[thelist] visual designers list - perceptions of IA

[David Kutcher]

Being that I was a designer -> developer -> IA -> programmer, I think I have
different perspective on IA than most people... or maybe just a wisened one.

Most of the people that I worked with/for while I was an IA initially
thought it was a joke... until they realized 1. how much time, thought,
effort I saved them, 2. how many problems it fixes in initial steps,
especially with larger, more complex projects, and 3. how it kept projects
on track in an orderly fashion by creating diagrams that everyone could
follow along with.

IA becomes a huge help in gathering requirements because it visually allows
you to show the client what you're thinking when you scope out the project
and determine a timeline/budget.

IA allows your design and your development staff to work at the same time
from a set of functional, architectural, and page level diagrams that have
been client-approved (hopefully), thus potentially reducing the timeline.

Working with designers, IA keeps the page and site level requirements in
hand as we all know content, functionality, and nav items sometimes get lost
in complex sites.

Working with developers, IA allows you to diagram exactly how you wish a
functionality to flow, page to page, and maintain usability when programmers
are more often than not focussed on making it work.

That was my IA rant.  Almost a canned response... and I have more if you
want.

David
www.confluentforms.com