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Our tagline in the FAQ is as follows:

User Experience - Stack Exchange is for user experience researchers and designers.

I'm wondering if we aren't getting as many Information Architecture and Human Computer Interaction questions because they're only implicitly included in here; and at many places, these are separate job functions, even if our site accepts all of them.

We still get plenty of UI design questions; probably in part because many "UX Design" positions do 80% or more UI design, but research level HCI doesn't quite fall under the umbrella, and Information Architecture has been kept more distinct a job function when it exists, where UI/UX merge for lots of smaller companies.

Would it be worth expanding this line a bit to include Information Architecture and HCI? Should anything else be included? Is this a problem?

2 Answers 2

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We should change our FAQ's first section to read:

User Experience - Stack Exchange is for User Experience Designers, Information Architects, and Human Computer Interaction researchers.

How's that for a first draft? Please vote to indicate support and comment if you think anything should be changed/added/ect

I've gone and added this in as there have been no objections and a very positive reception. Check it out at https://ux.stackexchange.com/faq#questions

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  • I'd be very open to having a diagram explaining what "UX" means for us but none of the pretty UX diagrams I've seen describe our site's scope well. If anyone wants to make one that'd be awesome
    – Ben Brocka
    May 23, 2012 at 20:32
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    Yes, this is a good summary. We can always add in a supporting image at a later date, if anyone is able to come up with a good concept.
    – JonW Mod
    May 24, 2012 at 14:23
  • I can't edit this, but can you throw in the good old Oxford comma for me? You know... i.imgur.com/kdPHY.jpg (or its slightly less SFW cousin, i.imgur.com/fycHx.jpg)
    – Karen
    May 25, 2012 at 19:45
  • @Karen oh fine. I'm not a big fan of the Oxford comma but I'll concede it can have the tiniest bit of extra clarification.
    – Ben Brocka
    May 26, 2012 at 20:31
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Yes we are to narrow in our description - and yes it's a problem: These are the elements of User Experience (curtesy of Jesse James Garret):

Jesse James Garrets definition of User Experience

Could we put that image in our description of UX.SE? OK, I know we can't. But I think we need to see UX as an umbrella of all these disciplines. It's not just UX Design, and researchers haven't been around all that much.

My Idea is to explain what UX is - and welcome everyone who loves users and their actions.

On a more personal note, being an Information Architect, I get sad watching the tag since there are a lot of closed questions. I keep wondering why that is? (Bias, I know)

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  • ...technically we can put images in the FAQ, but that's a bit too much for the FAQ :P. And....I don't see a lot of closed questions there. 4 closed out of 61 is actually better than par on UX
    – Ben Brocka
    May 16, 2012 at 20:03
  • @BenBrocka Bias I tell you, bias :P . But you have a good point on your question. Hope to see more discussions here!
    – Benny Skogberg
    May 16, 2012 at 20:05
  • For reference, programmers made a diagram of their scope in their FAQ: programmers.stackexchange.com/faq perhaps we could have a simple venn diagram of circles where UI,IA, HCI ect overflap on one point, and the point is UX.SE?
    – Ben Brocka
    May 16, 2012 at 20:05
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    If you want to see more IA questions, ask more IA questions ;p
    – Ben Brocka
    May 16, 2012 at 20:06
  • @BenBrocka I don't have to - I just retag questions to be IA-questions ;P
    – Benny Skogberg
    May 16, 2012 at 21:04
  • I wouldn't want to use this particular diagram because how prominent "visual design" is. We may end up with too many GD questions here.
    – dnbrv
    May 16, 2012 at 21:46
  • @dnbrv oh heck no to this diagram, and most diagrams explaining UX tend to be way too in-depth. Maybe that "T shape" diagram would be better though...
    – Ben Brocka
    May 17, 2012 at 0:36

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