As I’m working on self-designed IA projects, I was mulling a bit over the overall process. While ultimately it’s better to have these in my portfolio than nothing at all, it bothers me since they’re really no substitute for real life experience. You’re not working with actual clients or with other IAs in person. I feel like I’m just shadow-fencing at the moment – I may be learning how to parry and thrust, but my full potential as a fighter is not being realized since I’m not learning from and testing myself against seasoned fencers.

Thinking at random, I’m not sure if this already exists, but if it does there aren’t any in my area:

Perhaps there could be full-day workshops for those who are new to IA/UX design and want to get started in the field. It would randomly assign 2 or 3 students with an experienced professional to collaborate and produce deliverables on a fictional project. This is something I would gladly pay for. It would give a new person experience with working with others, get a feel for the general process, and have something to put in their portfolio and on their resume. I think this would be much better than just creating wireframes and sitemaps in a vacuum.

It’s official – project NaanMap is underway!

Right now we’re in phase 1, deciding on search terms (what we’re calling a “verb list”) and developing wireframes for the home page, search results pages and details pages. Hopefully we can wrap this up around three weeks. I met up with my IA mentor for lunch today and he gave me great feedback and advice, bringing up things I previously hadn’t considered or had even overlooked. Among the things I want to remember:

The latter really hit home with me. After lunch, I had mentioned in passing that I’m considering getting a CrackBlackberry, and that I preferred it over an iPhone. He asked why; I said it’s because I don’t like touch screens (they’re too reminiscent of ATMs to me, and you can only imagine how much germs and what not are on those….) And he rightfully pointed out that that is not a valid reason. What is it specifically about touch screens that I don’t like? Personally, I have a hard time typing with them – for me the feel of actual keys is better, and I often make mistakes with touch screens (another reason why I don’t like to use ATMs unless absolutely necessary.)

This also had me thinking about other things when it comes to my personal preferences. I chose the PS3 over the 360 and Wii because I can handle the controller better. I like Stuart Weitzman shoes because he’s one of the few designers who realizes that women with wide width feet want pretty shoes to wear as well (I cannot fit into Jimmy Choos or Ferragamos, among others, and I’ve only encountered one pair of Manolo Blahniks that fit me…I own those, of course.)

Articulating why it’s best to place something here and not there, or using this instead of that…. These are things an IA needs to convey to clients to justify the decisions and subsequent changes they make. This is something I want to extend beyond IA. Doing this kind of gruntwork – almost like having a Socrates Café session – will not only help get the bills paid when it comes to one’s profession, but it’s a good thing to do in one’s life overall.

Here’s a great post by Whitney Hess about becoming a UX designer. I eagerly await part two! My main hurdle is just getting sufficient experience to get my foot in the door and compete for jobs.

My Visio trial expired today, but I feel I’ve fiddled around with it enough that I can use it effectively. If anything I regret not getting in enough practice on making my own shapes, simply so I can say I’ve made my own shapes. :) At this point it’s only natural to start working more with Balsamiq as well as the CS4 programs (Fireworks vs. Illustrator vs. InDesign – wonder which will prove to work best for wireframing as well as blueprints?) I’ll actually have time to experiment since this upcoming weekend is one of the few this summer I’ll have off.

Just stumbled across Dante Murphy’s blog that he plugged on PhillyCHI. I hope as many people as possible in the IA/UX field read this post and take it to heart. I guess it stings me a little since I’m dying to get a job as an IA. If only more people thought along these lines….