1. Making Sense
of Place
by @Abby_the_IA

3. Information
Architecture (IA)
is a practice of
making sense

4. Skeletons in My closet
•
•
I cut placemaking from my
Parsons IA class last year
because I worried it was over
their heads
Until last year, I had never
discussed placemaking with my
clients for the same reason
(sorry Andrea resmini)

5. “If you can’t say something that is
clear, don’t say anything at all”
- Me

6. Why talking
about Place is
so unclear

7. Sense of place
is wrapped up
in the
metaphors of
our daily lives

8. “There is no
there, there.”
- Gertrude Stein

9. How do we
discuss place
without
sounding like
a hippie?

10. How do we
make sense of
the places we
work on and
within?

11. on Today’s Agenda:
Make sense of “Place”
1. Share how I *now* teach the considerations for
place in my Information Architecture classes
2. Provide a framework for thinking about and
talking about the places we affect with our work
3. Ask for your help in convincing businesses and
organizations that place is an important
consideration set to have, especially in digital work

12. Meet my
students

13. 5 ways that organizations
Can act like art students
1. Not good at setting meaningful goals and sticking to them
2. Don't want to talk about the problem, they want to solve it
3. Think scope grows on trees, even though they know
money doesn't
4. Fail to understand how one decision can affect the whole
ecosystem maybe even the world
5. Expect a ton from digital but are willing to do very little
towards that end

14. 2004
Users are interacting with our designs
in more places everyday
Consideration of place is more important in
our work now then ever before.
2013

22. People
prefer
The easy
road

27. There is
More than one way
to Design a cafe
(or app or site or event or)

28. There is
discovery
involved in
finding the
right way
to solve a
problem

29. Spoons
Lost
12
a month

30. Spoons
Lost
144
a year
12
a month

31. Spoons
Lost
576
since 2009
144
a year
12
a month

32. “Move the
$#% Spoons”
- Your mom

33. Moving the
spoons could
make things
worse

34. Common Failures
in digital placeMaking
•
Adding signs to point out things that people don't see or
don’t understand
•
Providing functionality that is confusing or leads to results
that are out of line with what they want of their customers
•
Trying the same tactics for solving a problem over and
over and being surprised when it still doesn't work
•
Designing user experiences that aren't considerate of
those who work there
•
Not seeing the problem with this disconnected and out of
whack way of thinking

35. What is
Placemaking?

36. What is
Your Place?
•
•
•
•
What places are within your control?
Who controls the places that your places are within or connected to?
What places are likely to be affected directly? Which places indirectly?
What considerations need to be part of your process for affecting these
places?

37. Objects aid
us in discourse

38. Stills from the Eames classic film “Powers of 10”

39. “Since our technical systems are wholly mixed up
with our natural systems, that creates additional
levels of complexity. In order to design within these
confounding contexts, we need to be able to scale
up and scale down as we design: to consider both
the granularity of the things we are designing as
well as the much larger contexts within which they
exist.”
“The Eames have simply illustrated the
conundrum; it is our responsibility to figure out
what to do next.”
- Jamer Hunt, Director of Transdisciplinary Design at
Parsons the New School for Design
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662461/how-to-apply-eamess-legendary-powers-of-10-to-real-life-problems

40. it is far too common to
focus on the spoon &
ignore the coffee shop

41. We need a controlled
vocabulary and
taxonomic Approach
for discussing “Place”

42. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Ecosystem
A complex
collection of
systems
“A large
pharmaceutical
organization”

43. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
System
A set of
interacting
structures
“Providing
Information to
Patients”

44. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Structure
A configuration
of objects
“Patient Website”

45. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Journey
Traveling within
or between
locations
“Explore Website”

46. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Location
A particular
position
“Request
Information”

47. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Context
circumstances
that form the
setting for an
interaction
“Using an iPad to
view a website
while making list of
action steps to take”

48. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
User
a person who
interacts with
an object
“Anxious, newly
prescribed, already
confused”

49. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Interface
a point where
interaction
occurs between
user and object
“Request
Information
Form”

50. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Interaction
the way in
which user and
object affect
one another
“Clicking a
button”

51. Ecosystem > System > Structure > Journey > Location > Context > User > Interface > Interaction > Object
Object
Something that
can be seen
and touched
“a button”

52. Questions we
should be
asking...

53. How affecting is the work
you do on other places in
the ecosystem?

54. What are the
systems you are
working within?

55. What structures are
needed to support
each part of that
system?

56. What journeys might
a user take through
each structure?

57. What locations might users
encounter on each journey?

58. What contexts might users
find themselves in when
within each location?

59. What do users
expect of each
location?

60. What interface best supports the
intended interactions with each
object within each location?

61. Help!

62. Help us all by
Facilitating the
Understanding of the
levels between the
object and the
ecosystem

63. Explain the
role of your
frameworks
and tools
Level
Appropriate Framework
Ecosystem =
Controlled Vocabulary, Venn Diagram
System =
Swim Lane Diagram, Gantt Charts
Structure =
Hierarchy Maps, Site Map
Journey =
Journey Maps
Location =
Flow Diagrams, Block Diagrams
Context =
Scenarios
User =
Personas
Interface =
Wireframes, Schematics
Interaction =
Specifications
Object =
Screens, Templates, Style Guides

64. Ask:
“who is
tending to
the other
levels?”
Ecosystem =
Controlled Vocabulary, Org Chart
System =
System Diagram
Structure =
Site Map
Journey =
Journey Maps
Location =
Flow Diagrams
Context =
Scenarios
User =
Personas
Interface =
Wireframes
Interaction =
Specifications
Object =
Visually Designed Screens

65. If you forget
everything
else....

66. 5 Lessons in Place-making
1. People prefer the easy road, watch for worn
grass.
2. There are many ways to do anything and
discovery involved in finding the right ways
3. Low-level decisions can have high-level
consequences
4. Know your place, and the levels above and
below
5. Affect what you can, respect what you can’t

67. One more
thing...

68. How you do anything is
how you do everything

69. Make sure the
places that you
make aren't just
full of passive
aggressive signs

70. Thanks
(deck will be at: slideshare.com/abbycovert shortly)
@Abby_The_IA | AbbytheIA.com