SIG member talks about being an IA
Recently Rebecca Deery, a new member of the ID-IA SIG, posted an introduction on the SIG’s email list (as all new members are invited to do). Rebecca’s work and experience are somewhat unusual, and she agreed to answer follow up questions for Design Matters.[Design Matters] You work for GSI Commerce, Inc. in King of Prussia, PA, an e-commerce outsource solution company building retail web sites. You’re an information architect. What kinds of information do you structure for your clients?
[Rebecca] The exciting thing about e-commerce is that IAs are always designing something new, from unique shopping tools to an entire website. Information structure, flow and experience are key.
[Design Matters] How do your clients handle the information before your work on their retail web site? Or, put another way, how do your clients present the information and the challenge of structuring it to you?
[Rebecca] Typically via a whole client discovery process and some pretty detailed functional requirements.
[Design Matters] What is your background? How did you move from copywriting to IA?
[Rebecca] Every IA’s got a different story to tell! I started with an IS degree then moved into writing, and then came full circle with IA. Writers can make good IAs because if you know the system well enough to write about it, it’s a good foundation on which you can design it too!