Information architecture

Information architecture (IA) is the art and science of organizing and labelling data including: websites, intranets, online communities, software, books and other mediums of information, to support usability.^[1] It is an emerging discipline and community of practice focused on bringing together principles of design and architecture, primarily to the digital landscape.^{[2][page needed]} Typically, it involves a model or concept of information which is used and applied to activities that require explicit details of complex information systems. These activities include library systems and database development.

Historically the term "information architect" is attributed to Richard Saul Wurman,"^{[3][page needed]} and now there is a growing network of active IA specialists who comprise the Information Architecture Institute.^[4]

Definition

Information architecture has somewhat different meanings in different branches of IS or IT:

1. The structural design of shared information environments.^{[2][page needed]}
2. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities, and software to support findability and usability.^{[1][2][page needed]}
3. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.^{[2][page needed]}
4. The combination of organization, labeling, search and navigation systems within websites and intranets.^{[2][page needed]}

Debate

The difficulty in establishing a common definition for "information architecture" arises partly from the term's existence in multiple fields. In the field of systems design, for example, information architecture is a component of enterprise architecture that deals with the information component when describing the structure of an enterprise.

While the definition of information architecture is relatively well-established in the field of systems design, it is much more debatable within the context of online information systems (i.e., websites). Andrew Dillon refers to the latter as the "big IA-little IA debate".^[5] In the little IA view, information architecture is essentially the application of information science to web design which considers, for example, issues of classification and information retrieval. In the big IA view, information architecture involves more than just the organization of a website; it also factors in user experience, thereby considering usability issues of information design.

The role of IA

Information architecture is a specialized skill set that interprets information and expresses distinctions between signs and systems of signs. More concretely, it involves the categorization of information into a coherent structure, preferably one that the intended audience can understand quickly, if not inherently, and then easily retrieve the information for which they are searching^{[2][page needed]}. The organization structure is usually hierarchical, but can have other structures, such as concentric or even chaotic^{[2][page needed]}. Typically this is required in activities such as library systems, content management systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming, technical writing, enterprise architecture, and critical system software design. Information architecture originates, to some degree, in the library sciences. Many schools with library and information science departments teach information architecture.^[6]

In the context of information systems design, information architecture refers to the analysis and design of the data stored by information systems, concentrating on entities, their attributes, and their interrelationships. It refers to the modeling of data for an individual database and to the corporate data models that an enterprise uses to coordinate the definition of data in several (perhaps scores or hundreds) distinct databases. The "canonical data model" is applied to integration technologies as a definition for specific data passed between the systems of an enterprise. At a higher level of abstraction, it may also refer to the definition of data stores.

Information architect

Richard Saul Wurman says of the term information architect "used in the words architect of foreign policy. I mean architect as in the creating of systemic, structural, and orderly principles to make something work — the thoughtful making of either artifact, or idea, or policy that informs because it is clear."^{[3][page needed]}

See also

• Alexandre-Pierre Gaspar
• Application Architecture
• Business analyst
• Card sorting
• Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
• Controlled vocabulary
• Data architecture
• Data management
• Data Presentation Architecture
• Enterprise architecture
• Enterprise information security architecture
• Faceted classification
• Human factors
• Information design
• Information system
• Interaction design
• Knowledge organization
• Ontology
• Process architecture
• Semantic Web
• Semiotic Web
• Social Information Architecture
• Taxonomy
• Tree testing
• User experience design
• Knowledge visualization
• Web indexing
• Website architecture

Annual IA Events

Interaction (IxDA): The annual conference for IxDA is considered to be one of the premiere industry events and allows attendees to become inspired, interact, and learn from others in the IA community. Previous conferences were held in Savannah (2008), Vancouver (2009), Savannah (2010), Boulder (2011), Dublin (2012), and Toronto (2013). The 2014 conference will be held from February 5-8 in Amsterdam.

World IA Day: World IA Day is held on one day in multiple cities. Sponsored by the Information Architecture Institute, presentations are made throughout the day about topics in information architecture that are related to the year’s theme.

Annual Symposium on Communicating Complex Information (SCCI): This symposium aims to find better ways to design ways of communicating complex information. The symposium takes place at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

WebVisions: This conference looks to discuss the future of digital media, web and mobile design, usability testing and technology. It is held in several cities at different times throughout the year. The conference started in 2001.

IA Summit: The IA Summit brings together the IA community to discuss different ideas in information architecture and experience design. The 2013 IA Summit will take place from April 3-7 in Baltimore, Maryland. It is presented by the IA Institute and ASIS&T.

UX-LX: User Experience Lisbon: This conference is designed to discuss user experience and has many hands-on workshops for participants. The conference takes place in Lisbon, Portugal every year. The 2013 conference will take place May 15-17.

References

Bibliography

• Rosenfeld, Louis ‘Lou’; Morville, Peter (1998). Information architecture for the World Wide Web. 1st. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates. ISBN 0-596-52734-9 

Further reading

• Wei Ding; Xia Lin (15 May 2009). Information Architecture: The Design and Integration of Information Spaces. Morgan & Claypool. ISBN 978-1-59829-959-5. 
• Sue Batley (January 2007). Information Architecture for Information Professionals. Woodhead Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84334-233-5. 
• Andrea Resmini; Luca Rosati (March 23, 2011). Pervasive Information Architecture. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12382-095-2. 
• Earl Morrogh (2003). Information Architecture: An Emerging 21st Century Profession. Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780130967466. 
• Christina Wodtke; Austin Govella (January 22, 2009). Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web. Pearson Education. ISBN 9780132104258. 
• Peter Van Dijck (August 1, 2003). Information Architecture for Designers: Structuring Websites for Business Success. Rotovision. ISBN 9782880467319. 
• Eric L. Reiss (November 1, 2000). Practical Information Architecture: A Hands-On Approach to Structuring Successful Websites. Addison Wesley. ISBN 9780201725902. 
• Alan Gilchrist; Barry Mahon (2004). Information Architecture: Designing Information Environments for Purpose. Facet. ISBN 9781856044875.