Technology in Architectural Practice

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Committee on Design and Technology in Architectural Practice .
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Crystal:

I have input about AIA website useability, (on this, I beleive many members would agree):

1. Generally, the site appears cluttered. It's hard to navigate quickly to find content you need as fast as possible.
2. Members need and want to be able to access and monitor their learning units asap.
3. Members need a way to self report learning activities reliably and asap.
4. Members need a way to access Knowledge Community and Best Practice and other content asap as well.
5. Many Important links are sporadic / non permanent, especially older AIArchitect issues. It's easier to use Google, but even then, it's disheartening to find that so many links are no longer accessible.
 

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Gail Ann J. Goldstead AIA
Wheaton IL
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Richard Potokar AIA
Richard A. M. Potokar, Inc.
Riverside IL
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I couldn't agree more - thanks for your comments.  The changes to the website are indeed terrible.  I have been a member for 27 years and am considering quitting just because the website is so difficult to use.  I had to call the AIA just to find education-related items.  It makes you think how your membership money is really being spent.  Change for the sake of change makes no sense to me.

I agree with the commenter. The AIA website seems to get overhauled (cosmetic makeover) with needless and distressing regularity, and the number of clicks required to do anything increases, while the legibility and agility of the site decreases. I'm looking for a streamlined way to keep track of my Learning Units--it shouldn't take so many clicks to get there, and once the transcript is finally found, I discover that courses entered a month ago aren't even posted yet.

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Tom Hardy
Thomas Rex Hardy, AIA
San Francisco CA
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Right on Gail Ann - especially the self report - I think it is a huge step backward from what we had before.  In this day of process management - the designers here did not do a decent walk through of the interface, process or goals.  Some how I think the AIA often fails to realise they work for us the members.
Art
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Arthur Kjos AIA
Clark/Kjos Architects, LLC
Seattle WA
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In reading these comments about the website, I have to wonder if we are looking at the same website. I see the new website as an improvement over the old website, which had multiple logins for various content, including transcripts. I don't think the new site is 'cluttered', navigation via the menu bar is logical and consistent, and I can get to my transcript quicker, and with fewer keystrokes, than before.

I think AIA has a bit of a conflict(s) as do most organization sites. I am sure the site was designed, as mentioned by a previous post, to maximize traffic and search ranking. It also needs to be a good kit of tools for the members.
This usually creates serious conflicts in need and consequently design.

I ignore any discussion of aesthetics (slippery slope).

I almost never use a home page after my first visit. I Bookmark what I need and leave the rest:

In my opinion, the worst thing AIA does with their web site is make new links to redesigned pages then orphan the old address. I maintain our web site and I have to find, then recreate links every couple years whenever they do an upgrade.

I found the previous log-in quicker to get transcripts. I think it is all in what you are used to though. I use AIA transcripts as my only CEU record as it's easy to submit self-reports and Vermont accepts all AIA credits.

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Steven Clark AIA
Montpelier VT
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-02-2010 01:34
From: John Benware
Subject: Input about AIA Website Useability

In reading these comments about the website, I have to wonder if we are looking at the same website. I see the new website as an improvement over the old website, which had multiple logins for various content, including transcripts. I don't think the new site is 'cluttered', navigation via the menu bar is logical and consistent, and I can get to my transcript quicker, and with fewer keystrokes, than before.

It seems that most of the issues with the website stem from the change in the Continuing Education tracking system. There needs to be more to the AIA website than Continuing Education, though I do understand that the tracking of CE units is one of the most important benefits of membership to most people.

I do recall hearing that the previous iterations of the website had been done in manner that was not comprehensive and left the back end systems disjointed. That probably explains the broken links that are occurring with the new website.

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John Benware AIA
Architect
JFBjr Architect, P.C.
Oak Lawn IL
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