All posts about
Information architecture

Information architecture is the categorization of information into a coherent structure, preferably one that most people can understand quickly, if not inherently. (source: Wikipedia)

Social and Experience Design: Inspired Ideas, Practical Outcomes (IDEA 2009 Day 1)

Added on 13 November 2009 Peter Bogaards
“IDEA2009 had the world’s foremost thinkers and practitioners converge on Toronto’s MaRS Convention Center to share the big ideas that inspire, along with practical solutions for the ways people’s lives and systems are converging to affect society. Listen and learn from experts in a variety of fields as we all continue the exploration of Social Experience Design.” (Jeff Parks – Boxes and Arrows) – courtesy of jjursa

The Information Architecture of Behavior Change Websites

Added on 9 November 2009 Peter Bogaards
“The extraordinary growth in Internet use offers researchers important new opportunities to identify and test new ways to deliver effective behavior change programs. The information architecture – the structure of website information – is an important but often overlooked factor to consider when adapting behavioral strategies developed in office-based settings for Web delivery. Using examples and relevant perspectives from multiple disciplines, we describe a continuum of website IA designs ranging from a matrix design to the tunnel design.” (Brian G Danaher H. Garth McKay, and John R Seeley) – courtesy of a’path

No Chief Web Officer Required

Added on 1 October 2009 Peter Bogaards
“It’s a widely-held belief among various Web practitioners (from content strategists and information architects to Web infrastructure tool builders and application developers) that senior executives don’t understand the real power and capability of the Internet. And, that this lack of understanding has left Web Teams executing in a vacuum, with inappropriate funding and inadequate headcount. More importantly, it has left organizations exposed, as new Internet-enabled businesses sneak up and shut down the slower-to-react belle-weathers. The house is on fire and the C-Suite has got a garden hose. To address this strategic deficit, there’s been a lot of discussion about the placement of a senior Web-savvy person in the C-Suite to drive the creation of a sensible Web content and information strategy. I’ve thought about this potential new role in the C-suite a lot and think that it’s not required.” (Lisa Welchman) – courtesy of ruudruissaard

Tages Anzeiger of Switzerland: Tale of a new look, and the model that didn’t quite make it

Added on 1 October 2009 Peter Bogaards
“The Swiss daily, Tages Anzeiger, introduced a new design this week. It is the work of designer Tom Menzi, who has given the TA a classic, elegant, functional look; however, the process started with a pitch for the job, which included the design team of Information Architects (IA), a firm with offices in Zurich and Tokyo. Their model did not win the job for IA. In this post, Oliver Reichenstein, of IA, offers an unusually transparent account of what they did, how they did it, and why they think their model did not make it. Every designer who has ever participated in a pitch will identify with Oliver’s account.” (Mario R. Garcia – Garcia Media) – courtesy of michielvuijlsteke

Halcyon days at the EuroIA Conference

Added on 1 October 2009 Peter Bogaards
“I had low expectations for the conference, thinking it was not going to be very professional. That was my estimation of the IA movement in general. (…) I assume that CHI was where the interesting professional UX work would be done. I did not expect any such thing at an IA conference, which I thought was too narrow and too niche to be interesting.I was wrong and closed minded, both of which I find annoying.” (Jonathan Arnowitz – UX in Arnoland)

IA for the Rest of the World

Added on 6 August 2009 Peter Bogaards
“As designers, one of the greatest challenges we face is designing for other people. It is remarkably easy to design for oneself and infinitely more challenging to design for others. Like me, you are probably experienced in designing for others in your own world – likely a Western country, in a large city, with high quality information infrastructure.” (Miles Rochford – ASIS&T Bulletin Aug/Sep 2009)

The Information Architecture of Social Experience Design

Added on 6 August 2009 Peter Bogaards
“Designing and building a successful social website or application is no mean feat. Adding a social dimension to an existing experience is trickier still. Nevertheless, the skills to do so are well worth cultivating, as the ubiquitous, pervasive, massively interconnected world of the Internet and allied digital networks, such as mobile SMS connections, have unlocked a growing panoply of opportunities for social relationships, remote presence, real-time interactions and the capacity for self-organized groups of people to coordinate their behavior and collaborate on changing the world.” (Christian Crumlish – ASIS&T Bulletin Aug/Sep 2009) – courtesy of janjursa

Card Sorting

Added on 5 August 2009 Peter Bogaards
“The following article belongs to an upcoming series – A series on developing approaches to problem solutions with systematic use of creative techniques. I want to comply with this article and series to wishes and requests of friends and colleagues. (…) Card sorting is a categorization technique where users sort cards describing and giving their picture, their understanding and their mental picture of concepts, workflows and information and knowledge.” (Holger Maassen – ux4.com)

The Architecture of Knowledge: The public library of the future

Added on 3 July 2009 Peter Bogaards
“Information is knowledge. Knowledge is the library’s commodity. As a result it attracts producers and consumers of this knowledge. To survive it should be aware and adaptable to changes and influences in this age of information and communication. What form and position will its physical and conceptual structure need to take in order to endure these changes in the data saturated realm of public and private society?” (Bart Verschaffel – Tomaat)

Content First

Added on 22 June 2009 Peter Bogaards
“Kristina Halvorson quotes the origin of the phrase information architecture. Then Tufte came along. Designers took it upon themselves to craft information that was understandable and digestable. Then the web came along. To begin with, it was treated as a visual medium. Jesse James Garrett changed the emphasis to user experience. But where is content in Jesse’s diagram? It’s on the second level. Then it disappears. We were approaching content on the same level as functional specs; a feature than can be ticked off a list. But content is a living, breathing thing that evolves over time. Once you put it online, you are required to feed it and take care of it.” (Jeremy Keith – Adactio)