Are We There Yet?

It's true: even simple projects get messy. Christina Wodtke comes clean on Swiss Army knives, the writing on the wall, and the untidy glory of the Boxes and Arrows redesign contest.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Case Studies

Building a Vision of Design Success

A common view of vision is that it's something handed down by a leader to the troops. When a redesign goes awry, the troops complain, 'There was no vision.' But the problem goes deeper than either scenario; the problem is that there was no shared vision.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Management>Collaboration

Career Choices for Designers

What do you want to be when you grow up? Some people think there is only one choice, but Christina Wodtke shows us that there are as many choices as there are people making them.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Careers>TC>Design

Defining Information Architecture Deliverables

One of the hottest topics these days in Information Architecture circles is documentation. This is probably partly because the IA's role is so ill defined. Our jobs sit perched between engineering and graphic design: go too far in one direction, we're doing the coding, go to far in the other and we are doing the design. Neither role maximizes the architect's key skills; defining the organizational structure and behavior of the web site or application. An IA is most effective when they leave implementation and final graphic design out of the mix. The documents they create to express this have to be crafted with equal skill and diplomacy.

Wodtke, Christina. SitePoint (2001). Articles>Information Design>Documentation

Defining the Damn Thing

Defining information architecture is a reccuring theme in all IA forums, and frequently leads to re-naming efforts as well, from information therapist to experience designer. This page is dedicated to that ongoing struggle.

Lombardi, Victor, Tal Herman, Eric Scheid, Sunir Shah, Christina Wodtke, John Paul Fullerton, Keith Tatum, Karyn Young and Rob Manso. IAwiki (2004). Articles>Information Design>Professionalism

The Elements of Style for Designers

What if E.B. White had written 'Hanging Commas 99% Bad' instead of a gentle list of reminders for young writers? Wodtke outlines how White's list of 22 reminders for writing can be just what young designers need.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Design>Web Design>Writing>Minimalism

Fear of Design

Not so long ago, on my personal site I posted a little entry on design. And a comment was made: 'IA is not design.' This sentence has sat vibrating in my head for months. It speaks of bravado in the face of fear. But why should Information Architects fear design?

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Information Design

Information Architecture Defined

Much like our real world namesakes, information architects design spaces for human beings to live work and play in. The big difference is the materials we work with: cement is replaced with thesauri, timber with hierarchies and steel with interaction flows. Confused? Let me tell it as a story. Oh, and to do so I’m going to have to reveal I’m a big dork. Hope this won’t slow you down.

Wodtke, Christina. SitePoint (2000). Articles>Information Design

Leaving the Autoroute

By committing all their attention to a single craft, often literally over hundreds of years, each town in France has received the renown that comes with great work. But what happens when you leave the autoroute, lured by one of those signs proclaiming the town's mastery and claim to fame?

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Information Design

Mind Your Phraseology! Using Controlled Vocabularies to Improve Findability

Many moons ago I waited tables. One day our manager came down to tell us that from now on we were to refer to our customers as 'guests.' We also were to refer to courses as 'first course' and 'second course.' Our chef was French, and found the American use of 'entrée' for the main course annoying--in French 'entree' means appetizer. This was my first experience with a controlled vocabulary. A controlled vocabulary is simply what it sounds like: a way to control the meaning of the vocabulary used as well as keeping track of the related terms.

Wodtke, Christina. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>Writing>Controlled Vocabulary

Prognostication Digitalis

We stand poised to dive into the new year. What will 2003 hold for the profession known as 'what we do' and its children, information architecture, usability, interaction design, interface design, and graphic design? We asked our authors to hazard a guess.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Interaction Design

Putting the White Back in Strunk and White

In web design screeds, the most commonly cited book is not what you might expect. It is not by Jakob Nielsen or Jeffrey Zeldman or Edward Tufte. It's not even on design or typography or code. It is a thin volume of guidelines on writing by a professor 'at the closing of the first world war' and treasured by one student enough to put it into print. William Strunk was the professor, and E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web, was that grateful student. White took the master's set of laws, removed some 'bewhiskered entries,' corrected some errors, and added his own chapter at the end for 'those who feel English prose composition is not only a necessary skill but a sensible pursuit as well.'

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Minimalism

Straight From the Horse's Mouth: You Only See the Tip

Bill Wetherell talks with Tom Wailes about how one team at Yahoo! turned the normal design process on its head. Their thoughtful approach was successful, Wails posits, because they worked small and crafty while being inclusive in most useful ways.

Wodtke, Christina and Bill Wetherell. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Design>Web Design>Project Management

Unraveling the Mysteries of Metadata and Taxonomies

Recently Boxes and Arrows caught up with Samantha Bailey, formerly at Argus and current lead IA for Wachovia Corporation's Wachovia.com website. She talks about the transition from being a consultant to an 'innie' IA, unravels the mysteries of metadata and taxonomies and shares her vision of the future of IA.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Metadata