If This Is Information Architecture, I Need a Plumber!

The validity of the term architecture for information work has been the source of some contention among both IAs and traditional architects. I have been forcefully reminded in recent weeks, through my dependence on information technology, just how limited the architecture of information spaces can be compared to the physical structures of our world. Just as a problem with the plumbing or the roof of your home tends to grab your attention and demand resolution, computers in their various forms can make demands on users that stretch the patience and emotional stability of even the most sanguine.

Dillon, Andrew. ASIST (2001). Articles>Information Design

The Poverty of User-Centered Design

In the dim distant past, some of us used to distinguish our work from the masses by declaring proudly that we were ‘user-centered’. At one time this actually meant you did things differently and put a premium on the ability of real people to exploit a product or service. While the concern remains, and there are many examples of designs that really need to revisit their ideas about users, I find the term ‘user-centered’ to have little real meaning anymore.

Dillon, Andrew. Infomatters (2008). Articles>User Centered Design