RE: Internet Architecture Project - PLEASE HELP

[Joe Sokohl <joe -at- sokohl -dot- com>]

Part 1: Visio alternatives for Macintosh users
[DISCLAIMER: this is not meant to start a "my OS can beat up your OS" 
schoolyard brawl. Instead, I just wanted to share some options for those 
with Macs in this sphere]
For those who use Macintosh, I strongly recommend OmniGraffle 2.0 for 
Mac OS X (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/). It's 
robust, it has layers, it alllows you to edit your connnection lines as 
Bezier curves (making more interesting and usable diagrams, especially 
in dense information spaces), and it has extraordinarily great 
pallettes...even the super-cool information architecture pallette 
created by Jesse James Garrett (http://www.jjg.net/ia/visvocab/). If you 
have to map out any Web site or application, this is a great tool. to 
share with other folks, you can save as PDF so easily it's indescribably 
delicious.
Another great choice is ConceptDraw, which works on both OS X and OS 9.x 
as well as versions for various Wintel platforms 
(http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/). In addition, they have a way 
to translate files to and from Visio, if you have to share files with 
people who use Visio to edit (not simply view) files.
Finally, Mac users can also use Virtual PC and Visio if necessary. 
However, one of the main objections Mac users have to Visio is not just 
the lack of a Mac version--it's the cost. Visio lists at $179 on 
pczone.com; OmniGraffle goes for $59.95.

Part 2: Where is the User?
In all the discussion, which is extremely practical and implementation 
oriented, I'm still missing any audience analysis...and document 
purpose. Here's what Anthony said: