Jared Spool had some interesting things to say last night in his talk to Silicon Valley WebGuild at Microsoft's Mountain View campus. Discussing his latest research (as always), Jared talked about how a site's information architecture either gives visitor's confidence that they have the information they need, or it doesn't. The best e-commerce sites provide the right information in the right places, leaving the buyer feeling confident that she made the right choice.
But the most interesting point came well into the Q&A afterward, when someone asked if Jared's research techniques differentiate between the effects of the site design and its content. Jared drew some gasps (yes, really) when he said he doesn't distinguish between site design and content: content is part of the design. Seems obvious to me, but then I contribute to the content. He really got folks going when he said that, hey, if you have lawyers telling you what to say or do, then the lawyers are part of the design team. Folks didn't like that, but you know that it's true.
Let's say it again: content is part of the design. That makes the writers part of the design team. Got it?
9:14:38 PM 
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