGCHI chapter, is looking for presenters and new members to come out and join us for future meetings.

Boxes and Arrows article by Sarah A. Rice "Using Adoption Metaphors to Increase Customer Acceptance"

Jakob Neilson’s book “Usability Engineering”

Latest Mac vs. PC commercials

Robert Half Technology “June 2006 Midyear IT Employment Outlook” downloaded from Training Source

Improve Search / Reduce Risk. Bar Camp(s) and a National Conference

2006-06-06T18:25:00.000-04:00

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This show talks about elements to look at to improve search while simultaneously reducing risk. We also discuss a conversation with Stepanie Lemieux of TaxoCop and the creation of Bar Camp(s) and a National Conference.

KM World University Webcast Series Minimizing Risk while Improving Workforce Productivity through Secure Search

Jakob Neilson - Prioritizing Web Usability

useit.com

CIO Magazine - 8 Steps for Improving Project Management

Taxonomy Commnity of Practice (TaxoCop) Wikipedia - Stephanie Lemieux - Administrator of Wiki.

Bryce Johnson - Navantis

Jess McMullin - nForm

Contribute your ideas to the Canadian Conference / Bar Camp Wiki

Eric Schied and Irconclad

Seth Earley - Early and Associates

CapCHI and the HotLab at Carleton University

A great summary of this Podcast and the ideas around search can be found from Peter Morville's book, Ambient Findability:

"...we know accessibility is the "single most important variable governing the use of information." In the spirit of our tribal ancestors, we absorb most of our information passively and rely on who we know for much of what we know. Search can be an integral part of the decision-making process. What we find influences what we do. But the first step is deciding to search, and the smallest barriers will deter us. The primacy of accessibility is among the firmest ties that bind our rationality. We trust the informal gossip of the grapevine without seeking the analysis of experts. And our source bias feeds our anchoring, memorability, and confirmation bias to further tangle our judgment." p. 160

Information Architecture plays a critical role in Security and Risk Management

2006-04-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

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In this podcast, Trevor Townsend of the C3I Group, an expert in the field of Security and Risk Management, explains why Information Architecture is critical to the protection of people, property, and information.

The following are notes provided to I.A. Consultants from Mr. Townsend in preparation for this discussion:

Why IA is important, no critical, to security and risk management:

Imagine trying to manage the following process without recognizing:

The value of accurate and timely information;
The need for availability of communications with your contacts;
The contacts' requirements for your information;
The need to communicate goals and objectives;
The need to communicate observations and actions; and
The need to differentiate between urgent, important, and neither

In brief, the whole security and risk management process...
In essence here is the rule: Use each and every stage unless there is a compelling reason not to.

Statement of value
Identification of assets
Threat and Risk Assessments (TRAs)
Security Controls and Countermeasures design
Application of safeguards
Vulnerability
Stakeholder communications
Risk accreditation
Initiate operation - Operations management
Surveillance and monitoring
Incident response and management
Recovery operations and investigations
Operations maintenance
Downgrade/Disposal/Termination of value
Terminate operations
Impact Assessments
Review/Revise/Repeat

Mr. Townsend notes that a good exercise would be to pick something; anything of value you want to protect, apply this, and think it through...For Security and Risk Management people, imagine doing that with information chaos!

Creating change within organizations is fundamentally based on the group's capacity to manage, protect, and leverage relevant information on a daily basis. This article by Bob Goodman Change Architecture: Bringing IA to the Business Domain illustrates this point. To quote from the article:

"As IAs we are not just architecting information; we are using information to architect change. In “traditional” information architecture, the target of work is usually a website or a web-based application. Change architecture steps outside of these bounds. The domain is not limited to a web team; it expands to include today’s dynamic business environment and the way people, processes, and tools interact and interoperate. The target is no longer limited to web browsers; rather, it is the minds of those people charged with understanding the broader business landscape and contributing to better business decisions."

future guests, persona development, IA Summit

2006-04-01T15:37:00.000-05:00

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Future Guests, Personas, Wrap-up of the IA Summit

This show talks about future guests, the value-add of persona development, and a wrap-up of the I.A. Summit.

C3I Group - Trevor Townsend will be a future guest on the show talking about security and risk management.

Eric Scheid - Ironclad

Olga Howard - Beaconfire

Noreen Whysel - Whysel and the IAWiki

Stig Anderson - defining IA

Call to IAs and other professionals to participate in future shows

Hays Specialist Recruitment

Communicating via Comics
My mistake - I said it was Jess in the podcast, obviously it's Peter in the presentation! Too many names and projects on the brain. The presentation itself is by Kevin Cheng and Jane Jao at Yahoo!

delicious - use the keyword iasummit2006 in the search box to find publications from the IA Summit this year.

5 minute wrap up from the IA Summit

The Chicken Test

e-learning, training, the brain

2006-03-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

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Developing effective e-learning / training strategies

Today's show discusses new scientific research about the brain and the effective delivery of training strategies including e-learning, in class training, and blended learning concepts.

Skype - You can call anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world for free

Educause The IT Leader As Alchemist - Finding the True Gold

Seed Magazine - The Reinvention of the Self - A mind-altering idea reveals how life affects the brain.

Scientific American Mind - Science Probes Spirituality

Wired Magazine - Buddah on the Brain

Defining Information Architecture - Blogs, Frameworks, Concepts

2006-02-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

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This is the first podcast for Information Architects! This show shares ideas from blogs from other IA's from around the world and discusses a framework to illustrate the tremendous value an Information Architect can bring to any organization.

Wildly Appropriate
I.A. Institute
Working definition of IA Cross Wired Mind
Boxes and Arrows
Information Management Now "The Relationship Between IT and Business" January 14, 2006
Peter Morville - Ambient Findability