World IA Day Boston 2020 is a one-day conference celebrating information architecture. Join this gathering of Boston's IA, UX, and design community for our fifth year participating in this worldwide event!
This year's event is supported by our generous sponsors: CVS Health, Northeastern University, Lesley University, Hudl, Last Call Media, Mad*Pow, and Clear Point. Our wonderful speakers this year are:
- Abby Covert, Staff Information Architect at Etsy and author of How to Make Sense of Any Mess
- Heather Hedden, Taxonomist at Hedden Information Management and author of The Accidental Taxonomist
- Eniola Oluwole, Chief Strategy Officer at Velir
- Ingrid Pierre, Principal UX Designer at MBTA
- Lisa Maria Marquis, Independent consultant, Managing Editor of A Book Apart, and author of Everyday Information Architecture
- Darrell Penta, Ph.D., Sr. UX Researcher at Hubspot
- Marlyn Tadros, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Communications and Media Arts at Southern New Hampshire University and founder of Virtual Activism
- Priyama Barua, Experience Strategy Director at Mad*Pow
- Tom Diamond, UX Designer at AIR Worldwide
- Kate Terrado, Assistant Teaching Professor in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University
- Allison Herrera, User Experience Researcher at the Harvard Medical School, Countway Library of Medicine
- Tania Schlatter, Harvard IQSS, Northeastern University, and co-author of Visual Usability
Venue, parking and transit
This year's event will take place in Washburn Commons, an 8-minute walk from Harvard Square.
Location
Washburn Commons
10 Phillips Place
Cambridge, MA 02138
Transit
We strongly encourage using public transportation.
- Red Line: Take the Red Line to Harvard Square, then walk 8 minutes (0.4 mi) to 10 Phillips Pl.
- Note: Red Line service between Alewife, Davis, Porter, and Harvard will be replaced by shuttles for the weekend.
- Bus: Take any bus that stops at Harvard Square. Some buses stop even closer to the venue, including buses 72, 74, and 78.
For accessibility information, see Accessibility on the MBTA at mbta.com.
Parking
We strongly encourage taking public transportation, as parking is not available at our venue. You can find paid parking at locations around Harvard Square.
Contact us for information about parking for those with accessibility needs.
Accessibility
We are committed to making this an inclusive and accessible event. We welcome people with disabilities. For questions about accessibility or to request an accommodation, please email boston@worldiaday.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible.
Program/Schedule
A stellar lineup of speakers will present wide-ranging, thoughtful perspectives on information architecture and the IA Element.
Notes for Live Stream viewers
- We will have two separate live stream URLs for the morning and afternoon.
- For the concurrent sessions at 11:00am, only "The IA element in practice" will be live streamed. The others will be recorded and published later.
- Sessions may begin a few minutes early or late compared to the scheduled time.
Schedule
- 8:00: Registration and coffee
- Note: Coffee and tea will be served; please bring your own breakfast or snack.
- 9:00: The IA Element with Dan Zollman and the WIAD Boston Planning Team
- 9:15: Abby Covert
- 10:00: Heather Hedden, Taxonomies for Users
- 11:00: Concurrent sessions
- Priyama Barua, Tom Diamond, Allison Herrera, Kate Terrado, and Tania Schlatter: The IA element in practice. An interactive conversation with four practitioners with diverse professional practices and backgrounds, discussing their view of the information architecture element in their careers and practice.
- Darrell Penta, What cognitive psychology can teach us about navigation design
- Marlyn Tadros, From Dorothy to Kramer: can’t you give me brains? A hands-on rapid prototyping activity.
- 12:00: Lunch at nearby locations
- 1:15: Ingrid Pierre, Redesigning Schedules: How Bias Makes People Late
- 2:00: Lisa Maria Marquis, Categories & Consequences: The politics of organizing information
- 2:45: Eniola Oluwole, The Lies We Tell Ourselves
- 3:30: Wrap up
- 4:00: Unofficial afterparty at Beat Brew Hall, 13A Brattle St, Cambridge
