Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
170 followers
430 following
24 posts
I lead teams and organisations to make human-centred decisions.
Lead content designer and information architect at the Scottish Government.
he/him
https://duncanstephen.net/
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Reposted by Duncan Stephen
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Jul 17
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Jul 17
Top tasks survey — One weird trick to improve information architecture and user experience
One of the most powerful methods in information architecture and user experience is also one of the least well-known. The top tasks method uses a single survey question that tells you exactly what matters most to your users. I find it so effective that I’m amazed more people haven’t used it.
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Jun 26
Services are verbs combined with nouns
Information architecture normally focuses on the objects that need to be represented in a system. Some human-centred practitioners focus instead on the tasks users need to do. These approaches are sometimes framed in opposition. But combining these techniques can make services and systems easier to use as well as more efficient to manage.
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· May 2
Keeping it real in the age of artificial intelligence
Amid technology-focused hype cycles, the job of human-centred practitioners is to remind everyone: the main reason people use technology is to enhance our connections with other humans in the real world.
duncanstephen.net
Reposted by Duncan Stephen
Jon Vernon
@onlyindevon.co.uk
· Apr 21
Reposted by Duncan Stephen
Peter Morville
@morville.bsky.social
· Apr 11
The pain in a name — Is information architecture right to call itself architecture?
I have long felt uneasy about modern occupations associating themselves with high-status traditional professions. This has been brought into sharp focus for me since I started a role last year focusin...
duncanstephen.net
Reposted by Duncan Stephen
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Apr 9
The pain in a name — Is information architecture right to call itself architecture?
I have long felt uneasy about modern occupations associating themselves with high-status traditional professions. This has been brought into sharp focus for me since I started a role last year focusing heavily on information architecture, to the annoyance of my wife Alex, who is an actual architect.
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Apr 9
The pain in a name — Is information architecture right to call itself architecture?
I have long felt uneasy about modern occupations associating themselves with high-status traditional professions. This has been brought into sharp focus for me since I started a role last year focusing heavily on information architecture, to the annoyance of my wife Alex, who is an actual architect.
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Mar 3
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Feb 25
Object-oriented approaches in action
There are several benefits of building a content model in an object-oriented way. This post walks through those benefits, and demonstrates a real-life example of how this approach works on a well-know...
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Feb 17
How we are following an object-oriented approach to structuring information
Decades-old approaches are being brought up to date with new techniques to create a robust way of structuring content to enable reuse and make content management more efficient.
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Feb 10
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Jan 12
A plea for the lost practice of information architecture — Vicky Teinaki
I was sad to learn earlier that ( Vicky had been a designer for a few different government departments and public sector organisations. I didn't know her well. But I have read her blog posts for years, and I was delighted to encounter her in meetings about structured information since I joined the civil service a few months ago. I was struck by how she demonstrated both fresh thinking and wisdom.
duncanstephen.net
Duncan Stephen
@duncanstephen.net
· Jan 12
Reposted by Duncan Stephen