I've been doing "this" (information architecture) for well over a decade now and I've had the great fortune to work with clients that include Disney, Kaiser-Permanente, McKesson, Nissan, Oracle, Qualcomm, Sapient, Sony, Sun, Veritas, Wal-Mart and Yahoo.
I find it exciting that we can now leverage tools and methodologies that enable a sophisticated approach to this business of "architecting successful customer experiences" (and move beyond making business and design decisions based on the politics of "who is in the room").
I define success in terms of a balance between an organization's business objectives AND the target audience's needs and desires. To achieve this balance, we must first UNDERSTAND.
I say, quite honestly, that my most important quality in this profession is EMPATHY. There is also, of course, an element of INSPIRATION.
Mostly, however, I view what I do as a form of DIPLOMACY. The process is one of consensus-building and the product (or "artifacts," i.e. sitemap, wireframes, etc.) represent the result of our collaboration and our shared understanding of the best possible design solution.
