The Usability Architect

The last years of usability engineering practice where shaped by a war of terms, among them interaction design, user experience design, information architecture and many more. This phenomenon could also be witnessed by reading through job descriptions in Europe and the U.S.

I also had my difficulties in finding my own place in this pool of notions. This is why I wrote about the topic earlier this year: http://www.usability-architect.com/2009/06/who-am-i-from-interface-designers-to.html

In the meantime, I have the impression that in 2010 and in the subsequent years, too, there will be a consolidation of terms. I believe that information architecture (IA) will disappear from the scene, because the web becomes increasingly interactive. IA was especially associated with an expertise in building content and navigation structures that rather had a static form. Today, technologies like Silverlight, AJAX and Flash turn the web into a highly interactive media. Because the design of interactive systems is headlined with the term interaction design (IxD), it will absporb IA as a discipline. Naturally, this comes with an increasing need for IAs to enhance their knowledge and design capabilities beyond static forms of content representation.

In addition, user experience (UX) will molt to be the umbrella term for the design of software systems people will like to use and buy. This will underline the relationship of software design and customer experience management. But first of all, UX relates to the goal companies want to reach. Hence, UX does only describe a few methods and tools that provide guidance in actually designing UX.

This is why both usability engineering and interaction design will be the more concrete terms and discplines below the umbrella of UX. Both fields are relevant for designing interactive software systems in the future and there will be an ongoing discussion about the interfaces between both populations, including the role of industrial and graphic design.

I believe this is a very positive outlook for 2010 and it will help to promote the ROI of usability and design activities. I think it is always difficult to convince a client of investing into your profession, if you are unable to explain your discipline in a few words.