The problem with information architecture

Why is information architecture so difficult? This scribble is me trying to work out how organisations think about their information and what the landscape of individual information-seekers looks like.

What we call things must be partly to blame. Internally we might call it ‘vehicle exise duty’ but externally it’s ‘car tax’. Unless you’re in the know — how will you find it?

The structure of the organisation is often reflected on its website. I suppose that’s natural — it doesn’t know any other way. Users may (and do) find this baffling. I point you to your local council website for plenty of examples.

The way you organise things is not the way I would. What’s logical to one person is downright odd to the next. What does that depend on? How can we work to those frames of reference?

Users have different levels of knowledge. And expectation. That’s a real unknown. Sometimes they’re looking for themselves, sometimes for others. How much do they need to know? Do they want it all on the same piece of content?

Sometimes people in organisations are hoarders of information. They don’t want to give it away online. They make excuses for providing poor content. They want to still be needed.

How can we provide useful information at an appropriate level to the person seeking it?