Finding IA at the Enterprise Search Summit

(this article originally appeared at iainstitute.org on June 20, 2011)

Last month in May, I had the pleasure of attending the Enterprise Search Summit East in New York City with IA Institute board member, Shari Thurow. Shari and I were on a quest to discover the role of information architecture in Enterprise Search. We didn't have to look too far, as both days were keynoted by IA Institute veterans: former IA Institute president and CEO of FatDux, Eric Reiss, on Day 1 and IA Institute founder and Principal and Senior Consultant at InfoCloud Solutions, Inc., Thomas Vander Wal, on Day 2 . Institute founder Bev Corwin was also in attendance and I quite was pleased to make a personal connection with a former coworker from PricewaterhouseCoopers, whom I hadn't seen in ten years.

In Reiss's keynote, "The Dumbing Down of Intelligent Search," he challenged search professionals to have the user, not the application, serve as the frame of reference for search. Using Google as an example, Eric showed how the algorithm may not provide the correct context. Those who build the algorithm need to ensure that contextual metadata is available in the CMS. Eric also challenged implementers to understand the business and educate the content providers of those needs. "Matching patterns is not the same as matching needs," he explained. And lest the users themselves forget their own power, Eric encourages all users to be critical and experiment, learn basic strategies and not to take for granted that the search solution is intelligent.

Thomas Vander Wal's keynote on Day 2, "The Search for Social," was a fitting bookend, showing how to deal with all the input once your Enterprise Search team has embraced the user. VanderWal described tools that go beyond searching for artifacts such as documents, emails and image/video content to searching for human resources, knowledge and expertise within the enterprise. Many presenters demonstrated social search tools for finding user profiles, activity streams and Yahoo! Answers-style knowledgebases.

IA Institute - A New Framework

At the IA Institute Annual Members' Meeting held in Denver on April 2, the Board of Directors presented a new framework for characterizing the relationships that the Institute will mediate going forward.  The framework came out of a board strategy meeting that I attended in Iceland back in February.



Read more in the April newsletter and see some very cool (OK, cold) Iceland pictures in my Facebook album:

IA Institute Newsletter #6.04
Reykjavic Photos

NY Times: Japan Interactive Earthquake Map

The New York Times' Interactive Map of the Damage from the Earthquake in Japan:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/newsgraphics/2011/0311-japan-earthquake-map/index.html?hp

I was able to locate the town where my friend Pia's brother is teaching English (center of quake zone but far from the nuclear plants, very little structural damage, no casualties) and where my daughter's camp friend's family lives (quite a bit south of Tokyo, out of quake zone).

Coincidentally enough, Brett and I were attending a New York Red Cross breakfast the morning the tsunami was announced, and while the content of the morning's presentation was focused on what the Red Cross does for New Yorkers, it certainly added some urgency to the obligatory donation appeal at the end of the breakfast. (Brett is a volunteer photographer for the Red Cross and my friend Sonia's husband, Nick Malik, sits on the NYC board).

On a cheerier note, a friend pointed me to this T-shirt on Treadless.com combining Eisenlohr's projection with an image of a radio broadcast signal. This is an entry for Oceanic Preservation Society T-shirt Challenge. Theme: Singing Planet. Really neat design.

http://atrium.threadless.com/singingplanet/submission/1009/

The IA Institute released its 2010 IA Institute Salary and Benefits Survey.

Highlights of the 2010 Salary Survey include:

Median Salary:

The highest salary range was a tie between the USD$80,000-90,000 and USD$90,000-100,000 ranges, each representing 12.8% of the total responses.

The average salary was estimated to be USD$95,252, up $5,252 from 2009.
 
Freelance Rates:

Excluding outliers, the average freelance rate was USD$88.65, up USD$3.65 over 2009. The median rate was USD$85.00 and the modal rate was USD$100.00, with eight people indicating that rate.
 

Code of Conduct

The IA Institute is discussing a Code of Conduct for members of the Board of Directors. Board member, Jeff Parks, suggested basing the document on Google's corporate Code of Conduct, which begins with the mantra, "Don't Be Evil."

From the IA Institute Minutes blog:

* Code of Conduct

In order to show our desire to keep the Board of Directors accountable to the highest possible ethical and professional standard, it was agreed that Jeff will work on re-shaping the Code of Conduct he took from Google’s to reflect specifically the needs of the IAI.

This is a great idea and calls to mind some previous discussions about professional codes of conduct for UX practitioners. (See Lou Rosenfeld's Bloug post, "Shame and Disgust," on working for the Veterans' Administration.) Shouldn't we, as practitioners, not just board members, of information architecture, also hold ourselves to a higher standard of ethics for serving the goals of the users?

Here are some resources from the UPA code of conduct and other initiatives around ethics:

Code of Conduct:
http://www.upassoc.org/about_upa/leadership/code_of_conduct.html

Designing Voting Systems:
http://www.upassoc.org/civiclife/voting/ethics.html

Notes on Geospatial Summit 2010

Steve Romalewski posted notes on NYC GIS Summit 2010 at:

http://spatialityblog.com/2010/05/24/notes-from-nysgissummit2010/

Feel free to post any comments, different opinions, more detailed feedback if you attended.

Also check out Steve's post about a new feature in Google Maps – the ability to modify the cartographic styles used in Google’s basemap. He's interested in thoughts about how this might impact online cartography.

http://spatialityblog.com/2010/05/21/thoughts-about-google-map-styles/

Be a GeoMentor!

Amy Jeu sent me this announcement. If you love mapping and love mentoring kids, don't miss this opportunity:

The Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) software company ESRI has partnered with National Geographic to recruit GIS professionals to mentor students. In true GIS form, they present a map of who is mentoring where. So far, no one has volunteered in NYC (as of Nov. 5). Participation is a great way to kick off GIS Day, which is November 18, just a few days away. Also, see details on Geography Awareness Week, which begins next week.

Please use the http://www.geomentor.org/ website to sign up for the GeoMentor program.

The 2009 IA Institute Salary and Benefits Survey Opens

The 2009 IA Institute Salary and Benefits Survey is now open at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rnk5PuDVMuIRC1QwwS9PtA_3d_3d

The survey takes only a minute or two to complete, so we hope you'll stop by and contribute.

We have made slight edits from last year including a much simpler matrix of responses for IA related tasks, a more normalized breakdown of salary ranges and a further refinement of job titles and experience levels. I enjoyed reviewing last year's comments regarding medical benefits especially in light of current debate over US healthcare, but because we are an international organization, we went for simple this year and made only a few minor changes.

As in previous years, the survey will remain open through October, and we will post the results on the IAI website in late November/early December.

Re: Mentors and Heroes

(Originally posted in comments to Whitney Hess' blog, Pleasure & Pain)

My favorite mentor story is about a psychology professor I worked for during my senior year at Columbia. He ran the Vision Science Laboratory with three or four graduate students. I showed up on my first day and he threw me a small red book, called Programming in C, and told me to learn it so I can help "reprogram the stimulus on the Techtronix monitor and rewire the input box" for his latest experiments. Oh and then write a script or two to analyze the results.

I sort of freaked, because I had no idea what he was talking about. There were wires and metal button boxes and a huge TV monitor with several computer components connected to it. Behind was a box loaded with little switches and more wires. Somehow I was supposed to write a program that would make it all work. I hadn't taken a programming course since Apple Basic in 10th grade. The graduate students laughed at me a lot, but I read the book, got the hang of it and ended up having the most fun that year.

Second semester, the same professor challenged me to take another semester of Calculus. I hadn't taken the first semester Calculus since freshman year but he said I could do it. Well, I failed the first test, which was basically, “name the formula you use to solve the following problems.” But because I had that initial push and a lot of encouragement from a professor who showed me how to teach myself, I realized that I could get through it, though it was indeed a struggle. I ultimately took the pass/fail option and passed.

I always thought mentors and heroes had to be superstars. I admit that I have had my own little quiet conversations with Mozart & Washington a la HClinton & ERoosevelt, but if you do that too much, you end up finding yourself falling way too short in comparison. I don't need to write a symphony or win a country. Knowing I challenged myself and figured out how to get through it by myself was one of the best lessons I've ever learned.

How Did the Internet Change Networking?

In response to a LinkedIn discussion thread about how the internet changed networking, I had the following to say:

I'll state up front that I'm in a field (information architecture) that is heavy user of social media and I have been involved in internet technology since I was at the College in the 80s. I have been networking frequently on the internet since 1997. Starting with AOL and Compuserv chat rooms, then Usenet and Yahoo! group type affiliations and then virtual meetups on Fast Company and other social networking pioneers.

The impact of the internet on networking is immediate, cheap and global.

The internet makes it easier to connect, increasingly in real time with tools like IM, Skype and Twitter and related apps built directly within the social networking site. I'm in NYC and with AOL Instant Messenger, I know when a colleague is away from his computer in Panama City. With Twitter, I know what a friend in London had for lunch and whether a group is meeting at a Thai restaurant in Tribeca later this evening. TripIt tells me if a certain user experience blogger I like is planning on attending the IA Summit in Memphis, and if I want I can send her an In-message via LinkedIn to see if she plans to attend a particular conference session.

The internet also makes it cheaper. There has never been so many free ways to contact people. I had a year long project with a colleague in Stuttgart. We connected exclusively on Skype and used online groupware software and FTP to manage the project. If I wanted to bring in another person for the project, I have access to several email lists and social networks.

The internet also makes time disappear in a way that is disconcerting. There is so much online to read, and in my field the most interesting stuff is published online, linked from Twitter or the IAI-members discussion list. It's hard to keep up. And with immediate the feedback of social networking sites, it's hard to pull away.

I do go to conferences and meetups, but I find myself choosing my F2F networking opportunities very carefully, because there are so many interesting opportunities in my field. Sometimes, it's the social networking sites where I find out about a workshop or lecture of interest. At one recent lecture, the speaker made a joke about how we are so tied up with Facebook that we need subway ads for Dentyne chewing gum to remind us how to be friends. But at this same meeting I could point to several dozen people whom I had followed via blogs and twitter, with whom I've had IM conversations very recently. and with whom I could essentially carry on an already ongoing conversation.

It's kind of bizarre. I met my German colleague in person at the IA Summit in Las Vegas, after we had been working together for many months. It was my first IA Summit and I didn't know many people well, so I mused that he was already my best friend in the room and we hadn't even met. It really changes your perspective on the big room full of people. If I'm feeling shy and can't find someone to chat with, I could conceivably twitter my whereabouts and get a response from someone over by the crudité table.

CCW Mentoring Kickoff

From the January/February Columbia College Today alumni magazine:

Columbia College Women held a Mentoring Program launch reception on November 27 in the President’s Room at Faculty House, with about 100 alumnae and students in attendance. Noreen Whysel ’90, who co-coordinates CCW with Alumni Affairs Assistant Director Stella Miele-Zanedis, welcomed the attendees and explained the evening’s program, which included discussions designed for alumnae and students to interact during dinner. Attendees were seated according to alumnae profession/student professional interest.

The 2007 program has matched more than 100 junior and senior women with mentors, who share with the students professional as well as personal advice. Spring 2008 programs will feature "A Women’s Consortium," partnered with Columbia Athletics and the Center for Career Education, as well as "Women in Business," "Women in Sciences" and "Women in the Arts" workshops plus a social networking event.

For more information on CCW or any of the programs, or to join CCW, contact Miele-Zanedis: mf2413@columbia.edu.

Appraisal Reviews and Their Importance

An article on appraisal reviews that I wrote with Jim MacCrate is now available at ssrn.com:

Appraisal Reviews and Their Importance
by James R. MacCrate, MacCrate Associates LLC and Noreen Whysel

Abstract:
Many articles have been written on the art of reviewing appraisal reports by professional real estate appraisers for bank lending and litigation purposes. This article explains why attorneys, Judges, IRS, assessors and other individuals that obtain appraisal reports from third parties should have the reports reviewed by qualified individuals who are professional real estate appraisers. This article explains the review process, the guidelines that should be followed, and the conclusions that can be drawn from an appraisal review. Some of the reasons for divergencies between appraisal reports are discussed, such as fraud, incompetency, human error, and client pressure. The authors introduce some methods that might be employed in order to minimize conflicts, to promote justice and fairness in the appraisal and legal process.

Questions for Prospective IAs

Anders Ramsay, User Experience Designer and a long-time mentor in the IA Institute's mentoring program, wrote down some great questions to think about before you approach a prospective mentor. See his list here:

Questions for Prospective IAs

The Information Architecture Survey for the third edition of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld has been released. View at http://findability.org/archives/000131.php

Taxonomy at The Economist

I am always on the lookout for good articles on taxonomy, because of my interest in the taxonomies of Information Architecture and classic linnean classification of birds. Here are a couple of features from Feb 9 Economist:

Names for sale
Feb 9th 2006
From The Economist print edition
The ancient science of taxonomy might benefit from a little modern marketing
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5494618

Today we have naming of parts
Feb 9th 2006
From The Economist print edition
A global registry of animal species could shake up taxonomy
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5492016

Biomechanics of Way Finding

The March 2006 issue of Natural History Magazine (the magazine of the American Museum of Natural History) has a cover feature called "Learning to Find Your Way," studying the biological pathways of spatial memory.

Not yet available online, but available at newstands:
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/0306/0306_toc.html

IA/UX Salary Surveys

Based on a recent request on the IA Institute Job Board, I have compiled some IA/UX salary information resources. As soon as the IAI salary survey comes out, I'll post a link here.

Very few of the postings I receive on the IA Institute Job Board have salary information, but a typical salary/rate conversion is:

salary = 2/3 rate times 2080 (40 hours per week for a year)

The 1/3 reduction represents the cost of your medical, vacation and other benefits plus social security taxes that the company pays.

For $75/hour, this equals $104,000/year, which appears to be on the high end for those jobs where I do have salary data. Salary.com shows salary+bonus capping around 110K for most experienced IA/UX type jobs, although their job titles don't conform perfectly to the industry yet.

The IA Institute is supposed to publish the results of the 2005 survey this month. They are a bit behind schedule, but keep looking for the survey at http://www.iainstitute.org.

Some other surveys:

2004 UX Salary Survey
http://www.spiritsoftworks.com/resources/2004-salary-survey.htm

2003 AIfIA Salary Survey
http://iainstitute.org/pg/salary_survey_2003.php

IA Wiki - links to more salary surveys
http://www.iawiki.net/SalarySurveys

Salary.com Salary Wizard
http://www.salary.com/salary/layoutscripts/sall_display.asp

Since Salary.com job titles don't appear to reflect titles used in the IA industry, here are some equivalent job titles:

Interface Designer = User Experience & HCI
Content Engineer = Information Architect

IA processes from Peter Jones

From an online discussion group:

Jones, P.H. (2002). Embedded values in process and practice: Interactions between disciplinary practice and formal innovation processes. 11th International Forum on Design Management Research. Boston, June 2002.

This academic article discussed the problems with structured process, and the types of informal practices that were adopted by internal communities in spite of process to accommodate the needs of projects. In some situations, informal practices also subverted well-constructed processes.

Jones, P.H. (2002). When successful products prevent strategic innovation. Design Management Review, 13 (2).

The research covered the range of process types which affect product design:

Organizational Management, Market Research, Product Lifecycle, Product Management, Project Management, Product Design and Development

Although I did not do an exhaustive survey of processes by name, I covered in-depth cases of software product development companies using 10 case projects. The thesis of the research was:

"As the successful firm embraces more conservative business values over time, they embed into management processes, from market research to human resources, from R&D to sales. As both customer intimacy and margin values unify with everyday project and product management practice, these values become implicit and more resistant to change. The same values that create team loyalty, organizational purpose, and a shared sense of identity also implicitly limit types of work practices, investments, and even customers. With values an ultimate source of decisions, people cannot easily see these constraints, let alone question their impact."

Where we get into conflicts with process:

"In software product companies we typically find creative independence residing with designers and developers more than other functions. As members of expert-based competencies, they represent disciplines educated by professional values, and also their own community of practice values. While innovation values are typically espoused within design groups, research points to the prevalence of values conflicts between design and other organizational functions. The range of conflict manifests from everyday disagreements within project teams to management's reorganization of design groups. The most common conflicts emerge as disputes over appropriate processes for product design, and over ownership of activities in design practice, from customer testing to product interface definition."

I'm a strong advocate of growing your own process, and describe ways of doing that in my book Team Design, which also covers and evaluates development processes, especially those used by teams in collaborative practice.

Peter Jones
REDESIGN RESEARCH innovation insight
http://redesignresearch.com

CMS Tutorials

For an overview of CMS for a non-technical audience, try James Robertson's excellent site:
http://www.steptwo.com.au/

Also try:

http://www.designit.com.au/articles/rebuilding_gradlink

CITI Advanced Training

We will be scheduling a CITI training for CBs and CBOs in Brooklyn this spring. The date is dependent upon the number of participants. Training will include basic GIS principles, GIS desktop software and tips for making your own maps. Contact us at citi@mas.org if you would like to participiate.

Additional information about the CITI Youth program and how to find rezoning areas can be found in the March issue of the CITI Newsletter at http://www.myciti.org/newsletters/2005-03.html.