The information architect must communicate
effectively with the web site development team. This is challenging
since information architecture is highly abstract and intangible.
Besides communicating the architecture verbally documents (such as
blueprint diagrams) must be created in ways that can be understood by
the rest of the team regardless of their own disciplinary backgrounds.
Need of Team
In the early days of the web, web sites were
often designed, built and managed by a single individual through sheer
force of will. This webmaster was responsible for assembling and organizing
the content, designing the graphics and hacking together any necessary
CGI scripts. The only prerequisites were a familiarity with HTML and a
willingness to learn on the job. People with an amazing diversity of
backgrounds suddenly became webmasters overnight, and soon found
themselves torn in many directions at once. One minute they were
information architects, then graphics designers, then editors, then
programmers.
Then companies began to demand more of their
sites and consequently of their webmasters. People wanted more content
better organization, greater function and prettier graphics, tables,
VRML, frames. Shockwave, Java, and ActiveX were added to the toolbox. No
mortal Webmaster could keep with the rising expectations and increasing
complexity of the environment. Increasingly, webmasters and their
employers began to realize that the successful design and production of
complex web sites requires an interdisciplinary team approach. The
composition of this team will vary, depending upon the needs of a
particular project, available budget and the availability of expertise.
However most projects will require expertise in marketing, information
architecture, graphic design, programming and project management.
Marketing
The marketing team focuses on the intended
purposes and audiences for the web site. They must understand what will
bring the right people lo the web site and what will bring them back
again.
No comments:
Post a Comment