What is information architecture

However, they might have determined during research that users expect an FAQ to live under a Product section. This is a decision the IA needs to make. There are benefits to both, and the IA may also be able to consider alternatives that will achieve both goals, such as putting both the FAQ and the Help page under the Product section.

The deliverable that is most commonly associated with this work is a site map, which illustrates the hierarchy of content across a website. For some information architects, wireframes are the best way to represent the connections between different screens and identify how the site will work from a practical perspective. Based on the information gathered during research and the decisions made during hierarchy creation, an IA will sketch out certain key screens in order to demonstrate how a user will interact with the information available.

This is particularly likely to happen when the designer is the one responsible for doing the information architecture work. Since designers tend to think visually, it makes sense for the designer to use wireframes to demonstrate the hierarchy of information.

Wireframes are also a valuable deliverable to share with clients, and for developers and visual designers to reference as they build mockups, prototypes, and final products.

We mentioned earlier the importance of making decisions as to where information lives. Once an IA makes that decision, they also need to decide what the section might be called. Labeling, or what we call pages and links on a site, ensures that our navigation and hierarchy is appropriately titled, which plays a large role in whether users will be able to find that information. A taxonomy is a set of things that are grouped together.

For an information architect, taxonomies are also records of how we group similar types of content or pieces of information. Most IAs will choose one or more appropriate taxonomies for a website or app based on the mental model of their target audience. For example, a clothing store might consider multiple taxonomies: one based on fabric type, another based on clothing item, and another based on color. The information architect would tag a shirt with cotton, or nylon as well as shirt or top and red.

Also referred to as content modeling, this work may be shared with a content strategist. Data modeling pairs an IA with developers in order to determine structured content types that represent user needs, business logic and requirements, and internal editorial practices. In the case of website redesigns, new data models will often need to be mapped to existing structures in order to assure a smooth content migration.

This kind of work is often done in spreadsheets, mapping out field types and relationship requirements, but it is sometimes implemented directly into a CMS. Data modeling can also result in the creation of documented content types, or content templates, for content strategists or copywriters to use as they create content.

Some of these people call themselves information architects. Others call themselves designers or content strategists who work with information architecture. Regardless of title, here are some of the most influential people influencing the IA field:. Information Architecture takes a good deal of mental work, and so some IAs prefer to use nothing but paper and pen. However, ultimately, information architecture results in site map creation, metadata tagging, and categorization—all of which needs to be shared with clients in one visual format or another.

Some information architects also create site wireframes, which require additional tools. Once past the initial learning curve, budding information architects should find a lot of value in what Omnigraffle has to offer.

Learn More about OmniGraffle. Similar to Omnigraffle, Axure is both a wireframing and a diagramming tool, which is very useful for information architects—particularly those who are also interaction designers. XMind is yet another mapping software, with the added benefit of allowing IAs to save their maps to Evernote.

For information architects looking to test their hierarchy and find out how well users can find information, Treejack is a great tool.

Information architecture is a discipline that focuses on the organization of information within digital products. For example, when designers create apps and websites, they lay out each individual screen so that the user can easily find the information they need.

They also create a flow that lets users navigate between screens without much effort. UX architects determine the right organization and flow. Content is the reason why people visit websites. Time is the most precious resource people have.

We live in a world where people expect to find a solution to their problems with the least amount of effort. This is where information architecture design plays a key role. While IA has roots in various fields, cognitive psychology is one of the most important, because this discipline defines the way we structure information. Cognitive psychology is the study of how the human mind works, including the mental activities that take place in the brain and the different factors that influence human perception.

Information architects rely on cognitive psychology to organize information within their products. Here are a few key elements of cognitive psychology that are the most valuable for IA design:. All of these can influence how designers should organize graphical information on the screen. A UX architect uses the principles to decide how to present and organize the information on a page. Mental models are assumptions people have in their minds before they interact with a product.

When IA practitioners take the mental models of their users into account, they create IA that makes it easier to discover information—meaning, the information is located in places where users expect to find it. Cognitive load is the amount of brainpower that a user has to invest in interacting with a product. In the context of information architecture design, cognitive load is the amount of information that a user can process at any given moment.

As a rule of thumb, the range of options or choices should never be more than seven. The more content a product has, the more significant the role of IA in the UX design process. Great product design starts with great user research. Information Architectures Are All Around Us Information architectures IAs are in the websites we use, the apps and software we download, the printed materials we encounter, and even the physical places we spend time in.

What is IA? What can an organisation do to increase the chances that people can successfully navigate their site and find the information they require? Information architecture is the term used to describe the structure of a system, i. An effective information architecture enables people to step logically through a system confident they are getting closer to the information they require.

Most people only notice information architecture when it is poor and stops them from finding the information they require. Information architecture is most commonly associated with websites and intranets, but it can be used in the context of any information structures or computer systems. Wurman was trained as an architect, but became interested in the way information is gathered, organised and presented to convey meaning.

The term was largely dormant until in it was seized upon by a couple of library scientists, Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville. They used the term to define the work they were doing structuring large-scale websites and intranets. For example, information architecture is described as the blueprint developers and designers use to build the system.

An effective information architecture comes from understanding business objectives and constraints, the content, and the requirements of the people that will use the site. The most effective method for understanding the quantity and quality of content i. Content inventories identify all of the proposed content for a system, where the content currently resides, who owns it and any existing relationships between content.

Content inventories are also commonly used to aid the process of migrating content between the old and new systems. An effective information architecture must reflect the way people think about the subject matter.

Techniques for getting users involved in the creation of an information architecture include:. The technique involves writing each level of an information architecture on a large card, and developing a set of information-seeking tasks for people to perform using the architecture.

These are:. Both of these techniques are important in a project. A project that ignores top-down approaches may result in well-organised, findable content that does not meet the needs of users or the business. A project that ignores bottom-up approaches may result in a site that allows people to find information but does not allow them the opportunity to explore related content.

Developing an information architecture in this way enables you to design and build a system confident that it will be successful. Various methods are used to capture and define an information architecture. Some of the most common methods are:. Site maps are perhaps the most widely known and understood deliverable from the process of defining an information architecture.

A site map is a high level diagram showing the hierarchy of a system. Site maps reflect the information structure, but are not necessarily indicative of the navigation structure.

Page layouts define page level navigation, content types and functional elements. Annotations are used to provide guidance for the visual designers and developers who will use the page layouts to build the site.

A content matrix lists each page in the system and identifies the content that will appear on that page. Page templates may be required when defining large-scale websites and intranets.