Topic: Information Architecture

Blog archives

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• Using Claude Code for Information Architecture

  Repurposing a software development agent to help draft website taxonomies.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 10: Planning

  How to plan effectively using by assumptive goal-setting.

• VUCA Revisited: Acting Skillfully in Uncertain Times

  A framework for skillful decision-making under turbulent conditions.

• How AI Is Built Podcast

  An interview with Nicolay Gerold on the relationship between information architecture and AI.

• AI and Taxonomies: Creating vs. Applying

  AI can help apply taxonomies at scale, but defining them is still (mostly) a human task.

• Why Website Taxonomies Drift (and What to Do about It)

  Taxonomies drift without proactive attention, making websites harder to navigate and manage. AI can help.

• Jorge’s Wager: Why AI Needs Information Architecture

  Why it’s still important to structure information in a world where AI exists.

• AI Needs Architects – That’s Why I’m Pivoting

  Intelligence demands structure, not hype. I'm stepping up.

• Prescriptive and Descriptive Information Architectures

  Two approaches to language in websites and apps and how they influence understandability and findability.

• IA Fail: Which Kindle Edition?

  A frustrating quest to find the right edition of an ebook in Amazon.com.

• What’s the Object of Information Architecture?

  How to talk about IA in understandable terms.

• The Informed Life with Peter Morville

  Overview of my conversation with an information architecture pioneer on his decision to retire from IA consulting.

• If You Can Keep It: Pointers for Effective Website IA Governance

  Designing an information architecture isn’t enough: you must also ensure it evolves coherently.

• Scale Smart: AI-Powered Content Organization Strategies

  Two use cases of how large language models can help augment the work of information architects.

• What’s the Difference Between Information Architecture and Content Strategy?

  On shifting the focus from the work to its frame.

• Information Architecture First Principles

  Examining the foundations of IA to understand how it uniquely provides value.

• Better Usability Through Information Architecture

  Making products more usable isn’t just about ergonomics; semantic structures matter too.

• How to Keep IA Projects From Going Off The Rails

  An ‘infinite canvas’ framework to help your information architecture projects succeed.

• Seeing the Forest: Using Graph RAG for Information Architecture

  How to use knowledge graphs with retrieval augmented generation (RAG) to organize large content repositories.

• Towards a Strategic Information Architecture

  How established IA methodologies can support business strategy and lead to better decision-making.

• The Impact of AI on Front-end Information Architecture

  Some thoughts about how AI might transform information architecture as we experience it in user interfaces.

• Elemental, or How Information Architecture Makes Us Smarter

  Four foundational elements of information architecture and how they facilitate understanding.

• How to Get Out of Ontological Debt

  Inconsistent product terminology leads to “ontological debt,” negatively affecting UX — but you can pay it down.

• Exploring the Core Skills of Information Architecture

  Three crucial skills for designers looking to master IA — and why it’s important they do.

• Using AI as an Assistant to Organize Content

  How I used AI to categorize a year’s worth of podcast content.

• The Informed Life Year in Review: 2023

  A compilation of themes that emerged in my podcast in 2023, partly curated by AI.

• The Informed Life with Nate Davis

  Learn how information architecture can build shared understanding.

• Desk Research for Information Architecture

  The fastest way to start research in information architecture projects.

• Leveraging Inflection Points for Clarity and Growth

  Big changes, such as personal moves or corporate acquisitions, offer opportunities for decluttering and optimization.

• The Informed Life with Jenae Cohn

  Do you teach (or aspire to teach) online? If so, you should check out this interview.

• Mastering the Muddle: The Power of Heuristic Evaluations

  Fixing a broken IA starts with taking stock of the problem. Heuristic evaluations let you do it quickly and cheaply.

• Nine Essential Information Architecture Practices

  Mastering these practices will help you design more effective user experiences.

• An Information Architecture Conundrum

  On the relationship between choices and context.

• The Informed Life with Alex Wright

  Learning about the history of information management from the author of “Informatica.”

• How to Make Information Easier to Find

  Often, people know what they’re looking for but don’t know what it’s called. Mindful information architecture helps.

• Six Useful Abstractions

  Information architecture is conveyed through diagrams. These six types are key.

• How to Write Good Labels

  Clear labels are essential to good information architecture. These recommendations will get you started.

• The Informed Life with Bob Kasenchak, part 2

  From the podcast: music as a way to understand basic IA principles and possible futures.

• Why Metadata is Critical to Digital Design

  Designers struggle with metadata — but it’s essential for effective digital products and publications.

• The Informed Life with Bob Kasenchak, part 1

  Music can help you design and appreciate information structures.

• How to Keep Your Stuff Findable

  It’s possible to overthink your personal organization categories. Here’s a simple approach to categorizing your stuff.

• The Informed Life with Andy Fitzgerald

  A conversation about moving beyond the metaphor of the page.

• WIAD Alone

  Reflections on the state of information architecture in 2023.

• The Informed Life with Carrie Hane

  A summary of my conversation with the author and structured content evangelist about content modeling.

• The Informed Life with Léonie Watson

  An overview of my conversation with an expert on the role of accessibility in producing better experiences for everyone.

• The Informed Life with Marcia Bates

  A summary of my conversation about search systems with the influential information scientist, consultant, and educator.

• Second Draft = Second Wind

  How to fall in love again with your project by shifting onto a new phase.

• The Informed Life with Amy Jiménez Márquez

  Notes on a conversation with a senior design leader on the role of information architecture in product design.

• The Gist of Web Design

  Designing for the web entails more than merely picking the right colors and fonts.

• The Informed Life with Bram Wessel and Gary Carlson

  An overview of my conversation with the founders of Factor about how information architecture can drive alignment.

• Think Ahead

  Digital changes fast, but information architecture decisions stick around.

• Mastodon’s Structural Choices

  How information architecture choices can influence the tone of discussions in social networks.

• TAOI: Metaphor Search

  An exciting new way to query web search engines.

• The Informed Life Episode 100

  Marking a milestone in my podcast’s life.

• TAOI: macOS System Settings

  One of the key apps in macOS Ventura could use more mindful information architecture.

• A Question for Your Mentor

  If you’re just getting started, this is what you should ask a more experienced practitioner.

• Integrating Product UX After an Acquisition

  How do you integrate a product into a portfolio with diverse user experiences?

• The Informed Life with Natalie Marie Dunbar

  An overview of my conversation with the author of ‘From Solo to Scaled’ on how to stand up a content strategy practice.

• What's the Relationship Between IA and UI Design?

  Some people think information architecture and screen-level design don't affect each other. I disagree.

• The Ultimate Goal of Information Architecture

  Information can enable better choice-making. Architecting it improves people's lives.

• Modeling Strategic Choices

  Assessing the impact of strategic choices can be challenging. Information architecture can help.

• How to Write Effective Product Labels

  Changing the name of a major product feature or component is not trivial. These steps will help you do it effectively.

• TAOI: Airbnb Summer 2022 Release

  Another major app redesigns — and the headline feature is a change in its information architecture.

• On the Challenges of Finding Stuff in Digital Whiteboards

  I like collaborating in shared digital whiteboards. But after a while, it can be challenging to find stuff in these systems.

• TAOI: Apple Home App Redesign

  A new version of an iPhone app offers a good example of an information architecture-centered overhaul.

• TAOI: Clarifying Distinctions in Search Results

  How to help users become more educated as they search for things.

• TAOI: A Clearer Nav Structure in Gmail

  A user interface change clarifies Gmail’s conceptual structure.

• Revisiting IA's Past

  What an information architecture fossil reveals about the relevance of IA in the modern web.

• The Informed Life with Dan Klyn

  Information architect Dan Klyn tells us about his framework for understanding the architecture of complex systems.

• My Favorite Posts of 2021

  A list of posts I enjoyed during the year.

• Learning from the Beatles

  Lessons for designers and other creative professionals from the new Beatles documentary.

• The Informed Life Year in Review: 2021

  Episode 77 of my podcast features a review of five themes that emerged from conversations on the show during 2021.

• The Language Wall

  Misalignments in how teams talk about what they do can affect performance. This simple practice helps.

• The Role of Thinking Spaces in Workshops

  Sticky notes on a wall convey meaning — but often, only to people who were in the room.

• The Informed Life with Dan Brown

  An overview of my conversation with designer and author Dan Brown about his Information Architecture Lenses.

• Three Foundational IA Concepts

  Information architecture can create understandable systems. Doing so requires that we master three key concepts.

• YouTube Hiding Dislike Counts

  A minor tweak to YouTube's feedback affordances could help reduce harassment on the platform.

• Finding Language/Market Fit

  How we talk about what we do makes a big difference in how others perceive our work.

• More Obvious Advanced Search Affordances

  Improving the accessibility of advanced search interfaces by moving them to where they’re needed.

• Automating File/Folder Structures

  Dropbox announced a new feature that adds automation to folders, to help keep your files organized.

• Why Metadata Matters

  Don't be confused by Facebook's rebranding: metadata is an important concept you must understand and use.

• Can Twitter Communities Prevent Context Collapse?

  Reflections on a new Twitter feature that aims to reduce context collapse.

• What I Learned about Labeling from Making Hot Cocoa

  Clear distinctions matter — and they rely on more than just clear labels.

• The Informed Life with Karl Fast, part 1

  A summary of the first part of my conversation with Karl Fast about the relationship between cognition and interaction.

• Om Malik on Being Categorized by Data

  How our brains use categories to make sense of the world, and their effects on information architecture.

• The Cognitive Costs of Bad UX

  A bit of unintentional irony in an article that calls out bad UX.

• TAOI: Hair Texture Filters

  How Pinterest uses AI to make hairstyles more findable with new hair texture filters.

• Don't Eat the Menu

  On the difference between things and information about them.

• The Informed Life with Mags Hanley

  Notes from my conversation with Mags Hanley, who is applying design techniques to career coaching.

• TAOI: Facebook Mobile Settings

  Improving settings options by re-structuring and re-labeing them.

• TAOI: The “Ethnic” Aisle

  Is the ethnic foods aisle in grocery stores an anachronism?

• TAOI: New Apple Store Page

  A change to how Apple sells products through its website.

• Everything in its Right Place

  Organization schemes aren't one-size-fits-all or fixed in time.

• The Informed Life with… You!

  Link to the first listener questions episode of my podcast.

• Book Notes: “The Undoing Project”

  Notes on a book about the collaboration between Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

• Clarifying Meanings Through Mindful Set-making

  We understand concepts in relation to other concepts around them.

• The Informed Life with Udhaya Kumar Padmanabhan

  A summary of my conversation with strategic design director Udhaya Kumar Padmanaban.

• Deciding Between Cloud-based & Local Apps

  Choosing between cloud-based and local apps becomes harder as the later adopt SAAS licensing and data models.

• The Informed Life with Sarah Barrett

  A summary of a conversation with information architect Sarah Barrett about architectural scale in digital design.

• Abstraction and Implementation

  How software lets us interact with complex systems through clever hiding.

• Dark IA?

  How Google's ""dark IA"" buried privacy settings to keep collecting your location data.

• TAOI is Dead; Long Live TAOI

  Pulling the plug on my second blog about information architecture.

• To TV or Not to TV

  Information architecture as strategic point of contention — and negotiating tactic.

• Stripping in Information

  OnlyFans is allowing sex workers to make money during the pandemic. But its IA doesn't help.

• TAOI: Spotify’s ‘Your Library’ Redesign

  How Spotify's mobile update balances curation and discovery in your music library.

• The Informed Life with Jeff Sussna

  A summary of my conversation with Jeff Sussna about Customer Value Charting.

• Building Bridges to Understanding

  IA builds bridges between user mental models and system conceptual models.

• Spotify's “Your Library” Redesign

  Making it easier for users to find and discover their audio collections.

• Architectural Skeuomorphism

  How web design can learn from — and avoid — the pitfalls of real-world architecture

• The Informed Life with Jesse James Garrett

  Summary of a conversation with Jesse James Garrett about leadership and information architecture.

• Not Just a New Feature; a New Compact

  New product features can change the nature of a system. We must approach their design with great care.

• Design with Strategic Intent

  Designers can increase the value of their work by thinking strategically.

• On the IA-Chess Analogy

  Notes on the analogy between chess and information architecture.

• Models Before Screens

  How I make sense of complex systems before designing their navigation.

• Profiles in Curiosity

  How curiosity shapes my work and life.

• TAOI: Ten Years

  While the aesthetics of websites change over time, their underlying structures tend to remain stable.

• Ten Years

  Five examples of how look-and-feel changes faster than structure.

• Meta-IA

  On the importance of architecting the thing that architects the thing.

• TAOI: Privacy and Metadata

  Are you aware of the data you generate?

• Privacy and Metadata

  Facing the consequences of public actions in an information society.

• The Informed Life with Grace Lau

  A conversation about the power of community in information architecture.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• TAOI: Mailchimp’s Product and Marketing Navigation Structures

  Mailchimp’s product and marketing websites expose different navigation models and user experiences.

• Product and Marketing Navigation

  Options in navigation menus aren't just for moving around.

• Structural Antidotes for Misinformation

  How good design can fight misinformation — and why business models are part of the problem.

• The Informed Life with Peter Morville

  How Peter Morville wants to expand IA beyond business and use it to shape our world

• TAOI: The Order of Marvel Movies

  How Disney+ fixed their Marvel movie browsing and why it matters to info architects.

• The Order of Marvel Movies

  People prefer content that is grouped in meaningful ways.

• Work on the Structure

  How my painting class taught me to embrace structure, not just the details.

• TAOI: Browse by Color

  How a colorful site breaks the norm of verbal navigation.

• Browse by Color

  Most website navigation systems rely on words. This one takes a different approach.

• Medium is Bringing Back Custom Domains

  The return of a Medium feature is making me rethink where I publish my writing.

• Ahead of the Game

  How a board game can help you design the big picture for your next complex system.

• The Causes of Inconsistent Navigation Structures in Product Families

  How IAs can help your product family maintain structural consistency (and why it matters).

• IDA Chile: Los Martes son de UX

  How my journey into information architecture and the state of UX today unfolded.

• The Most Meaningful Way to Differentiate Your Company

  How Bill Gates sees information as a way to stand out in business.

• Starting The Big Picture

  How you can overcome blank canvas syndrome when sketching your project's ‘Big Picture.’

• Startups and the Big Picture

  How Twitter’s early design choices led to the platform’s unintended consequences.

• The Architecture of Information

  Announcing a new website that showcases examples of information architecture.

• Inside Outside Innovation, Ep. 211

  An interview about how information architecture helps make online experiences better.

• The Bad IA of Streaming Services

  How IAs can fix the user experience that streaming services keep getting wrong.

• The Informed Life With Heather Hedden

  A conversation about the power of taxonomies.

• TAOI: Gmail's New Conceptual Model

  How Google's Gmail redesign aims to consolidate work communications into a single hub.

• Structure Changes More Slowly Than Look-and-feel

  Designers pay more attention to UI than to the underlying structures. It's a mistake.

• The Electronic Whole Earth Catalog

  The first hypertext version of the Whole Earth Catalog is back!

• TAOI: Reimagining Email

  How Basecamp’s Hey shakes up email by breaking conventions.

• What Google Classroom Says About Our Priorities

  How Google Classroom's sloppy design reflects what we value in online learning.

• The Blind Spot in Digital Initiatives

  Digital initiatives aren't just about designing screen-based interactions.

• TAOI: The Prioritization of Search Results in Apple Apps

  How Apple hides your own data when you search.

• The Informed Life With Ren Pope

  How ontologies can help you make sense of complex information in your organization

• Internal and External Language

  How to improve stakeholder feedback by bridging internal and external language.

• TAOI: Better Search and Context in Figma

  How better search and context features in Figma make it easier to work with non-designers.

• The Informed Life With Abby Covert

  My chat with Abby the IA on how to thrive in our new remote work reality.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Slack’s Information Architecture Redesign

  How Slack's redesign could shape the future of remote work.

• Come Together (in Information Environments)

  How I'm thinking about living in information environments during COVID.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Legislating the Structure of Information Environments

  Proposed legislation could make online spaces safer for kids.

• A Year of Podcasting: What’s Next

  After one year of running a podcast, I reflect on what might be next for the show.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• TAOI: Grouping Albums in Apple Music

  How Apple Music’s latest update helps users understand their music differently.

• Elemental, Or How Information Architecture Makes Us Smarter

  How information architecture boosts understanding.

• Don’t Make Me Think, Harley Quinn Edition

  A movie flop shows why labeling matters.

• A Year of Podcasting: Publishing

  About my experience using WordPress to publish my podcast.

• Early 20th Century Car Navigation Systems

  How early 20th century drivers navigated with turn-by-turn directions, sans GPS.

• A Year of Podcasting: The Big Idea

  About my experience starting a bi-weekly podcast and why it’s a useful medium for learning and communication.

• Please Support World IA Day

  My journey with World IA Day and how you can help grow the global IA community

• The Informed Life With Andrew Hinton

  Uncovering how language and environments shape our experiences.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Upcoming IA Essentials Workshop in New Orleans

  How I'm teaching the what, why, and how of IA at the 2020 IA Conference.

• Rediscovering Information Architecture

  How information architecture can help us design better digital environments and societies.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• TAOI: Searching for iTunes in macOS Catalina

  The unexpected IA decisions Apple made when replacing its music app.

• Hiding Incompatible Apps in the Microsoft Store

  Microsoft's tweak to their store shows the power of good IA.

• The Perfect Framing for an Information Architecture Challenge

  How Twitter's new ""topics"" feature tackles the problem of matching user needs with content.

• TAOI: Incompatible Apps in the Microsoft Store

  How Microsoft’s new Surface Pro X might fail its users with bad information architecture.

• The Informed Life With Vanessa Foss

  How organizing a conference is like hosting a dinner party for friends you've known for years.

• TAOI: Facebook’s Electoral Interference Changes

  How fighting misinformation might change elections.

• Perspective on “Digital”

  My journey from architecture to digital and why I’m still optimistic about its potential.

• TAOI: Facebook Hiding Likes

  Hiding likes on Facebook could change how we use social media.

• The Informed Life With Thomas Dose

  How to organize a collection of 900,000 audio recordings.

• Balancing Bottom-up and Top-down

  How my approach to info architecture can be both flexible and strategic at the same time.

• Are Dating Apps Making Marriages Stronger?

  Are people making better long-term relationship decisions?

• From Monolithic to Distributed Architectures

  How Amazon’s shift to tiny teams led to millions of deployments and the birth of AWS.

• The Informed Life With Rachel Price

  How improvisation can help us make better decisions when managing information.

• TAOI: Personalized Yelp Results

  How Yelp is letting users train the algorithm that personalizes their search results.

• TAOI: Following Topics on Twitter

  How Twitter's new feature may change how you engage with topics on their platform.

• TAOI: Disneyland App

  How the Disneyland app uses wait times to make your day at the park more fun.

• Are Your Navigation Structures Working?

  How effective is your site's navigation in aligning with user mental models?

• What I Unlearned From Architecture

  How learned to stop thinking I was the star of the show and start listening.

• TAOI: The "Agony" of Browsing Amazon

  Amazon's browsing experience reveals the pains of poor information architecture.

• Learn a Second Language

  How mastering another language can help you see the world — and words — differently

• Design for Long-Term Relevance

  Why do some designs last while others fade?

• Data in Conceptual Models

  Defining a conceptual model first reveals data opportunities for more coherent UIs.

• Information Metaphors

  On the metaphors we use to talk about information online, and why I favor “environment.”

• TAOI: Podcasts on Spotify

  Apple's shift to separate media apps sparks Spotify to enhance its podcast organization.

• The Informed Life With Lisa Welchman

  How jazz can inform your approach to governance and content models.

• TAOI: OmniFocus Tags

  A new tagging feature lets me build my own productivity structures.

• Good IA is Good Business

  How businesses are using IA to gain a competitive edge and avoid mistakes.

• The Dollar Value of Metadata

  The hidden cost of bad metadata in music: billions in royalties lost.

• The Bridge Model

  How to explain to clients why they shouldn't jump straight to wireframes.

• TAOI: YouTube Subscriber Counts

  How YouTube's subscriber count changes reveal deeper insights into social metrics and influence.

• Book Notes: "Design Unbound"

  Tackling wicked problems by designing at a higher level in a complex, interconnected world.

• TAOI: IDAGIO

  How IDAGIO's smart info architecture makes it the best streaming service for classical music fans.

• Simplifying My Newsletter

  Changes to the direction of my newsletter.

• Establishing Context Through Navigation

  How navigation choices help frame user experiences and create meaningful context.

• Informing and Persuading

  How your choices as an information architect shape what people know and do.

• Thoughts on the First IA Conference

  Reflections on community growth and sustainability sparked by the IAC's new identity.

• Against Wireframes

  Why freehand sketches can be more effective than wireframes in design processes.

• Two Approaches to Structure

  Comparing two approaches to structuring digital information environments.

• How To Design Distinctions That Won't Destroy Society

  As software influences society, our role as architects of distinctions has deeper impact.

• Designing the Frame

  How designing distinctions in information architecture creates context for evolving systems.

• The Opposite of Ideology

  Design challenges ideology by embracing diversity.

• Structure is Architecture

  Charles Eames sees architecture as a solution-seeking structure in design challenges.

• Anyone an Information Architect

  How Slack's new identity highlights its evolution into an environment, not just a tool.

• Upcoming IA Workshops — Spring 2019

  Workshops in Zurich and Orlando offer key insights for better digital design.

• The Role of Structure in Digital Design

  Structuring information remains crucial in an age defined by AI.

• TAOI: Adding More Context to Tweets

  How Twitter’s new features aim to enhance engagement by adding context to tweets.

• The Space That Symbolizes the Information Age

  How mutable spaces define our Information Age, reflecting technological variability.

• Making a List

  Reflecting on Christmas lists: their roles in personal expression and societal generosity.

• A Community In Search of a Home

  How Google+'s shutdown forces communities to find new homes amidst waning trust in tech giants.

• The Top Posts on jarango.com in 2018

  Highlighting my top posts of the year.

• Working in a Second Language

  How working in a second language sharpens understanding and informs better IA.

• Book Notes: “Playing to Win”

  How to decide and act strategically to win in complex business environments.

• Designing for the Brilliant Cacophony

  Embracing diversity in design.

• New Keynote: “Designing Distinctions”

  How do distinctions shape our understanding? What responsibilities follow?

• Wikipedia as Information Infrastructure

  Wikipedia's role as an essential yet vulnerable piece of our info infrastructure.

• TAOI: Facebook Watch Party

  How Facebook's Watch Party fosters real-time interaction around shared video experiences.

• Digital Nutrition

  Digital habits mirror diet choices. Are yours nourishing you?

• TAOI: De-emphasizing Followers on Twitter

  Twitter's shift to de-emphasize follower counts may change how we gauge online influence.

• Is It Time To Leave Facebook?

  Navigating Facebook's mixed blessings: addictive design, real connections, and evolving use.

• A Bit of Structure Goes a Long Way

  How structure and constraints support creativity.

• Towards More Adaptive Information Environments

  Exploring the rigidity of medical software and the need for adaptive information environments.

• Architecture is Organization

  Le Corbusier highlights why effective design is more about organization than aesthetics.

• Shared Docs as Places for Collaboration

  How shared documents become not just work outputs but dynamic spaces for collaboration.

• Coming Up to Speed

  Navigating team dynamics: balancing structured documentation with adaptive flexibility.

• In Praise of Email, Which I Want Less Of

  Email balances attention and productivity differently than instant messaging.

• It’s Not Complicated

  How Apple’s brave naming choices shape their products' identities and elevate their brand.

• A Key to Conveying Meaning

  How context shapes meaning: decoding patterns through structured information.

• TAOI: Amazon 4-star Store

  Amazon's new 4-star store bridges online insights with physical retail.

• The War Room

  How war rooms enhance team collaboration and thinking by creating a shared context.

• TAOI: Reverse-chronological Feed in Twitter

  How Twitter's shift back to a chronological feed improves conversation tracking.

• “Send Us the IA”

  How understanding client expectations shapes effective information architecture solutions.

• Book Notes: “Architectural Intelligence”

  How visionary architects shaped digital spaces, revealing lessons for today's info design.

• TAOI: Facebook “Things in Common”

  How Facebook's ""things in common"" might enrich connections by highlighting shared interests.

• Structure is Strategy

  How strategic structural choices influence business success.

• Falling In Love (Again) With Your Work

  Rediscovering passion for my work by revisiting foundational texts.

• The Meaning Vampires

  How relentless reuse erodes the meaning of cultural signifiers.

• TAOI: Personalized Facebook Navigation Bar

  Facebook's mobile app will soon let you personalize your navigation bar shortcuts.

• Ad Hoc

  How managing ad hoc systems can lead to hidden complexities and balancing acts.

• The Power of Labeling

  Transform ideas into manageable, concrete realities.

• TAOI: Facebook Groups Paywall

  Exploring Facebook's new subscription groups and the implications of paywalls in digital spaces.

• #1 New Release in…

  How Amazon's elusive ""New Release"" rankings affect perceptions of my latest book.

• Clarifying Distinctions

  Are you designing digital spaces? Clear distinctions matter.

• Establishing Meaningful Distinctions

  Understanding how meaningful distinctions shape an effective information architecture.

• Transactional and Behavioral Change

  Subtle IA cues can drive both immediate and long-term changes in user behavior.

• Two Information Problems

  Navigating information environments: how to balance learning for novices and efficiency for pros.

• Why Don’t You Make More of X?

  How Eno's battle with fan expectations mirrors businesses grappling with innovation.

• A Personal Information Architecture

  Organize digital chaos with aninformation architecture tailored to your needs.

• Consider the Avocado

  How avocado groupings reveal the complexities and responsibilities in information architecture.

• Podcast: Navigating Information Environments

  How you can reshape digital products to better meet user and societal needs.

• Enabling Transactions

  How architecture transforms transactions, from buying gum to online shopping.

• Information Architecture for Strategic Decision-making

  How harnessing information architecture can redefine your product strategy and decision-making.

• A Return to Email Newsletters

  How shifting from blogs to email has revived my interest in newsletters.

• TAOI: Nutrition Facts Labels

  How nutrition labels navigate our food choices and alter our eating experiences.

• The Cone of Uncertainty

  Plan for change in uncertain undertakings.

• Are We Really “Consuming” Digital Media?

  How we inhabit digital spaces disrupts traditional views of “media consumption.”

• How To Grow a Digital Business Without Sacrificing Its Soul

  Navigating growth without losing character in both bagel shops and digital realms.

• Information Architecture as MacGuffin

  How redesigns act as catalysts for strategic conversations shaping organizations.

• There's No Such Thing as Too Much Information

  Navigating information overload: context and timing are key.

• Bringing Others Into the New

  How to distill your groundbreaking ideas into clear, compelling concepts that resonate.

• How Do You Eat a Taxonomy?

  Helping executives understand the value of information architecture.

• Core Distinctions

  Understanding the value of distinctions, from websites to product lines, shapes user experience.

• Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free

  Exploring why the value of information depends on timing, context, and relevance.

• The True Power of Design

  Understanding how design helps create order from chaos to create real change.

• Book Notes: “Dark Matter and Trojan Horses”

  Overview of a great book about strategic design.

• Real IAs Ship

  Connecting grand ideas to tangible products.

• The Next Larger Context

  Understand things in context to design more effectively.

• An Example of a Semantic Environment Map

  Exploring a semantic environment map through the nuanced context of the confessional.

• The Strategic Value of Information Architecture

  How does information architecture untangle complexity to reveal strategic clarity?

• Why Doesn’t the New York Times Have a Digital Design Critic?

  Why isn't digital design critiqued like art or architecture in major publications?

• A Pain With No Name

  How solid conceptual models bring clarity in design.

• The Abstraction Bell

  A technique for making complex concepts more relatable.

• Teaching IA in Chicago

  Exploring IA essentials and more while connecting with peers at the Chicago Summit.

• What is an Information Environment?

  How our interactions in digital spaces shape behaviors much like physical environments do.

• Two Phase Transitions

  My time with Futuredraft ends as I embark on a fresh independent consulting journey.

• The Value of Mapping Semantic Environments

  Mapping semantic environments helps designers navigate corporate cultures effectively.

• Design Systems and Emergence

  Balancing design rules with flexibility fosters systems that evolve effectively.

• Staying Relevant as a Digital Designer

  Focusing on enduring design principles keeps digital designers relevant amid evolving technologies.

• Responsibility

  Does responsibility in design burden or empower designers?

• TAOI: Twitter Bookmarks

  On a new Twitter feature that stands in contrast to 'likes.'

• What Are You In Service To?

  Aligning your skills with your purpose transforms work into meaningful service.

• Event Report: WIAD Tampa 2018

  Exploring Tampa’s architecture and its role in shaping community identity.

• Reducing Ambiguity in Labels

  Facing ambiguous labels? Perspective matters.

• Book Notes: “Planning for Everything”

  Fear and uncertainty hinder our planning; Peter Morville offers a better approach.

• The Stream

  How streams of endless digital curiosities shape our web experiences and perceptions.

• Prescriptive and Descriptive Labels

  How restrooms' labels reveal the power dynamics between prescriptive and descriptive design.

• Structure and Change

  Information environments, unlike books, are always evolving and never truly ""done.""

• TAOI: Changes to Facebook's Newsfeed

  How Facebook's Newsfeed changes could alter user experience and impact businesses.

• The Flexibility of Structures

  How a stable yet flexible structure enhances the adaptability of educational systems.

• Semantic Environments

  Neil Postman's ideas on how contextual language shapes communication.

• TAOI: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

  Exploring how Netflix's unique labeling for Seinfeld's show challenges traditional TV structures.

• Compassion in the Face of Redesign

  Facing chaos in my bookshelves taught me empathy for those navigating redesigns.

• The Spatial Language of the Checkout Lane

  How retail spaces use spatial language to intuitively guide you to checkout.

• Setting the Tone With Navigation

  How navigation choices shape user experience and reflect designers' intentions.

• Out With the Old

  Adapting to change means knowing when to let go so you can evolve.

• TAOI: Twitter Threads

  Why build threads when we already have blogs for long-form ideas?

• Mind the Knees

  How to gracefully connect ideas in your writing using ""knee plays.""

• Book Notes: "A Mind at Play"

  How Claude Shannon's quirky genius laid the groundwork for the Information Age.

• What's the Use of a Brick?

  Evolving LEGO pieces challenge our understanding of usefulness in design.

• TAOI: Windows 10 Tab Sets

  How Windows 10's new Tab Sets could redefine task-focused workflows across devices.

• None More LEGO

  LEGO's modular design teaches us about creating versatile, universally useful frameworks.

• "Information" in Navigation Labels

  Avoid this ambiguous term in navigation structures, where it seldom adds value.

• The Ladder of Abstraction

  Understanding the ladder of abstraction helps refine communication in information design.

• Walt Disney on Profits

  Quality trumps profit.

• Navigation Sets the Stage

  Creating navigation is about defining a world. Choose labels mindfully.

• TAOI: A Taxonomy of Trust

  How trust indicators can help combat fake news by enhancing transparency in journalism.

• TAOI: Google Maps's Evolution

  Exploring Google's strategic color and icon updates to enrich Maps' user experience.

• TAOI: Netflix's Micro-genres

  How Netflix's micro-genres reshape our understanding of movies.

• The Illusion of Precision

  ""Shitty first drafts"" help design projects fight the illusion of precision.

• Metaphors Matter

  How metaphors shape our understanding and design of digital experiences.

• TAOI: RideMax

  How digital tech can alter our experiences of physical places.

• Our Own Private Idahos

  How can we foster effective communication in a shifting digital landscape?

• Creating Context With Language

  How language shapes user understanding in navigation and labeling systems.

• Considering Category Names

  How naming categories impacts user's ability to find what they need.

• Opting Out of Poop

  Lawn signs as an example of binary categorization.

• TAOI: Apple Health

  How Apple Health exemplifies effective hierarchical taxonomy in modern information architecture.

• Deliverables

  How deliverables in design are misunderstood as ends rather than means to a better environment.

• Selling Information Architecture

  How to align stakeholder perspectives with the value of semantic structures in design.

• Reputation

  How reputation governs change in information systems like Wikipedia.

• TAOI: Picadilly Lights

  How adaptive ads based on real-time data might reshape urban spaces.

• Substance

  Exploring the balance between elucidation and persuasion in information environments.

• TAOI: WikipediaVision

  How WikipediaVision helps editors stay updated on dynamic changes in real time.

• Architecture and Identity

  How do Apple Park and LEGO House express corporate identity through architecture?

• TAOI: Koya Bound

  Discover how a beautiful animated map enhances understanding of a Japanese pilgrimage.

• Platforms and Ecosystems

  Why environments matter more than platforms in designing digital spaces.

• TAOI: Facebook's Article Context Button

  Facebook's new button adds article context to fight fake news—will users care?

• Prescriptive and Emergent Structures

  Balancing structure in environments: prescribed order vs. user-driven spontaneity.

• Pretended Order

  False order hides emerging order.

• Parti

  How a clear architectural concept brings coherence to complex environments.

• Breaking News

  In urgent events, chronological news feeds inform better than algorithmic ones.

• Sweet Spot

  A pen's design reveals insights about finding your personal ""sweet spot"" in life.

• Start With a Conceptual Model

  Starting with a conceptual model drives coherent design before diving into UI.

• Conceptual Integrity

  Navigating stakeholder conflicts to maintain a coherent design vision.

• Living in Information

  How digital platforms shape our behaviors through architecture-inspired principles.

• “Product” is the Wrong Framing

  Why thinking of digital platforms as 'products' may limit their potential.

• Aligning Incentives

  How to align incentives in design to ensure mutual goals and efficient outcomes.

• TAOI: Android Oreo Notifications

  Android Oreo redefines notifications, balancing priority and clarity for smarter alerts.

• TAOI: Hoodmaps

  A quirky dive into how Hoodmaps reshapes urban exploration through biased categories.

• Architectural Bravado

  How Apple's stunning architectural feat contrasts with basic failures in digital design.

• Questions for Mapping Information Environments

  How mapping questions guide clarity and connection in complex information systems.

• My Bookkeeper, the Information Architect

  How my bookkeeper helped me grok key IA principles.

• Consistency and Coherence

  Understanding why coherence often trumps consistency in design for user clarity.

• A a a a a​ Very Good Song

  Hacking a flawed information architecture.

• How to Design New Information Environments That Don’t Suck

  Creating functional information environments means evolving from simple systems.

• From Strategy to Structure (and Back Again)

  Transform design by aligning strategy with structure to meet needs and foster coherence.

• Leaving Our Mark

  Exploring how software shapes our cultural landscapes and evolves our societal contexts.

• Leaving Your Mark

  How information architects can create enduring impact despite rapidly changing tech.

• Euro IA 2016

  Join me in Amsterdam for a workshop and a presentation.

• Why I Love the IA Summit

  Discover why the IA Summit is a beloved gathering for information architecture enthusiasts.

• Lands, Hubs, and Wienies

  Learn placemaking secrets from Disneyland to craft intuitive digital spaces.

• Architect Everywhere

  How digital products architect our environments and influence social dynamics.

• Architects Everywhere

  Discover how architectural thinking in IA helps design adaptable, effective products.

• Information Architecture Essentials

  Join me to uncover the essentials of information architecture for coherent digital experiences.

• IA and the Internet of Things

  My chat with Peter Morville at O'Reilly Design on IA's role in IoT.

• Information Architecture's Role in UX Design

  Mary Treseler and I delve into how information architecture shapes effective user experiences.

• … For Everybody

  My journey from architecture to tech and the pivotal role of IA in navigating change.

• Joining Futuredraft

  How joining Futuredraft merges my passion for info architecture with collaborative design.

• Give a Hoot! Mapping (and Caring for) the Semantic Environment

  How mapping semantic environments enhances information architecture.

• My Favorite Reads of 2013

  My top reads of 2013, from stoic wisdom to insights on IA.

• En Contexto

  How context shapes user interaction and leads to information design success.

• … For the World Wide Web

  How the timeless principles of Information Architecture extend beyond web navigation.

• Density in Information Environments

  Balancing information density is crucial for user experience; discover how to get it right.

• Semantic Environments and Information Architecture

  How understanding semantic environments can lead to effective information architecture.

• Links, Nodes, & Order

  How to assess and enhance IA value, from crafting to ethics.

• "Good Fit" In the Design of Information Spaces

  How to apply Christopher Alexander’s design methods to create effective information spaces.

• Cómo Construir Esquemas de Navegación por Facetas en Drupal

  How faceted navigation can enhance user experiences in Drupal-powered systems.

• World IA Day 2012 Keynote

  My take on an evolving IA landscape.

• Architectures

  Exploring how designing digital environments mirrors architecture and impacts culture.

• Architecture As a Model

  How traditional architecture serves as a metaphor for crafting digital information spaces.

• The IAI Vision project

  Honing the IAI's vision to rekindle passion and clarify its transformative role.

• Becoming a Leader - From IA to Business and Beyond

  How IA principles can enhance leadership in businesses and beyond.

• Meet Your Peers

  Short video chats with IA experts reveal future career outlooks.

• La Experiencia del Usuario y la Arquitectura de Información

  How information architecture enhances user experience design through structure and clarity.

• An Enlightened Taxonomy

  What we can learn from an 18th-century knowledge taxonomy.

• IA Summit 2007

  Exploring key insights from the IA Summit in Las Vegas — and a critique of the venue.

• Deep Context

  Uncover how contextual awareness shapes effective communication and web design.

• Joshua Prince-Ramus on the Architecture Design Process

  Insights into the design process behind the innovative Seattle Central Library.

• The Chile IA retreat and encounter: My impressions

  Overview of a groundbreaking gathering of information architects in Latin America.

• Casual IA

  IA by non-experts can both help and hinder effective web design.

• Architecture as Cultural and Location Grounding

  How culturally-aware design can ground us amid global homogenization.

• The Post-Summit Blues, or IA Dissociative Identity Disorder

  Balancing dual identities at the IA Summit offers fresh perspectives on global challenges.

• Design and Games

  What we can learn from games about design thinking.

• Architecture Books

  Books that can enrich your information architecture practice.

• The IA Meme

  How can information architecture find its 'hit single' to capture public interest?

• Thoughts on Global Information Architecture

  Navigating cultural nuances to design systems that resonate across borders.

• Culture(s) & the IA Summit

  My reflections on multiculturalism and community bonding at the IA Summit.

• The Future of Information Architecture: A Retreat

  Exploring how defining problems transforms solutions.

• Organizational Structure and IA

  Is your organization centralized or decentralized? The answer will influence how your websites serve your users.