Kaarin Hoff gave a talk at World IA Day-Ann Arbor on the value of the information architect's worldview. Although the talk was given in 2016, her explanation of information architecture is very personable and ever-green. She uses designing a backyard swing set, determining childcare needs, and the building of children’s forts to communicate the importance of the IA approach to problem solving. This article was written subsequent to the talk and edited for clarity.
Read moreResisting the Cargo Cult of UX Strategy
Don't fall into the trap of choosing your user experience (UX) solution before you really understand your problem.
Read moreWhat is the role of information architecture in a web design project?
Websites are places made of information, and architecting information is harder to do than it seems on the surface. How do information architects do it?
Read moreTeaching IA by Learning about Architecture
Dan Klyn is a practicing information architect, and teaches Information Architecture (IA) at the University of Michigan's School of Information.
Read moreInformation Architecture and Interaction Design
Part of a conversation between Dan Klyn and Matt Nish-Lapidus about how information architecture and interaction design are inseparable and inter-essential.
Read moreTrusting the Magic Layer in Information Architecture
The magic layer is a capable processor and makes deliverables be good in meeting identified needs, not just those that look good.
Read moreWho Makes Information Architecture Good?
If "the opposite of a great truth is also true," Dan Klyn wonders if we shouldn't be drawing on our own instincts for what is good information architecture.
Read moreUnderstanding Context, The Book
Introducing the book "Understanding Context" by Andrew Hinton of The Understanding Group, published by O'Reilly Media.
Read moreWhat is an Information Architect?
An information architect is responsible for representing the structure of a digital space in a way that is meaningful and useful for its visitors.
Read moreSkirmishing With Ill-Defined and Wicked Problems
Dan Klyn discusses Peter Rowe's book Design Thinking and his assertion that most architecture work is set in motion against ill-defined or wicked problems.
Read moreWhat Is a Taxonomy and Where Do I Start?
A taxonomy for your website starts with being intentional about the terms you use.
Read moreUnderstanding Information Architecture
Dan Klyn explains information architecture as the interplay of meaning, arrangement, and rules for interaction.
Read moreProposals Toward the End of Web Design
What are you trying to achieve with your web designs? It lies at the intersection of best practice and knowing your intent.
Read moreLearning from Charles Moore’s Condo at The Sea Ranch
In addition to preserving Moore’s literal menagerie of toys, architectural models, trinkets, and idols, the condo was equipped with several books about Charles Moore. In one of those books, I came across these 5 design principles. What a treat, to spend time in a place that resulted from these very principles becoming operative in the world. In the statements that follow, try swapping-out the word “buildings” for the phrase “digital products + services.”
Read moreArchitecture and mental health crisis: two case studies
Alexander’s myriad (and often counter-intuitive) decisions about the situating of material in space at Julian Street, so hotly contested with the client, resulted in a building of exceptional beauty and value. A building that plays an active role in the healing of the people it shelters.
Read moreMarvin Minsky at TEDMED3: what we need from artificial intelligence
In the time I set aside today to keep working on my biography of Richard Saul Wurman, I pulled some videos off of a CDROM that was shipped to attendees of RSW’s third TEDMED conference, in 2003. The image and sound quality are what you’d expect from analog-to-digital conversion circa 2003. But the content is as good as it gets.
Read moreLATCH: 5 ways to organize information
A video of Richard Saul Wurman from the promotional press kit for Information Anxiety 2 (2000)
Read moreChristopher Alexander: this is what you're trying to do!
Excerpt from an interview published in Tricycle Magazine with the architect and theorist Christopher Alexander
Read moreThe case against simplification
Can information architects help shape global society?
Talking to a room full of information architects and user experience designers at the 2014 World IA Day event in Ann Arbor, Dan Cooney gave a talk on what information architecture might contribute to improving – or re-architecting—the designable aspects of our shared global society.
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