For years, I've looked at O'Reilly books and have always been interested to read them. I was always put off though; the highly technical titles was something of a turn off, even if I always found the covers to be friendly.
Well, about a week ago, I started to take a course in Information Architecture (IA) where the above is one of two text books (the other is Prioritizing Web Usability) that I'm using. Quite apart from the relatively rosy job prospects that this field offers, I am fascinated by this field. The IA field has been defined in a number of different ways, but there is a common focus on making it easy for users to find what they want. I find the field to be a stimulating mix of applied psychology, usability and librarianship.
Part of the course involves doing a critique of an existing website. I wonder how it would be received if I did a critique of a website of a place I'd like to work at? Would it be perceived as helpful or irritating? I suspect the latter...
2 comments:
If they think it's irritating, you may want to rethink if you still want to work there :-) I would not like to work at an archive that thinks user feedback is anything less than helpful...
If I framed my comments in the form of "in the course of taking a course on information architecture, I developed a critique of the website. I very much hope you find it helpful." I'm very tempted to do this with two or three places I'd like to work at... I'm partly tempted to do it in order to meet & network with others involved in the archives/information IA field."
Thanks for the encouragement. I once emailed an Archives about their web exhibit (essentially saying, "Hi, I used discussed your web exhibit in a class" and I certainly received a positive response.
Post a Comment