Your “Only Once” Is My 3-6 Times

Today, David Armano posted a link to the newly updated ESPN.com website on Twitter for people to share some opinions and feedback.

I went to the site and saw that, still, ESPN thinks it’s an okay idea to play–with the volume ON–video on their home page.  Like most people in the same time zone as David, I’m at work, so I left the site rather quickly.

I let David know my experience and that I felt ESPN clearly is not speaking to their users, while people around me are chuckling at me for the burst of non-work-related audio coming from my workstation.

David’s response was, “It only happens once–refresh.”

(For the record, I’ve now seen it twice on the same computer and I’m not about to try and find out again, thanks, ESPN.)

It only happens once.

Is that the truth anymore?

I think it’s a lie.  A lie we tell ourselves and we instantly believe without letting it really surface.

And we’re forgetting about the fact that many people (still awaiting on a number about the average numbers of computers per household in 2008 from ChaCha, but…) have more than one computer in their experience–particularly those who, you know, actually go to websites.

I have a laptop for work (PC).  I have a personal laptop (MacBook).  I have a desktop (iMac). I have a home server (PC). I have a laptop for my wife (NetBook). And, finally, I have a laptop for my 5yo daughter (PC).

At any point in time, I could be using ANY ONE of those computers. And each “first time” I’ll have to go through whatever interstitial garbage you put up to thrill and wow me with.

For me, that’s 3-6 different times, and that’s if you “Only Once” actually works.

Look, I’m a realist.  I’m pretty certain that my numbers are a bit larger than the average household, but many households certainly DO have more than one computer within the realm of their “experience”, and it is something to consider.

Especially when your “Only Once” is not working.

Jesse James Garret - The Lost IDEA 2008 Interview

Note: This was originally slated to appear in Boxes & Arrows prior to the IDEA 2008 conference, however, due to the conference itself and a bunch of other events, it never ended up getting published.  Jesse was kind enough to speak with me on the phone during his day–which not only floored me, but gave me an opportunity few of us can say that they’ve had the pleasure of doing.

There’s no good reason this should get lost in the ether, so without further delay…

Jesse James Garrett took time out of his busy schedule to–get this–do a live interview with me prior to his speaking engagement for IDEA. JJG shares his thoughts on inspiration, the future of IA and how fortunate he is to be surrounded by brilliant people.

RU: Where do you look for inspiration?

JJG: I’m really fortunate to be a part Adaptive Path because I’m surrounded by so many talented, interesting—and very curious—people. I’ve got this constant flow of “Hey did you see this thing?” and all kinds of unexpected shared inputs. The interesting thing with that is the crazy juxtapositions from where the really creative ideas come from.

RU: What’s your favorite way to communicate with people who aren’t in the same room with you?

JJG: I’m not a twitterer—I haven’t been able to integrate it into my habits and routines. It just hasn’t worked out for me.

There is synchronous and asynchronous communication—and I find that using the phone allows me to schedule time to complete a task. It ends up working better for me if I can put something in a calendar and dedicate time to it.

RU: Do you feel that Information Architecture has a future as a practice? Where do you perceive that it is falling short and/or where do you feel that the opportunities are?

JJG: I think IA does have a future as a practice—the future of IA may not look like the present or past of IA, but if IA is the practice of the structuring of information for human understanding, well that’s never going to go away.

I think that Information Architects have fallen in love with toolsets and they are identifying with the toolsets instead of identifying with the problem. It’s like the difference between being someone who uses a hammer and someone who is a carpenter. I think that Information Architects are in this place right now where if they look at a problem and they cannot solve it with the tools they have on-hand, they decide that it’s not their problem. This has caused them to cede a lot of work to Interaction Design.

The IA practice has calcified at a really astonishing rate. We’re looking at the 10th IA Summit around the corner in Spring, and already, IA practices are starting to become somewhat stagnate.

RU: At the IA Summit in Montreal, you gave some “marching orders” that, as IA, we should be setting an example. At the IA Summit in Miami, you encouraged young/new people to get it in gear and start putting presentations together—that all the others are making it up as they go. This may have come across as slightly humorous, but I’d say that’s because it’s true. Is there anything you would add or change to that?

JJG: We should be the people that people outside of this field turn to for advice, turn to for our expertise and our insight. The IA community has become so insular—and I think that’s what the original idea behind the IDEA conference was trying to dispel. We need to broaden the dialog and have IA take its place in part of the broader world.

RU: Last question. Let’s be honest, you’re “internet famous” and people get some online cred just by being associated with you or by being mentioned in anything you write and/or say. How has being a presenter and conference-attendee helped you improve upon your career?

JJG: The nice thing about being known is that people want to talk to me. They want to share their ideas with me and their work with me. I try to keep myself going creatively and keep the inputs constantly flowing. For me to have the opportunity travel all over the world and talk to people about their work, their challenges and the solutions they are creating is a constant source of inspiration to me.

I would suggest that people who are new to the field—as well as for anyone hoping for the advancement to the entire field—dialog with others is going to be the main driver, and conferences and speaking events are great opportunities for this.

About Jesse James Garret
Jesse James Garrett is co-founder and President of Adaptive Path, a product experience design firm based in San Francisco. Jesse’s tools and concepts have been published in more than a dozen languages and his book The Elements of User Experience is considered one of the seminal works on user-centered design. He is internationally recognized as a leading product experience thinker and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. In 2006, Jesse received WIRED Magazine’s Rave Award for Technology for coining the term Ajax.

Behind on the Times & Things to Come

As blogs go, I’m woefully far behind on keeping up with mine.  This is such a common mantra with blogs that I’m not surprised it’s happening to me, and I’m sure you’re not either.

In the past month or so, that Information Architecture Institute Board of Directors election-thingy happened, and I, through the gracious acts of kindness of many people, was voted to the Board.

There were a couple of weeks of transition, and the officers all began their new roles on October 1st.  Of the “Open IAI” platform, myself and Livia Labate won.  Matthew Milan, who I cannot express enough admiration and respect for, did not make it, but I have a feeling that this will not curb his ability to be an effective influence as the times move forward and people start to think a little more deeply about Information Architecture.

After a lot of shuffling the deck around, I landed into the role of Director of Events and Marketing, which is a really good fit.  For a moment there, it seemed as if I might be president, which was a really cool thought, but the goals I would have wanted to achieve are still my goals.  The goals for the Board of Directors are still theirs and think we have some really interesting and challenging times ahead of us.

As members of the IAI, I urge you to ask us the hard questions and press for the transparency that you deserve. I can assure you that it is on its way and that are steps being taken quickly to start engaging the members.  Don’t be afraid to ask about the operations–you are members, after all, and you have a right to know what’s happening.

This isn’t me poo-pooing on anything, these are the same feelings that I had when running for the Board.  The strangest thing I’ve seen to date is how this organizations runs its elections–it seems to me that people should run for positions, not for a seat on the Board and then have to figure out the roles later.  I think that confuses things a bit and potentially has us stacked with a Board of people who could be perfect for 1 role but over-staffed in another.

And we’re working on that.  It’s an interesting endeavor and it’s nice to have an Executive Director on staff who is helping us identify things that we need to work on.

We also had a very successful IDEA Conference in Chicago.  We received some great, positive feedback, but we always want to hear more.  There is always room for improvement, and we want to try and have the kind of insight that could make an IDEA 2009 even better than this one–and to be honest, Jorge Arango set the bar pretty damn high.  Indeed.

I’ve been motoring through my book, with a tight schedule ahead. There are nearly 2 full chapters complete by me (and I’m starting on a third, quite literally, right now), as well as a couple more being completed by my co-author, Carolyn Chandler.

It’s busy, but we have focus, and I’ve made arrangements to make sure that this can happen and the book can be available for all the conference stops next year.

Which means that… With a little luck, I may be at SXSW, with a lot of luck at Interaction09, then the IA Summit in Memphis (potentially presenting and giving a couple of workshops on some key topics), and finally with a bit more luck, Voices That Matter in San Francisco in April of next year.

I’m not quite sure how I’m going to get to slow down once the book launches, with a schedule like that!

More than anything, I truly want to thank the community and my connections that I have made.  There are so many people around me that allow me to be much smarter just by being able to pick their brains.  The people that I’ve opend my home to, shared a cab with, shared a lunch with, or even shared a late night skype call honor me with their presence, and they definitely make me much more of the person that I want to be than I could ever hope to achieve on my own.

That, truly, is the beauty of being involved in social network.  There’s not a currency that I can think of that is much greater than that.