Thank you so much for doing this! I have honestly never heard much about UX architects until I came across your blog.
The only thing emphasized to me in business undergrad in terms of career were consultants and business analysts.
It seems that your role is quite a bit meatier than the role of business analyst. I was very unaware that analysts in the web industry were only involved in requirements, and that it was the UX architect who actually mediates between different software design/development teams.
The key there is "business school". Information architecture is, believe it or not, librarian science: it's the art of finding things (on the web). So, no, I don't expect the average business school to even be aware (per most business analysts, tbh) that IA is even a role. Hence the shoving going on, too.
As for meaty... yes, and no. From a BA standpoint, their role is (and to some degree, this is true) the most crucial, because they're the primary lens through which all the rest of us are going to understand the requirements. A bad set of requirements will impact all the way down the line. But I've met very few -- well, come to think of it -- no formal BAs with a true depth of understanding about process, which is why I've often called myself a Process Analyst even when I was doing BA stuff and & reqs gathering. Process is a cornerstone of architecture, but for most BAs, process only comes into play in terms of recording "what we're currently doing" and maybe, y'know, tweak it some for the reqs on the next rollout. (As opposed to a true Process Analyst, who's more likely to rip your pathetic and inefficient process out at the roots and rebuild it better.)
That said, it's a mediocre BA who can't interpret business needs and (if possible) help aim the business towards a good end (and this often requires a lot of discussion with us down the line, and for good BAs, that includes designers & developers). Again, that's a lot of listening to what business says (and doesn't say), but without the emphasis on visual and process structure that you find in architecture. And really, whether or not the reqs are good, I always rely on the nearest BAs to help me understand. They've probably spent hours stuck in conference with clients/business going over requirements. If you bribe them right, BAs can tell me all sorts of nuances of business wishes that might help me come up with a better siteplan.
Also, some places like to call UX architecture (or a good chunk of it, sans wireframing) the product manager. I have no idea why, but the gist is that you take a BA and an IA, make them into one, and have them be the knowledge resource for the other two legs of the stool (design, development). Sometimes this works, sometimes it's a miserable failure, but that also depends a lot on corporate culture, whether you can do that or not. At least imo.
Ah...I have heard of product managers before! It's interesting that you bring up the varied success of that role.
I was having a meeting with a company's COO and overheard him talking to another developer about a certain product manager's inability to carry her job duties - she's being heavily overwhelmed. Doing 2 duties at once seems like a tricky thing, just like you mention.
And, really, I can only thank my lucky stars that only /one/ of the independent musicians I've worked for came with an Artist attached. A designer (and one who'd never touched interactive design) as a client. God that was a nightmare.
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Date: 5 Feb 2012 05:49 pm (UTC)The only thing emphasized to me in business undergrad in terms of career were consultants and business analysts.
It seems that your role is quite a bit meatier than the role of business analyst. I was very unaware that analysts in the web industry were only involved in requirements, and that it was the UX architect who actually mediates between different software design/development teams.
Thanks again! :)
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Date: 5 Feb 2012 06:10 pm (UTC)As for meaty... yes, and no. From a BA standpoint, their role is (and to some degree, this is true) the most crucial, because they're the primary lens through which all the rest of us are going to understand the requirements. A bad set of requirements will impact all the way down the line. But I've met very few -- well, come to think of it -- no formal BAs with a true depth of understanding about process, which is why I've often called myself a Process Analyst even when I was doing BA stuff and & reqs gathering. Process is a cornerstone of architecture, but for most BAs, process only comes into play in terms of recording "what we're currently doing" and maybe, y'know, tweak it some for the reqs on the next rollout. (As opposed to a true Process Analyst, who's more likely to rip your pathetic and inefficient process out at the roots and rebuild it better.)
That said, it's a mediocre BA who can't interpret business needs and (if possible) help aim the business towards a good end (and this often requires a lot of discussion with us down the line, and for good BAs, that includes designers & developers). Again, that's a lot of listening to what business says (and doesn't say), but without the emphasis on visual and process structure that you find in architecture. And really, whether or not the reqs are good, I always rely on the nearest BAs to help me understand. They've probably spent hours stuck in conference with clients/business going over requirements. If you bribe them right, BAs can tell me all sorts of nuances of business wishes that might help me come up with a better siteplan.
Also, some places like to call UX architecture (or a good chunk of it, sans wireframing) the product manager. I have no idea why, but the gist is that you take a BA and an IA, make them into one, and have them be the knowledge resource for the other two legs of the stool (design, development). Sometimes this works, sometimes it's a miserable failure, but that also depends a lot on corporate culture, whether you can do that or not. At least imo.
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Date: 6 Feb 2012 04:29 am (UTC)I was having a meeting with a company's COO and overheard him talking to another developer about a certain product manager's inability to carry her job duties - she's being heavily overwhelmed. Doing 2 duties at once seems like a tricky thing, just like you mention.
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Date: 5 Feb 2012 07:27 pm (UTC)