If I Were Hiring...An Information Architect

If I Were Hiring...An Information Architect

If I Were Hiring... is an ongoing series of articles by Kenneth J. Weiss Director of E-Commerce for Hoover and Dirt Devil and the author of Slightware - The Next Great Threat To Brands. Weiss has spent more than 15 years in the interactive space working with major brands such as Progressive, Bayer, Corning, Moen and more.


Here's the good news: companies have an extreme need for information architects. The bad news? Good IAs are hard to find and the role of an IA can be very different from company to company. Interactive agencies, design firms and consultancies are adept at evaluating and hiring IAs. On the client side, the roles of an IA can vary dramatically. Large companies like banks, insurance companies and software firms are good at hiring IAs. Business-to-consumer, business-to-business and other types of services firms may have slightly different visions for an IA and very pure, by-the-book IA skill sets may not be exactly what a firm needs.

Information Architects Below The Fortune 500 Line
Let's face it, there are lots of digital initiatives going on across the enterprise at companies that are not in the Fortune 500. A company can rack up over 4 BILLION in revenue and still not crack the Fortune 500! IAs can be found hard at work on company intranets, public web sites, channel portals, e-commerce sites, mobile apps and more.

Here's What I Look For
Let's start by assuming that you have the basics: 3-5 years of experience in an IA role, a good portfolio, a solid work history and the ability to carry on a detailed conversation about your craft. You have a better chance of getting the second interview and job with....

Flow Flexibility
Do you have a proven track record of doing detailed work with different types of user flows? A new account sign up? A product configurator? A purpose built app? If you have just done a catalog site with shopping cart and checkout, you will need to be able to describe your philosophy and strategy about new projects in detail.

Fidelity with Reality
What is a hiring manager to think if they see great-looking project deliverables from an IA but the finished user experience looks nothing like the documents? The natural assumption will be that your thinking did not fit the requirements, technology or vision of the rest of the project team. Certainly, systems evolve, but the essence of your thinking must be there.

Conversion Improvement
If you can walk me through multiple projects that had a goal of conversion improvement this tells me several things: You can grasp business objectives and metrics, data does not scare you, you probably understand multivariate/AB testing, and you have the ability to put a hypothesis and UX strategy in play.

RIA thinking
Note: I said "RIA Thinking" not "RIA Experience." User experiences continue to move away from the page metaphor. Modal windows, smarter forms and engaging experiences are more prevalent. But, but, but...data still needs to be collected, different user profiles need to be addressed and content still needs to be managed. Call it style, call it flavor, call it what you want, new, smoother, richer experiences will trickle into all types of user experiences, but this needs to happen in a smart, measured way.

Brand Acumen
Brands represent economic value to companies. A good IA needs to know how their work can make a user experience feel on-brand or feel terribly amiss. This is not always easy. Usability often leads to predictability and homogeneity whereas brands desire individuality and originality.

And Lastly, Versatility and Commitment to the Finish Line
Businesses need to do more with less. Now more than ever. Are you willing to pitch in on a photo shoot, load content into a CMS package, traffic some copy through an approval process or even hack away at some graphics in Photoshop? Every job is going to have some grunt work. Please don't take the job that will make your skills atrophy, but at the same time, you'll need to pitch in to get projects across the finish line.

Kenneth J. Weiss is Director of E-Commerce for Hoover and author of the new book, Slightware – The Next Great Threat to Brands. Download the first chapter for free at www.Slightware.com