WSJ covers AIfIA, information architecture

May 05, 2004 11:43 PM

AIfIA members Peter Morville and Christina Wodtke were quoted in the May 4 Wall Street Journal article "Designing a Better Presidential Daily Brief."

"Information architects"... say far too many e-mails, memos and presentations make the same design mistake the original PDB did, burying the point behind what information consultant Peter Morville calls a "giant wall of text." Instead, they say documents should highlight key data using clear titles and subtitles; large, readable fonts; bullet points and shorter paragraphs more conducive to skimming.

According to Christina Wodtke... there are hundreds of full-time information architects in the U.S. today, and thousands more who make document design a part of their daily work.

Their ideas have caught on faster on the Internet than in the print world. The Web requires users to think in "links" rather than the linear organization of books and magazines, and bad design can hurt business. With online stores, if customers can't find important information -- such as the "checkout" button -- they log off instead of making a purchase. As a result, companies large and small are hiring information architects to keep their internal and public Web sites organized. AT&T Corp., for example, has more than 10 information architects on staff to make sure the information on 3600 intranet sites and 1.5 million public Web pages is consistent and easy to find.

Note to media: AIfIA has access to dozens of experts on information architecture, information design and user interface design. To arrange an interview, contact press@aifia.org.