[finders] European Information Architecture

[finders at findability.org]

October 17, 2005: European Information Architecture

http://www.findability.org/archives/000060.php

It sounds like the first European IA Summit was a big success. Though I'm
still waiting to hear back on the symbolic meaning of the cow, I enjoyed
reading Peter Bogaard's articulation of an IA Strategy for Europe. Here's an
excerpt:

"A second important strength of European IAs relates to the vivid and mixed
multilingual and multicultural landscape they live in. European IAs
understand more than others that language and culture significantly
determine the perception of the world and how perceptions are based upon
vast belief and value systems. For example, IAs from Europe know that
whatever classification system is used - from simple to complex, from
controlled vocabularies through taxonomies/thesauri to ontologies -
underneath there are many biases. What George Lakoff has proven in his
classic 'Women, Fire and Dangerous Things', many European IAs understand by
nature.

Especially for globally branded companies, their deep understanding of the
meaning and value of language and culture can contribute to a successful
internationalization and globalization of an online presence. And not in the
last place, a sensitivity to the multilingual and multicultural aspects
makes European IAs important players and leaders of multidisciplinary
teams."

Whenever clients ask me for advice about internationalization and
globalization, this is basically what I tell them. Hire a European!

Strange Connections

For those of us who value the ability to choose our news, it's worth
checking out The Tower from Consumers Union (Disclosure: CU is a former
client).

The Interaction Design Association recently incorporated as a
member-supported, non-profit organization. Congrats!