Harness the Power of Information Architecture
Making good digital places isn’t easy. Complex information, multiple audiences with different needs, unclear goals—it can get messy. But it doesn’t have to. We at TUG believe information architecture is the antidote. In this issue, Daniel, Jessica, and Travis describe the unique ability of information architects and how they help to bring vision, order, and beauty to your digital places.
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WHAT WE’RE THINKING
What Is an Information Architect?
Why Do You Need an Information Architect?
How are information architects like other architects? They all share vision for a place that is usable and delightful. But information architects don’t actually build your website—so why use one?
Product Managers’ Top 3 Misconceptions about IA
Many savvy, successful product managers are still stunted by these common myths about information architecture. Are you one of them?
Sustainable Information Architecture
How do we ensure that the well-architected structures we help put in place are durable and lasting, while also flexible enough to adapt to changing needs? Enter governance.
WHAT WE’RE READING
In Pursuit of the Masterworks of Information Architecture
by Dan Klyn for ASIS&T
Dan Klyn shares a lesson in conducting an effective comparison and how it’s a powerful approach for recognizing and appreciating excellence. Using James Joyce’s Ulysses and Richard Saul Wurman’s The City, Form and Intent, Dan proposes criteria by which to judge the masterworks of IA.
What Good Means
Also from Dan Klyn—for Medium—a reflection upon his journey toward wholeness and understanding “what good means”—from his roots in Calvinism, through the works of Joyce; Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown; Louis Kahn; Wurman; and finally architect Christopher Alexander.
Building a Visual Language
by Karri Saarinen for Airbnb
Karri Saarinen posits that design has always been largely about systems and how to create products in a scalable and repeatable way. Digital products are perhaps the most fertile ground for implementing these systems and yet it’s not often considered a priority.
Understanding Information Architecture Via My Bookshelf
by Josh Anderson for UXDesign.cc
Josh Anderson illustrates the principles of information architecture by using his bookshelf to demonstrate how the arrangement of objects confers meaning.
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