Clarity in mark making

by Abby Covert

“…the expressive

qualities that add to the look and feel of an

artwork.”- The Tate

Art & Science

What can we teach aboutthe art part of information

architecture?

“How do I get executives to believe me about our users?”

“How can I get the designers and developers on the same page?”

“How can I deal with people in my organization who

don’t want to change?”

“How can a huge organization ever come to an agreement about

what needs to change?”

Messy Human Questions

Pattern #1 Mental Model

Differences

Pattern #2 Conflicting

Incentivisation Models

Pattern #3 Fear & anxiety

Pattern #4 Time & Money

How can Ias make clearer

marks?

Be the facilitator, not the expert

Keep it messy

Position Ia as an ongoing conversation

Do the IA

…then do everything else

* Spoiler Alert: this never works

Governance

See things from all sides

Share Ownership

To Make clearer marks

1. Be the facilitator, not the expert

2. Keep it messy

3. Position IA as an ongoing conversation

4. See things from all sides

5. Share ownership

I wrote a book about information architecture for everybody!http://abbytheia.com/makesense/

Grazie!