[finders] Information Architecture Stories

[finders at findability.org]

January 31, 2012

http://findability.org/archives/000657.php

A wonderful thing began to happen about a year after publication of thepolar bear book. A complete stranger would approach me at a conference, introduce themselves, and then tell a story about how our book changed their life by inspiring them to become an information architect.

Some of the stories were intensely personal. In one, a man told me about reading the polar bear book while watching over his mom on her deathbed. Some folks were thankful we'd given a name to what they'd been doing all along, while others were ecstatic that we'd opened their eyes to a whole new way of seeing. I feel incredibly fortunate to have heard these stories.

I don't hear them so much anymore, which is why I'm hoping folks will step up and share their IA Stories. We're leaving behind (and forgetting) an era. It's not just about the polar bear book or information architecture more broadly. It's about the exhilaration of being present for and participating in the birth of something new in the world. That doesn't happen every lifetime.

To get things going, I'll share a few of my own, beginning with a short story about a big query that changed my life. I hope you'll join me. It's an opportunity to capture memories that are fading fast while simultaneously celebrating the first-ever World IA Day. So, what's your IA Story?

Strange Connections

* Design for Cross-Channel Experiences may sell out soon. Sign up now!

* Don't miss The System of Information Architecture in The Journal of IA.

* Please join us on February 11 to celebrate World IA Day in Ann Arbor!