fear of information architecture
Have you heard this before, my IA/UX brethren?
“IAs take all the creative possibilities out of projects.”
I’ve listened to variations on this theme from three separate creative directors (none of whom, I rush to add, had worked with me prior to us having this conversation.) By the third iteration, I was ready with a series of responses:
- IA/UX folk are creative, though of a different breed than the traditional copywriter or designer
- But if your company’s org chart doesn’t equate creative and IA, then you might be consoled by the notion that overcoming constraints is what good creative is all about (see Michangelo, Sistine Chapel, ceiling)
- And if you aren’t buying either of the above, then you have to ask yourself: if copywriters and designers were really all that are required when designing an interactive experience, then why did the IA role evolve in the marketplace?
Creative kin, we’re not here to take the possibility out of projects. We’re here to help everybody on the team understand the full range of possibilities that are available to us.
Is that really something to fear?
3 years ago