On Information Architecture

A few things about information architecture I have learned over the years.

• The ancient art of structuring information is the basic premise of information architecture (IA). This helps us communicate on a shared language while supporting usability and findability of information. If information is not usable or findable, the audience will be challenged to build trust and connect over your message.
• In the digital world, abstract ideas are conceptualized through modeling. The model (or a concept) covers the complex details of your information system based on your beliefs and core principles. Data, logic (can be in a visual form) and language are the primitives of your information. The architecture represents the design of your digital landscape. Design is intentional in a way that supports the longevity and survivorship of your ideas.
• Enterprise architecture of your business logic is one example. This business logic normally dictates the relative ordering and contextual legality of certain operations and data values. This contains the information of how your enterprise operates, the workflows of components that make up for the operation of your enterprise and how these components co-exist giving the structure of your enterprise. Employees, systems, decision-makers, customers and users, events such as transactions (employee payroll and customer purchases) play a role in enterprise architecture. Without this information neither can you adapt your systems to new normal nor attract employees or customers. It is the foundation for any system.
• According to Wikipedia—in computer software, business logic or domain logic is the part of the program that encodes the real-world business rules that determine how data can be created, stored, and changed. It is contrasted with the remainder of the software that might be concerned with lower-level details of managing a database or displaying the user interface, system infrastructure, or generally connecting various parts of the program.
• Sitemap of your website is another example. If your users cannot navigate your website, you will lose them. This is why structuring navigation that is usable and findable is critical, so they can get from one destination to another to perform their jobs.
• There are several systems and sub-systems of a larger system that deals with the information component. There is one part of information which is the classification of information (data, logic or language) and the other which is structuring of that information. Then there is the user experience of information retrieval. Your readers will not be happy if the retrieval of information is painful.
• Information rich systems prioritize accessibility.
• Information rich systems provide useful context and composability.
• Information rich systems make information consumable to help make quick decisions.
• One last thing about an information rich system is it needs to be fluid. It needs to adapt as new information comes in. It needs to be structured dynamically enough, so it can adapt with time or interaction. For example, information might be ineffective if your website content does not change dynamically based on user behavior. For example, your music app that will recommend music based on what you click on the page and what your friends are listening. Dynamic content such as music recommendation data is as useful as your static content such as the logo on your website's homepage.

Further reading