Information Architecture (IA). It is information for it is architecture?

I am currently a student from Designlab and is currently taking UX Academy class. On this assignment, we are learning what information architecture is. As a designer, this term is not alien to me. I have come across with this term “Information Architecture” so many times working on design projects, and yet I still not quite sure what is Information Architecture. Thus, I am going to learn and share my experience today.

Information Architecture by definition

Information architecture is about helping people understand their surroundings and find what they’re looking for, in the real world as well as online.

Where does the term “Information Architecture” from?

Richard Saul Wurman, the founder of information architecture, is a graphic designer and architect. Wurman views architecture as the science and art of creating an “instruction for organized space.” To design a building that will meet the occupants’ need, the architect must gather information about the needs; organize the needs into a pattern that clarifies occupants’ nature behavior — it was from Information Architecture was born.

Information Architecture is everywhere Information Architecture is a multidisciplinary field including computer science, education, cognitive science, graphic & industrial design, sociology & anthropology, software engineering, information science and organizational phycology.

Information Architecture is everywhere

Have you noticed how the books are organized by the librarians in the libraries so you can find the books you are looking for? Have you considered how is New York City subway map is designed, so you know what lines to take to your destination? Have you paid attention how the websites are structured, so you know how to navigate the site? All these are Information Architecture.

IA in digital products — Ontology, Taxonomy & Choreography

Since I am taking the User Experience Design course, I am going to drill a little bit deeper in this area. In User Experience Design, Information Architecture is focusing on organizing and labeling digital products, so users can best find what they are looking for. A successful IA should be focusing on Ontology, Taxonomy, and Choreography.

Ontology — establishment of particular meanings
Taxonomy — arrangement of the parts to accomplish specific goals
Choreography — the rules for interaction among the parts

Evaluating of IA in digital products — Heuristics

Once we have Ontology, Taxonomy, and Choreography, how do we evaluate a good IA? Answer: Heuristics! In general speaking, a heuristic is a common sense, the best practices, rules of thumb, and intuitive when people interact with a website or app. Sounds easy enough right! By looking deeper, there are ten rules can be applied to heuristics:

Findable — Are users able to locate what they are looking for easily?
Accessible — Is it accessible for people who has a disability? How consistency it is across different devices?
Clear — Would a user find it easy to understand the language you use?
Communicative — Is the message effective for the contexts being supported?
Useful — Are users able to complete the tasks without frustration?
Credible — Is the design to date? Are users able to find contact/support?
Controllable — How easy it is for users to recover error? 
Valuable — Is it desirable to the target users?
Learnable — Can users able to grasp the site quickly?
Delightful — Can you take what you have now and make it extraordinary?

Deliverable of IA in digital products — Sitemaps

Finally, how are you as an IA designer to present your finding to the problems? One way to do it is to create a sitemap illustrate the relationship between content within a product.

How to present a site map is depending on the designer. It can be a series of boxes and arrows, or it can be graphically presented with icons and color. The main point is to convey your ideas to the design teams move forward to the product development phase.

Conclusion

Information Architecture is both Information and Architecture. It is information we are trying to organize and make sense of users’ behavior. It is architecture we are trying to build and show the flows and the purpose of the products.