Information Architect. User Experience Designer. IA. IA/UX Designer. UXD. These are just some of the most common job titles we use to describe what we do. Of course the problem is that quite a few people don’t think these job titles are that descriptive. I have to agree to a certain extent.
The term ‘Information Architect’ is I think reasonably descriptive and the one I use most commonly. But then what one digital media agency thinks of as IA work another calls UX work.
I have a bit of a problem with ‘User Experience Designer’ for the simple reason that I don’t think it is very descriptive. User Experience? What’s that? If you are reading this blog you probably know, but try telling the average person in the street that you are a ‘User Experience Designer’ and you will probably get a blank look.
What type of user? Drug user? Bicycle user? Computer User Experience Designer is a bit of a mouthful of course. But if you ask a brain surgeon what they do and they say ‘I am a brain surgeon’ then you will know what they mean. Ask a train driver what they do and when he or she says ‘I am a train driver’ you will know what they do.
But User Experience Designer?
Just to confuse things further I tend to think that an Information Architect is someone who defines and designs the overall structure of a website, whereas a UX Designer is someone who deals more with the creation of wireframes and more direct User Experience issues.
Of course in reality it’s usually all done by whoever is available.
