Calgary Web Designer Jenn Armour | Info Architecture + User Centric Web Design + Online Marketing + Social Media + Ideas

Information Architecture – for the user.

// November 9th, 2009 // Ramblings

I was in collaboration on a recent project where the there was some confusion around the term ‘information archictecture’ as it pertained to web development. There seemed to be a disconnect in understanding that the web site as a whole can be considered a system and that navigation is not outside of that system.

IAI defines information architecture as:

1. The structural design of shared information environments.
2. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities, and software to support findability and usability.
3. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

My IA roots and experience are grounded in the methodologies from Adaptive Path. I find it a pleasure taking projects, clients, and the unfamiliar through these processes because the outcome of the way the information becomes organized is not random. Like for example the client handing you a site map with what navigational items. The fundamental idea in IA design is that the system is built for a particular group of people (user’s). These user’s have general ways of thinking (mental model) and behaving (personae). My main point here is that the client’s mental model is different from those user’s that they are building a web property for. Their needs, goals, and objectives are different.

IA development becomes one of the most important pieces of any web strategy which needs to be presented to significant stakeholders. The willingness of key decision maker’s to go through the IA process impacts the success of that project. I have seen many a project not consider IA and have to spend lots of money after the fact because what they find is that the site is not fulfilling the intended purpose.

It makes perfect sense that putting together a body of information based on the head ceo’s mental model isn’t going to satisfy his intended audience. Nor is it advisable to use the designer’s mental model. Take the time to go through the process.

Getting to work mental model