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prady | 1 Aug 2006 16:38
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[Sigia-l] Employee page on your intranet

Folks,

I want to hear your ideas on how to build employee pages on the
intranet. I am looking for new & innovative ideas on how to avoid
building static pages, lack of proper controls and overhead of
managing them. I am wondering if we can avoid the trap of building
"talent databases", managed by "HR" folks, to get the same result.

Any body worked on this area before? Is this an IA problem, or something else?

I want to explore if anyone is using search engines to "profile"
employees, and build dynamic page. If so, I want to understand how you
build "texonomies" and "topics" for search indexing(?)

Anyone?

Thanks,
Prady
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Ralph Zenger | 1 Aug 2006 19:40
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[Sigia-l] IA opportunity for Proxicom in Los Angeles or Irvine, CA

Proxicom is again seeking an experienced Information Architect for our
offices in Marina Del Rey (Los Angeles, CA), or Irvine, CA. We provide
a growth oriented environment with a wide range of clients. Occasional
travel is expected.

This position is for the kind of IA who sees themselves as a key
project leader as well as a team player, someone who can consistently
generate new ideas and strategies for the team and for the client.

Responsibilities:
· Develop information architecture solutions and navigation systems.
· Create site maps, task flows, and detailed wireframe layouts.
· Conduct research and analyze user data to develop user profiles
· Translate business requirements into user interface solutions
· Prepare, conduct usability testing sessions, evaluate results and
present actionable recommendations.
· Perform heuristic web site analyses.
· Work closely and iteratively with client and project teams
· Conduct and participate in client meetings and working sessions

Requirements:
The candidate should:
· Have 3+ years experience as an information architect.
· Have been the principal IA on at least one major enterprise-level
Web site, from start to finish.
· Be comfortable presenting and sometimes leading large meetings with clients
· Be able to show samples of all or most of the following deliverables:
· Site Maps, Process Flows
· Wireframes/Schematics
· User Personas and Scenarios
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Chad Jennings | 1 Aug 2006 21:00
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[Sigia-l] JOB: IA at Blurb (San Francisco)

SENIOR IA-UE DESIGNER
Blurb, Inc, San Francisco (Full Time)

If you never get on a bus or a plane without at least one book in  
hand, you could be the ideal candidate to join Blurb (www.blurb.com),  
a venture-backed startup located in downtown San Francisco near  
public transit and ferries.

Since people first put ink to papyrus, books have captured our best  
thinking, learning and experiences. They are the legacy that each  
generation provides for the next. Everywhere you look, new technology  
is letting regular people participate in parts of our culture once  
accessible only to the elite few. Today, anyone with Web access can  
share their opinions online, with the click of a mouse. In the same  
way, Blurb helps ordinary people express their passions and record  
their experiences in books to share with their families, communities  
and the world.

We’re developing a complete platform that allows anyone – blogger,  
chef, marketer, parent, student, traveler, etc -- to create  
professional-quality books.  You can create one book as affordably as  
five hundred.  We're putting the power of traditional print  
publishers into everybody's hands. We believe in books, and the  
people who make them, too. In the weeks and months to come, we'll be  
launching a community of authors and bookmaking specialists – a place  
to find the content, camaraderie, inspiration and guidance to make  
your books everything they can be.

This is your chance to join an exciting company in the early stages  
of our development.
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Kenneth Bryson | 1 Aug 2006 21:38
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[Sigia-l] Discount vs. High End testing

Hi folks,

I'm planning usability testing for a government website redesign, ie.
modified Information Architecture, interaction design, and navigation
scheme.   My plan is to use various discount usability techniques to get
through this in an effective and efficient manner, including card sorts,
paper prototyping, lo-fi online prototyping, use cases, etc.

My question is, will this be "enough" to go on, or should I also look
at "high end" options like actually recording users, analysing time on
task, number of clicks, etc. using something like Morae?  
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp

My feeling is that the multiple discount method approach will provide
more than enough information to create a useful and usable site. 

I'm not doing social research or looking for trends in web usage.  Is
there any reason I should consider including some 'high end' tools in
this?

Thanks much!

ken

--
Ken Bryson, MISt
User Experience Architect
Creative Services
City of Toronto
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Ziya Oz | 1 Aug 2006 23:53
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Re: [Sigia-l] Discount vs. High End testing

Kenneth Bryson:

> Is there any reason I should consider including some 'high end' tools in this?

One *always* gets into trouble when one chooses a tool based on popularity,
best practices, etc., before figuring out why it's needed in the first
place.

For example, do you need to resort to eye tracking? Who knows! If you're
convinced that you need statistical analysis of users' gazes over page real
estate, sure. Is that going to solve a real problem in an "effective and
efficient manner"? Highly doubtful, but depends on what you wanted to figure
out to begin with.

Tools don't provide solutions, strategies do. Otherwise, you're on a fishing
expedition.

----
Ziya

Usability >  Simplify the Solution
Design >  Simplify the Problem

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Alexander Johannesen | 2 Aug 2006 01:26
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Re: [Sigia-l] Employee page on your intranet

Hi there,

On 8/2/06, prady <pradyotrai <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> I want to hear your ideas on how to build employee pages on the
> intranet. I am looking for new & innovative ideas on how to avoid
> building static pages, lack of proper controls and overhead of
> managing them. I am wondering if we can avoid the trap of building
> "talent databases", managed by "HR" folks, to get the same result.

We're doing this through an enterprise Wiki called Confluence, with
some customised plugin work that taps into an Oracle database (a
legacy database we still have to use). The Wiki works as an interface
to the database. First, since this is an enterprise Wiki, all
employees have an account in it (automatic) and their profile page has
two views ; by yourself (interface to the database) and everybody else
(a view of this info only). Anywhere in the Wiki your name gets
attached to content you produce (news, pages, docs, comments, etc).
Your profile is also a small Wiki space in itself where you can put in
any text you like in addition to the database driven stuff.

As to what goes there that might be interesting to the rest of the
organisation, there's a small guideline to what you might say (and a
template to boot if you feel you want one) where you put in what you
do, what you'd like to do, how you can help others, and so forth.

> Any body worked on this area before? Is this an IA problem, or something else?

10% IA, 10%UX, 20% technology, 20% brevity, 30% anti-methodology, 10% coolness.

> I want to explore if anyone is using search engines to "profile"
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Donna Maurer | 2 Aug 2006 01:38

Re: [Sigia-l] Discount vs. High End testing

Kenneth Bryson wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm planning usability testing for a government website redesign, ie.
> modified Information Architecture, interaction design, and navigation
> scheme.   My plan is to use various discount usability techniques to get
> through this in an effective and efficient manner, including card sorts,
> paper prototyping, lo-fi online prototyping, use cases, etc.
>
> My question is, will this be "enough" to go on, or should I also look
> at "high end" options like actually recording users, analysing time on
> task, number of clicks, etc. using something like Morae?  
> http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp
>
>   
I just got lost. Are you redesigning the website, or conducting 
usability testing on it? You mention testing, but then talk about design 
activities.

If you are designing it and doing some testing through the design 
process, these types of lo-fi techniques will help you check the design 
is on track. You shouldn't need high-end options through the early 
stages, but they may be useful later or on a completed site if you need 
more concrete 'data' to report against.

--

-- 
Donna Maurer
Maadmob Interaction Design
e: donna <at> maadmob.net
web: http://maadmob.net/maadmob_id/
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tputkey | 2 Aug 2006 02:26
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Re: [Sigia-l] Employee page on your intranet (prady)

I've seen employee pages done a couple of ways. R&D people like blogs and wiki
pages, and i would guess that marketing people like blogs (although I've
experienced that they don't like wikis).

Currently, the STC chapter I'm in is putting up a new website, using Expression
Engine's weblog to post content. It allows many different people to interact
with different parts of the site as little or as much as they want. People seem
to be really excited about it cuz it lets them be more involved in the chapter
website.

There's a lot of initial setup and admin, but we're hoping that once all the
kinks are worked out, that it will be less painful than the previous version of
the website.

Theresa Putkey

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Fred Beecher | 2 Aug 2006 04:14
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Re: [Sigia-l] Discount vs. High End testing

On 8/1/06, Kenneth Bryson <kbryson <at> toronto.ca> wrote:
>
> I'm planning usability testing for a government website redesign, ie.
> modified Information Architecture, interaction design, and navigation
> scheme.   My plan is to use various discount usability techniques to get
> through this in an effective and efficient manner, including card sorts,
> paper prototyping, lo-fi online prototyping, use cases, etc.

That's a great plan. Usability testing can get ponderous, but it
doesn't need to be. It seems like what you're doing is to do some
research, then a little bit of design, then limited discount testing
on what you've designed, then continuing on to iterate design and
testing... is that accurate? If so, that's a really good way to go. It
keeps things lean and focused and goes a long way to assure that your
site is usable for your intended audience.

A more comprehensive test (by which I only mean you're testing the
site as a whole) would still be recommended at the end of design
though, just to make sure.

Hope that helps,
Fred
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Lori Baker | 2 Aug 2006 13:43
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[Sigia-l] Information Architecture 2006 Progress Grants

The Information Architecture Institute (IAI) is pleased to announce the
Information Architecture Progress Grants for 2006. The purpose of the
program is to twofold: to encourage researchers and practitioners to
investigate IA-specific issues, and to publicize useful work that furthers
the information architecture body of knowledge.

Two progress grants are available, each for US$1000. The IAI Progress Grant
Committee will review the proposals and select those with the highest
potential to benefit the information architecture field. Half of the grant
amount will be awarded when the grant recipients are announced and half when
the work is completed. Progress grants will only be awarded to proposals of
sufficient quality, clarity, and originality. 

Applications should propose work that will forward the theory and practice
of information architecture. This can include original research, a synthesis
of important existing research, or the development of an innovative new
technique.

Work supported through this program will be published on the iainstitute.org
website, but it should have relevance beyond the Tools and Library
collections. For instance, the work could inform future IAI workshop
curricula, tie in with potential Institute publishing projects, be
responsive to issues raised by members in the email discussion list, or
support other Institute activities, such as Local Groups and International
initiatives. 

Further information about the IA Progress Grants, including previous
progress grant reports, are available at
http://iainstitute.org/pg/ia_progress_grants.php
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