This was my first and last IA Summit, but that’s purely due to exciting news. The IA Summit will henceforth be the IA Conference. Along with that change comes a change in responsibility as ASIS&T will no longer be underpinning the conference. Instead, the IA Conference will be truly by and for those in the field, and entirely volunteer-run.
Conference co-chair Stuart Maxwell opened this year with a truism, “The field is deep and wide, and the problems are fascinating and wicked.” And from that deep and wide field with fascinating and wicked problems, key themes emerged during the conference.
Don’t complicate what was once simple, but do make simple what shouldn’t be complicated.
The first was said by Bill Horan in Digital + Physical: Designing Integrated Product Experiences and echoed in other sessions. After all, a broken escalator is still stairs, as paraphrased from the old Mitch Hedberg comedy bit.
Don't complicate what was once simple.
"I just want some light."
Broken escalator is still stairs.@billhoran #ias18#design pic.twitter.com/6bEkKhE77g— Carol J. Smith (@carologic) March 23, 2018
Similarly, “The best interface is no interface.”
.@billhoran on digital+physical: the best interface is no interface ‘people just want to live their lives’ & digital supports physical. #IAS18 pic.twitter.com/taeYYRJ6HZ
— courtney mcdonald (@xocg) March 23, 2018
Alberta Soranzo shared in Our Eternal (Digital) Afterlife that in England you only have to tell the government once that someone died rather than contacting each separate department. A prime example of what shouldn’t be complicated.
In England they think about the government’s role for people in a very different way. “Tell us once” is a service that means when someone dies you only have to tell the government once – not call every single department to tell them #IAS18
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) March 23, 2018
Make sure the quality of the question is solid before trying to find the right solution.
Both Dan Ramsden in Converging with Curiosity: Defining a Discipline and Erik Dahl in Designing Our Futures emphasized both sides of the design thinking equation: questions and answers; problems and solutions.
- Reframe the problem to open up new solutions
- Question assumptions
- Balance questions and statements
- Work both sides of the equation
- Make the invisible visible
The core problem, though, is that problems don’t often stand still long enough to solve them.
Ethical practice is your responsibility
A prevalent theme among IA Summit contributors ethics was discussed, from many different angles. “You’re in the room. You’re hearing this. This is now your job,” is how Diana Deibel and Ilana Shalowitz put it.
• We need to understand shortcuts people make and make the right answer for them the easiest one — the one that’s better for the person, not better for the company.
• Structuring information — the base of what we do as IAs and UXers — is meaning-making and should be ethically considered.
• New modes require new approaches and considerations in ethics (AI, voice, VR, haptics, etc.)
“The most likely point of failure is the end users, those affected by this change, so start there. Evaluate the harm,” as shared in the Ethics Roundtable.
Community, stakeholders and stockholders — in that order.
Most likely point of failure is the end users, those affected by this change, so start there. Evaluate the harm. Can move horizontally or vertically through the model. #reframeia #ias18
— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
Have a system in place BEFORE something happens.
Systems of response: have a system in place BEFORE something happens. Have a game plan and policy.
You will have to make tough decisions. Diversity is key: helps you find “oh-shit moments." @rams_mahalingam #ias18
— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
Who’s carrying the burden of people’s safety?
Need to question:
Who’s carrying the burden of their safety; who has society carrying the burden of their safety for them? @rams_mahalingam #ias18— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
All data is biased.
All data is biased. We all bring our personal history. We don’t know when someone else is biased or why. Just take that as fact and think through it #IAS18
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) March 23, 2018
“Adjacent: it’s been easy for some apps and tools to completely obscure their biases to the point where we think they are neutral. They are not.”
https://twitter.com/paulmcaleer/status/977252789389807616
“Bias is equally distributed but power and privilege are not. If we don’t continue to challenge it we won’t get anywhere.” – Karen VanHouten
We all have different biases. “Always ask: who’s here? Who isn’t? Are we okay with that being the case?” as posed by Diana Deibel and Ilana Shalowitz in their ethics session. Their three questions to consider in ethical voice design:
- Why are we including or excluding these users?
- How are we protecting our user’s security and privacy?
- What information are we sharing with the user and why?
Deibel and Shalowitz encouraged the use of responsibility statements, to be shared with others both in your company and the broader community. These should not just list the benefits but discuss the trade-offs you made to include the features you chose. Don’t be afraid to defend your decision, but also don’t be afraid to question it.
Some sessions that covered this theme:
- Diana Deibel and Ilana Shalowitz’s Alexa, Tell Me About Ethics: Incorporating Ethical Considerations Into Voice Design
- Ramya Mahalingam’s On Designing a Safe Environment
- Kaila Manca and Jay McCormick’s Information and the Architecture of Choices
- Dan Ramsden’s Converging with Curiosity: Defining a Discipline
- Jenny Wanger’s Designing for Privacy in the Age of Digital Sharing
- Samvith Srinivas’s A Strategy for Ethical Design in the Attention Economy
- Karen VanHouten’s Why Do We All Suck at Collaboration?
- The IA and Ethics Roundtable redux
“Difference is the new normal that we should be designing for.” – Elise Roy
“When I was a lawyer, I was advocating for people with disabilities to be treated the same. As a designer, I say to heck with that! We ARE different. And difference is the new normal we should be designing for.” –@EliseRoy #a11y #IAS18
— Elissa Frankle Olinsky (@elissaolinsky) March 23, 2018
Not every disability is visible. 15% of people have trouble with telling left from right. Telling them to look for something at the top left corner of the screen is not helpful.
So many accessibility factors to take into account when designing. 15% of people have trouble with telling left from right. Telling them to look for something at the top left corner of the screen: not so good. #IAS18
— @amys23.bsky. social (@A_Silvers) March 25, 2018
Medical and temporary conditions, cognitive impairments, pain, and medicine side effects: these count too.
Designing for accessibility isn’t just about formal disabilities. Medical or temp conditions, cognitive impairments, pain, med side effects etc all impact ability to access.
Yes yes yes @perpendicularme! #IAS18
— Diana Deibel (@dianadoesthis) March 25, 2018
Everyone experiences disability at one time or another. If you’re struggling to open doors with groceries in your arms? That’s a momentary disability.
Combine the most diverse perspectives to get to the most innovative solutions. Elise powerfully showed us in her keynote that:
- Average is useless.
- Designing for disability and inclusion uncovers hidden needs.
- People with disabilities have unique skills.
When we design for extremes we come up with better solutions than when we design for the norm.
When we design for arthritis, we make things more comfortable. When we design for cognitive disability, we make things simpler. What will make your company thrive is designing for disability #Ias18
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) March 23, 2018
Lack of accessibility sure can turn people away:
"Accessibility is like infrastructure. You may not attract people solely with it, but it sure can turn people away!" @kirabug #IAS18 #a11y pic.twitter.com/JzEr7d3mMs
— IAC – information architecture conference #IAC24 (@theiaconf) March 25, 2018
Combine viewpoints in a cooperative, not a competitive way, for best results.
To build confidence, focus on establishing psychological safety. Encourage empathy, focus on rewarding cooperation over competition. The more mistakes they make, the more successful they are. Psychological safety ENCOURAGES SUCCESS. #ias18
— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
To collaborate, create a diverse team with a shared understanding of goals and collectively generating solutions. Establish psychological safety; include cultures, perspectives, practices, and products.
What collaboration is: a diverse team w/ a shared understanding of goals, collectively generating solutions, NOT:
– Every meeting you've ever had
– Generating ideas separately and returning for feedback. @designinginward #IAS18 pic.twitter.com/g22rslzs9k— IAC – information architecture conference #IAC24 (@theiaconf) March 25, 2018
Karen VanHouten recommends creating a code of conduct collectively and enforcing it.
Farai Madzima talked about cultural bias in design and highlighted that aspects of combining cultures include perspectives, practices, products.
Culture includes:
Perspectives: meanings, attitudes, values, ideas.
Practices: patterns of social interactions.
Products: books, tools, foods, laws, music, games. #ias18 pic.twitter.com/K7gcaAAbww— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
Culture includes modes by which you persuade, decide, disagree, evaluate, trust, schedule, communicate, and lead.
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer includes: persuading, deciding, disagreeing, evaluating, trusting, scheduling, communicating, leading. #ias18 pic.twitter.com/6z6KMCcPAB
— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
Know what you and your culture bring.
Where you come from is an important thing for you to recognize, says Miles Davis. Bring that here where we are and you’ll create something that’s transcendent.
Let’s do that: know ourselves on all these axes. Know what our culture brings. @farai_uxguy #ias18
— Anne Petersen (@apetersen) March 25, 2018
And non-diverse groups may not make good choices.
If everyone looks through their own lens and then discusses it, we can reach agreement about our experiences. We decide who to ask, and we interpret the results. We decide what to leave out as outliers. If we’re not diverse groups we may not make good choices #IAS18
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) March 23, 2018
In short, says Peter Morville: “Start by telling the truth.”
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