, from oldest to newest:

Who knew that "architecture" would generate such animated divisiveness?

As a relatively new entrant into the field of information design/information architecture/content management/user experience/usability engineering/gui development or whatever name the umbrella finally adopts, I find myself using all of the aforementioned terms (and more) to describe what I now do for a living. So we're more than, and less than, and OTHER than architects and engineers? We're also psychologists (shouldn't use red for that GO button), healers (soothing the savage user), mind readers (what DO they want, anyway?), arbitrators (bridging -- oops, pardon the architectural reference -- the gap between the corporate political structure and the users' needs), bus drivers (getting the design and production teams on the same page), ... and more. I haven't even touched the parallels to Design, another touchy group.

I typically describe my position as defining the user's path through the site in a way that lets them access the desired information in the quickest and most intuitive manner, as well as shepherding the client's content through the production process.

My mother STILL doesn't understand what I do.

Posted by lynd @ 05/08/2001 12:25 PM pst

~~~

Makes you wonder why wireframes aren't called blueprints.