Friday, 10:30am, Grand Salon A
Context. It’s everywhere. Really, you can’t move without bumping into the stuff. Once upon a time, we could easily tell what context we were inhabiting at any given time: we were either “here” or “there.”
But technology has radically changed what it means to be “here” or “there,” and has brought some challenging design problems along with it.
What does architecture even mean, when the walls are made of vapor? How do we map places that don’t behave like places anymore? And if you don’t know whether you’re here or there, then how do you know which version of yourself to be?
Through engaging examples (including Mr. Spock, a speeding trolley and a Dada urinal), this presentation illustrates how language powerfully affects context, and vice-versa. It connects this understanding with real-life IA design issues (such as Twitter’s syntax, or Facebook’s Beacon) and challenges us to think more carefully about how we shape context in the digital dimension.
Audience members should come away from this presentation with:
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A starting point for better talking & thinking about a somewhat overlooked issue in IA practice.
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Fertile soil for academic or theoretical IA research and interest.
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Some awesome stuff to talk about over food & drinks in Memphis.
INSTRUCTOR
Andrew Hinton
Andrew Hinton Since 1990, Andrew Hinton has worked as a designer, instructor, writer and consultant of various stripes. Clients have been small and large, including Fortune 500s such as American Express, Shaw, Wachovia and Kimberly-Clark. Andrew is now a Lead Information Architect in mutual-fund giant Vanguard’s User Experience Group. From his pre-Web education, Andrew holds a BA in Philosophy, an MA in Literature and an MFA in Writing. He’s a regular speaker at conferences like the IA Summit, and sometimes writes for publications like Boxes & Arrows. His current obsessions include Communities of Practice, social design factors, what games teach us about design, and the meaning of context in digital spaces. A co-founder of the IA Institute, he serves on its Board as Director of Professional Practice. He also keeps a home on the web at inkblurt.com.