If They Ask Me, I Could BE a Book
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 by James GrayMy partner, Dennis, has been known to say, “James, I can read you like a pamphlet.”
I know this is his thinly veiled way of saying “James, I’ve got your number — and it’s a fraction”. But I can’t help imagining exactly what kind of pamphlet he’s really envisioning.
Am I one of those Dr. office tomes on cholesterol? Or, am I some “mouse type” factsheet slyly slipped into the envelope with my credit card statement? Or am I more like a CliffsNotes version of a literary classic?
As an Information Architect, I really hope it’s the later. In my daily work I try to help end-users find the simplest, fastest, most-meaningful route to the desired solution or task at hand. However, the sad truth is that the Information Architecture (IA) process is anything but straightforward. Sometimes I worry people think I’m too long-winded when it comes to questioning their motives. I just can’t shake this [almost lawyer-ly] need to ask stakeholders the same questions over and over, and from every angle. But it’s all in the best interest of their client – an ultimate desire to arrive at a simple truth. What’s it going to take to get their Website client to do “x” – and is that solution [ultimately] worth everyone’s while?
Maybe Dennis’ observation couldn’t be further from the truth. Maybe I actually read more like a voluminous, lumbering law journal.
But before you think I consider myself the “Great American Novel,” why not ask yourself “What kind of book am I?”
The Internet is the ultimate playground for self-awareness quizzes delivered in a light-hearted way. And who doesn’t love the chance to query a quick online wizard for an answer to that most important question: “So what do you think about ME?” As a typical person, I’m really interested in the self-voyering that the Internet can offer. As an IA, I find that many of these Web quizzes are well done (as long as you keep in mind they’re really “for entertainment only”).
So what about you? Here’s a short list of quick, fun online personality quizzes designed to tell you what type animal, book, state, or even locomotive you might be.
As for me, the next time Dennis says “I can read you like a pamphlet,” I can honestly say “No… I’m more like The Grapes of Wrath.”







