Whats an Information Architect Doing Telling Stories?
by Thom Haller – February 1, 2000 I structure information. It’s my vocation. It’s my avocation. It’s my well, it’s me. I’m the guy who loses his place when reading. The guy who is asked by friends, “what books are you carrying around now.” The guy who had to learn to think and write in bullets. I’m the guy who needs to see structure in documents. I’m the guy who gets lost trying to find my way across a gasoline pump. Gets lost using a microwave, and doesn’t even try to program a VCR. I’m the guy who inevitably pulls doors open the wrong way. I’m the guy who appreciates the nod from author/teacher Donald Norman that perhaps the doors weren’t designed with users in mind. But I’m also the guy who believes we can structure information so people can find it and use it. I had to learn to structure information. No one taught me. I’ve discovered models and structures. I even quit my job as a writer so I could learn to write. And now, I’m well writing. Primarily, I write stories. I take to hear
