Thirteen years ago Gayle Curtis likened a “Big Information Architect” to “an orchestra conductor or film director, conceiving a vision and moving the team forward.” In the meantime, different-sized IAs gave way to UX designers, but in some shops there is another central role: product manager. What you may be surprised to learn is that a substantial part of a product manager’s job is…information architecture. Describing a landscape, ecosystem, or roadmap and communicating a set of goals and priorities requires the exact meaning-mapping skills that IA is all about. This panel features three people trained in IA and UX who are now filling a product role, to discover whether this parallel between “big” IA and product holds in other contexts, to discuss potential career paths, and to take questions from an audience that might be intrigued by the relationship.

1. PRODUCT
IS THE NEW
BIG IA

2. PRODUCT
IS THE NEW
BIG IA
#ProductIsBigIA

3. OUR PANEL
BRYCE GLASS
@BRYCEGLASS
(MANTA)
DONNA LICHAW
@DLICHAW
(GROVO)
CHRISTIAN CRUMLISH, MODERATOR
@MEDIAJUNKIE
(CLOUDON)

4. ORIGIN STORIES
WHY’D YOU DO IT?
WHY MAKE THE SWITCH?
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

5. BRYCE GLASS
YOU SEEM TO KNOW
WHAT YOU’RE DOING

6. DONNA LICHAW
“I DON’T THINK SO”

7. CHRISTIAN CRUMLISH

8. QUESTIONS

9. WHAT IS A PRODUCT MANAGER?
ENGINEER, ENGINEERING PRODUCT OWNER IN A
MANAGER SCRUM PROCESS
MBA, BUSINESS UX/DESIGN-CENTERED PM
INTELLIGENCE ANALYST
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT
PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER
MANAGER
1998-ERA "PRODUCER"
PROJECT MANAGER WITH
ADDED RESPONSIBILITY “THE CEO OF THE
PRODUCT”

10. HOW MUCH INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
IS THERE IN A PRODUCT MANAGER’S JOB?

11. WHAT ELSE DO PRODUCT
MANAGERS DO?
ANALYTICS
(GOOG ANALYTICS, OMNITURE, APP ANALYTICS, ETC.)
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(BUSINESS PROJECTIONS, P&L SHEETS, KPIS)
MOTIVATIONAL SKILLS
(PROFESSIONAL CYNICS NOT ALLOWED)
???

12. IS PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
“THE DARK SIDE”?
ARE WE
ABANDONING
UX?

13. YOUR QUESTIONS?

14. THANK YOU!
@BRYCEGLASS
@DLICHAW
@MEDIAJUNKIE