Learning how to do information architecture holistically is damn hard, and standard IA conferences and books often don’t deliver so much as they repeat the same tired old saws. How’s a sophomore IA to learn and improve their practice in this echo chamber? By challenging ourselves to explore disciplines outside of IA.We’ll talk about just a few of the disciplines we can draw insight and wisdom from. We’ll learn why it’s important to make sure our findings are statistically valid, how a passion for literature translates into better communication skills, and why we should take psychology, business and relationships as seriously as we take IA. Finally, we’ll examine real-life examples of how going outside of our comfort zone can help us produce our strongest, most innovative, and best work.
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@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11 Upping your game: Five Things IAs Need To Talk About More Leanna Gingras - @leegoesplaces #ias11 #upyrgame "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert Heinlein
Transcript
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
Upping your game: Five Things IAs Need To Talk About More Leanna Gingras - @leegoesplaces #ias11 #upyrgame
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert Heinlein
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
My background My problem Five disciplines that have helped me up my game:
Statistics Business Psychology Narrative fiction Interpersonal relations
What's been helpful for you?
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11 Flickr user donhomer
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
Why?
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
Maybe it's just me.
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
Maybe IAs aren't talking to each other about non-IA topics.
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
Maybe conferences deliberately keep it simple.
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
So what should we do?
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
Here are five disciplines that have helped me up my game as a
practitioner!
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
#1 STATISTICS I upped my game from generating charts to transforming data and doing analysis.
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11
@leegoesplaces · #upyrgame · #ias11 Original image from http://www.technotraits.com/2008/09/awsome-tips-to-effectively-use-ms-excel-2007/
Thank you! I hope you all start looking for inspiration everywhere, not just in these 5 fields. Check out my #upyrgame reading list: http://tinyurl.com/upyrgame Leanna Gingras @leegoesplaces http://www.usabilityfail.com
