UX IRL Ep: 48: Information Architecture Recap Part 2
Hello! Here are our show notes for episode 49: Information Architecture Conference (IAC) Recap Part 2. We hit the highlights in this article, but get the full context by listening to the episode:
We’re back with part 2 of our Information Architecture Conference recap! If you missed part 1, be sure to check it out. Today, we recap 3 more of our favorite talks PLUS share what we enjoyed most about the conference and what we would improve. As always, reach out to us on the zeroheight Slack community (zeroheight.com/slack), comment below or reply on Twitter @uxinreallife or Instagram @ux.inreallife.
Favorite Talk #4: Expanding Information Access: Conceptualizing Conversational Dialogues with Black Older Adults by Christina Harrington
A lot of times when we design, we’re designing for people like us—users who are very comfortable with technology. How are we approaching people who are older, though?
Christina Harrington asks these questions and more—highlighting the importance of not leaving people behind. For older, black adults, this is especially difficult as many have experienced abuse and false information in terms of medical advice and experimentation without their consent.
Similar to Mike Monteiro’s Ruined by Design, Christina emphasizes that designers have a responsibility to make products that are usable for everyone.
Favorite Talk #5: Enlightened Design by Lauren Schaefer
In this talk, Lauren Schaefer, took principles from yoga and meditation to walk us through how to build a healthy routine as designers. This spoke This spoke to us as individuals with ADHD, especially when she pointed out that it takes about 25 minutes to regain focus once disrupted.
Limiting your “response” times to messages and carving out periods for deep work, sprinkling in breaks to walk or meditate, helps us maintain focus and do what we do best.
Being intentional with routine helps in other ways, too. By using templates like creative briefs, Lauren explained, designers ensure they not only consistently get the information they need, but set that expectation with cross-functional team members.
With everything going on in the world, we’ll take all the tools we can get to find focus and enlightenment during the work day.
Favorite Talk #6–7: Nerdy Talk Shout Outs
Michelle wanted to shout out the especially nerdy talks from the conference like Heather Hedden’s Introduction to Knowledge Graphs and Joseph Busch’s talk on digitizing the DC Metro: What We Learned about Taxonomy Working on the Railroad.
Introduction to Knowledge Graphs by Heather Hedden
Neither of us were familiar with knowledge graphs, and enjoy diving into topics we’re unfamiliar with—especially to see how we can apply it to our current work. We love it when people teach us something new. Knowledge graphs seem like a super powered taxonomy tool, making connections from data across a wide variety of sources— “a potential bridge between humans and systems.”
Shortly into the talk though, both of us experienced cognitive overload. There was a lot of text on each slide to parse while Heather spoke, making it difficult to take in. While she shared an abundance of information, we wished it had been distilled in a way that was easier to grasp and see practical examples of how to apply it in our day-to-day work.
You can find Header’s slide deck for that talk here.
What We Learned about Taxonomy Working on the Railroad by Joseph Busch
Michelle is originally from the DC area, so this talk in particular was especially fascinating for her! The DC Metro was digitizing a plethora of papers and files so they hired an information architect to create order in a sea of chaos. We’re big nerds so this seemed like an especially cool puzzle to us.
Michelle got to see how they translated metro maps and things only employees get to see into digital experiences—by the end of the talk it had her wondering if she was really longing for an Information Architect job!
Overall, how was IAC?
We had a blast at IAC, but especially enjoyed getting the opportunity to explore New Orleans together. Though we talk often, the two of us live on opposite sides of country and don’t get to hang out in-person much any more, so this was extra special for us. We got to eat lots of good seafood and try beignets from Cafe du Monde, explore book shops and enjoy the best frozen Irish coffee we’ve ever had (go check out Erin Rose next time you’re in NOLA!)
We also appreciated how engaged our audience was—it meant a lot to travel and speak to folks who were curious and wanted to keep the conversation going.
Overall, the conference was a lot of fun and very informative—they definitely have some of the most suppportive crew for their speakers! The one thing we’d love to see in the future though is making academic talks more approachable and practical—focus on quality not quantity of information. We’d love to go back!
Conclusion
What conferences have you enjoyed this year? Reach out and let us know. Also, if you’re at UX Y’all (October 5–6 in Raleigh, NC)—come see us and say hello. Mary Fran’s volunteering and Michelle is a keynote speaker!
