I can’t believe that I’m actually writing a blog entry – It was never something that I wanted to do. But hey! Here I am…

I first started exploring blogs when I gave up my position as Senior Web-Developer at TBWA\Tequila in Johannesburg. My boss offered me the opportunity to make a career shift and I have been working, exploring and researching my way into an Information Architect (IA) role.

A lot of what I found myself doing back then (as a web developer) paralleled with that of Information Architect’s day-to-day tasks due to a shortage of resources. I had to refine those skills and actually figure out what my core deliverables where. Blogs and mailing lists became a valuable source of information about my new-found profession.

I’m a very practical guy and will try to use this space to echo my learnings. Please note that most of my posts are basically derived from what I read and my interpretation thereof – I’d love to engage with like minded people and debate these topics.

I have a few initiatives on the go at the moment and will report on them as I go along –

Concept Prototypes

I read a wide variety of articles and listened to podcasts about a “new” way of prototyping of new projects. The thinking is that you convey a basic concept to your client rather than a super-realistic mock-up of your proposed web application. In short, throw away your Photoshop scamps and put pencil to paper – Let’s start drawing!

I studied fine arts for three years and found the proposal of drawing out my ideas and concepts extremely appealing. I’ve been working on a little sideline project and hope to have it posted here soon.

Taxonomies and Controlled Vocabularies

I managed to worm my way into an online course, Taxonomies and Controlled Vocabularies at Simmons College (Massachusetts). I’m sharing the e-class with some very experienced Library Science types. I can’t comment on the content of the course and the fact that it’s a self-help online learning experience yet. I’m only starting this weekend but I will make a point of posting my assignments and feedback.

The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web

I’ve been poaching everything I could find on the Jesse James Garrett’s (Adaptive Path) website – http://blog.jjg.net/ – I started to feel bad though. I thought I’d alleviate my guilty conscience by buying Jesse’s book The Elements of User Experience. Seriously, I’ve heard tons of good things about this book. I’m currently making my way through the contents (really cool) and will post a few comments as I go along.

Here’s to my first ever blog-entry!