Friday, March 03, 2006
Information Architecture and Design's Core Competencies
Discussions continue in the evolving discipline known as Information Architecture. You know things are happening when we talk about what it is we actually DO, and is it or is it not a real discipline?
This relates to the decades old conversation of "Design-as-Knowledge" and now, the IA-as-Design discussion. See Peter Merholz's recent interview in NextD Journal.
It's interesting to see these discussions continue among the community. It shows me just how emerging and interdisciplinary IA is, and how in its interdisciplinarity its reaching across the several contributing disciplines to appropriate what makes sense to adopt for the practice skills and client needs that drive much of our actual work.
A 2004 article noted in the DMI (Design Management Institute) newsletter received today notes 7 core competencies of design, identified by Chris Conley.
DMI Review Download of the Month: Leveraging Design's Core Competencies
By Chris Conley, Professor and Director, Institute of Design, Chicago
From the Design Management Review, Vol. 15, No. 3, Summer 2004
Chris writes:
Over the past decade, through working with business leaders across industries and developing the current graduate product-design program at the Institute of Design, I have developed a firm understanding of the kinds of expertise that are at the core of design. These competencies, if you will, are meant to be much more specific than the creative dimensions mentioned earlier. Currently, there are seven of them and I am wondering, in line with psychologist George MillerÂs recognition of oneÂs memory capacity, whether the ultimate number should be plus or minus two.
1. The ability to understand the context or circumstances of a design problem and frame them in an insightful way
2. The ability to work at a level of abstraction appropriate to the situation at hand
3. The ability to model and visualize solutions even with imperfect information
4. An approach to problem solving that involves the simultaneous creation and evaluation of multiple alternatives
5. The ability to add or maintain value as pieces are integrated into a whole
6. The ability to establish purposeful relationships among elements of a solution between the solution and its context
7. The ability to use form to embody ideas and to communicate their value
We should be careful, in IA, not to consider our interdisciplinary work as somehow failing to hold a body of knowledge, merely because we seem to have little consensus (I think we actually have a LOT of consensus). Or because we cannot document a BOK (in my experience with other emerging disciplines, such as project management, design strategy, and product management, its best to take our time and not be premature in suggesting we know the BOK yet).
I seem to remember that knowledge (as in personal knowledge) can essentially be defined as "the ability to do." What we know we can demonstrate. The rest is content, more or less. The seven aspects Chris Conley outlines may not be complete, but they are a good start. These are abilities which can be taught, apprenticed, learned, researched, and documented with supporting content as well. Perhaps we should consider IA in the context of abilities, and deconstruct our own tacit knowledge that underlies our discussions.
This relates to the decades old conversation of "Design-as-Knowledge" and now, the IA-as-Design discussion. See Peter Merholz's recent interview in NextD Journal.
It's interesting to see these discussions continue among the community. It shows me just how emerging and interdisciplinary IA is, and how in its interdisciplinarity its reaching across the several contributing disciplines to appropriate what makes sense to adopt for the practice skills and client needs that drive much of our actual work.
A 2004 article noted in the DMI (Design Management Institute) newsletter received today notes 7 core competencies of design, identified by Chris Conley.
DMI Review Download of the Month: Leveraging Design's Core Competencies
By Chris Conley, Professor and Director, Institute of Design, Chicago
From the Design Management Review, Vol. 15, No. 3, Summer 2004
Chris writes:
Over the past decade, through working with business leaders across industries and developing the current graduate product-design program at the Institute of Design, I have developed a firm understanding of the kinds of expertise that are at the core of design. These competencies, if you will, are meant to be much more specific than the creative dimensions mentioned earlier. Currently, there are seven of them and I am wondering, in line with psychologist George MillerÂs recognition of oneÂs memory capacity, whether the ultimate number should be plus or minus two.
1. The ability to understand the context or circumstances of a design problem and frame them in an insightful way
2. The ability to work at a level of abstraction appropriate to the situation at hand
3. The ability to model and visualize solutions even with imperfect information
4. An approach to problem solving that involves the simultaneous creation and evaluation of multiple alternatives
5. The ability to add or maintain value as pieces are integrated into a whole
6. The ability to establish purposeful relationships among elements of a solution between the solution and its context
7. The ability to use form to embody ideas and to communicate their value
We should be careful, in IA, not to consider our interdisciplinary work as somehow failing to hold a body of knowledge, merely because we seem to have little consensus (I think we actually have a LOT of consensus). Or because we cannot document a BOK (in my experience with other emerging disciplines, such as project management, design strategy, and product management, its best to take our time and not be premature in suggesting we know the BOK yet).
I seem to remember that knowledge (as in personal knowledge) can essentially be defined as "the ability to do." What we know we can demonstrate. The rest is content, more or less. The seven aspects Chris Conley outlines may not be complete, but they are a good start. These are abilities which can be taught, apprenticed, learned, researched, and documented with supporting content as well. Perhaps we should consider IA in the context of abilities, and deconstruct our own tacit knowledge that underlies our discussions.
