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![]() ACIA Main Page > Strange Connections > Information Architect's Manifesto (January 30, 2001) |
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![]() See also: AIfIA Translations Cluetrain Manifesto Communist Manifesto Salaries and Benefits for Information Architects Tribbles Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter. ![]() More Strange Connections The ACIA is sponsored by Argus Associates, a leading information architecture consulting firm. |
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![]() ![]() Peter Morville's bi-weekly column on the evolving definition of information architecture ![]() An Information Architect's Manifesto
Information architects of the world, unite!
The environment has changed. Now, so must we!
Think back to the early 1990s. We were alone and naked and cold
and wet, struggling to pull ourselves from the primordial, pre-web,
pre-pre-IPO swamp.
We labored in library sweat-shops, cataloging dusty books in dark
basements. We battled with Gophers,
desperately seeking WAIS
to improve access to information. We were quiet, but we had big plans.
All 10 of us.
Fast forward to a new reality. We've multiplied like tribbles. I
haven't seen the latest Department of Labor statistics, but I do
have
reason to believe there are today at least 2,431 practicing information
architects. And, we have reached out and touched one other,
forming our own conferences and web sites and discussion
groups. In short, we have become a community.
Since information architects tend to be nice people, we often think of
community in terms of friendly neighbors, interesting conversations,
sharing and caring and...
No, No, No, Bad!
We need Community with a capital C.
We need to define and leverage our Collective Bargaining Power.
We need to work together to make the world a better place...for us!
Shortly after publication of a recent survey on salaries and
benefits
for information architects, we received the following email from an
information architect at one of the major e-business consulting firms.
In any case, my point is that there is a groundswell of activist
sentiment in the IA community. All we need is a strong leader
(who's not afraid of powerful executives, lawyers, or gun-toting law
enforcement officials), a clear set of demands, and some threatening
rhetoric. It sounds like the guy who wrote this email is willing to be
our fearless leader, so I'll stick to some suggested demands and
threats (which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this author,
his company, or his mother).
Figuring out what you want is often the hardest part of any
revolution. We could demand higher salaries, but is that what
motivates us? Would that make us happy? I think not.
What we really want is UNDERSTANDING.
We want our colleagues, bosses, parents, children, and next-door
neighbors to understand what the heck we do. And we want the
whole world to understand how damn important it is.
I submit that our modest demands should be limited to expecting
that all people must understand the following:
Another prerequisite for revolution is some type of ominous threat
that captures the public's attention. Violence is too messy and
hunger strikes can hurt morale. We could threaten some form of
walk-out or slow-down, but it's hard for information architects to
generate quite the same short-term catastrophic impact as pilots and
nurses and baseball players.
We could threaten to create dreadful information architectures that
frustrate users' attempts to complete tasks, buy products, and find
information. Unfortunately, it would be hard to get noticed amidst
the masses of accidentally abysmal web sites and intranets already in
existence.
The trouble is, coming up with good threats turns out to be harder
than you'd think. This is where Community comes in. I call on
information architects around the world to join the good fight and
brainstorm some threats. Please make them funny, creative,
interesting, and very, very ominous.
Send me your threats and I'll
add them to the manifesto.
Remember, you have nothing to fear but fear itself (but if you'd prefer
to
remain
anonymous, just let me know).
If our demands are not met, the information architects of the world will:
Please send your rants and raves to Peter
Morville.
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![]() The ACIA is Sponsored by Argus Associates, Inc. Copyright 2000 All Rights Reserved ![]() |
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