Make SenseInformation Architecture for Everybody

by:

Abby the IA

What the #$%@ is the information

age?- my dad

Our world is a mess.A large part of this mess is made of

information.

A tsunami of information is still headed our way...

*HT Richard Saul Wurman

No matter what our job, our world is full of messes we must make sense of

The majority of messes we face are made of information

(and people)

In 2014 the average American will spend 40+ hours a month wading through...

...places made of information

and make approximately 70 conscious decisions every day

*HT Sheena S Iyengar

We are all experiencing information overload

...and with that comes information anxiety

*HT Richard Saul Wurman

We have to have a website

But our users still

like printed things

that website needs to talk

to the inventory system

And be easy to update without a

technologist

Oh! Everything

actually needs to be

in 5 languages

And the content

should be controlled by

our brand

But don’t forget to let the users make

content too

Our creative director says the future is flat design

Don’t forget our

partnership with

_____

We don’t like the

word “cart”

Our CEO hates flat

design

Every thing is complex.

We have to get comfortable with making sense of

complexityRabbit Hole of Complexity

Everyone has an opinionand it can be frustrating to

really talk things out

Frustration occurs when people have different models

in their minds

Creating objects allows us to discuss & compare differing models

When we have something in common to point to we can

reach consensus more easily

With consensus comes momentum

But often it is more than two people, and more than two models to reconcile...

A mess like this can easily feel impossible

to make sense of

Many people get overwhelmed at this point

They think of ways to hide the mess...

Or they think of ways to pretty up the mess...

New User tutorial to

explain the mess

Incentive structure for dealing with the mess

Fancy Front end fluffing

...the mess is still a mess.

...but they have bought time.

Until the mess grows(as all messes do when given time)

Information Architecture (IA)tools and concepts help people make sense of messes made of information (and people)

IA tools and concepts are NOT hard to learn. NOR are they expensive to teach.

Yet IA tools and concepts are not taught (or used) as often

as they ought be.

As a result many adults don’t understand the very basics of architecting information

Yet they architect information daily, for either their job or their life or both.

Results vary ;)

Everyone Architects Information

Information Architecturein 5 basic lessons

What isn’t information?

Lesson 1

Thinking about information

as material is hard

Every thing has information

Information can be made from the lack of physical material

There is no true information

There is only spin

Data is mined

Information is architected

All information has place(s) within a nested set of architectures

The level of focus changes the details you

can see

These levels of place are deeply “intertwingled”

*HT Ted Nelson

Change at one level can have implications

at another level

1. Know your material & level2. Start to unravel “truth”

Next Steps:

Language Matters

Lesson 2

Ontology

Taxonomy

Choreography

*HT  Dan  Klyn

Lexicography vs Ontology

• Lexicography is the practice of compiling dictionaries. Lexicographers collect different meanings for words

• Ontology represents the knowledge of terms and concepts within a domain

Meaning is subjectiveMeaning is demographicMeaning is socio political

Meaning gets lost in translationMeaning is complex

h"p://6thfloor.blogs.ny2mes.com/2011/05/20/words-­‐we-­‐dont-­‐say/

Controlled Vocabularies• A controlled vocabulary is a list of approved terms and

definitions for a particular context and/or setting

• This exercise can help teams to decide on things like:– Variant Spellings (i.e. American vs. British)– Scientific vs. Popular Term Use (i.e. Cockroaches vs. Periplaneta Americana)– Acceptable Synonyms (i.e. Automobile vs. Car)– Acceptable Acronyms (i.e. GE vs. General Electric)– Business vs. User Terms (i.e. What we say in meetings vs. what we say to

customers)– Identification of homographs (i.e. the word “pool” can relate to “swimming pool” or

“shooting”)

50

Start with language not interfaces

Remember language is not

just words

I am sorry you have having issues using our mobile site. I am sure I will be able to help

you...Can you see the hamburger menu?

Careful: We LOVE to use words anyways even if we have to make them up

We call this an “uncontrolled” vocabulary

Uncontrolled vocabularies increase linguistic

insecurity

People suffering fromlinguistic insecurity aren’t as easy to talk things out with

1. Know your material & level2. Start to unravel “truth”3. Wipe out linguistic insecurity4. List words you say/don’t say

Next Steps:

Structure is Rhetoric

Lesson 3

There are only 5

ways to organize anything

1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy2. Alphabetical: Rome starts with “R”3. Time: Rome started in 753 BC4. Category: Rome is a Romantic city5. Hierarchy: Rome is within Italy, which

is within Europe, which is within the Eastern and Northern Hemisphere

*HT  Richard  Saul  Wurman  -­‐  Informa9on  Anxiety  2

A facet is a particular aspect, or feature about some “thing”

The more facets something has the more ways it can be organized against other things.

20 ways to organize a box of vegetables

1.!By cost at the grocery in the USA (Location)2.!By cost at the grocery in the UK (Location)3.!By countries it is eaten in (Location)4.!By first letter scientific names (Alphabetical)5.!By first letter popular names (Alphabetical)6.!By first letter cultural names (Alphabetical)7.!By seasonality of harvest (Time)8.!By length of season (Time)9.!By cooking time (Time)10.!By popularity today (Time)11.!By popularity 100 years ago (Time)12.!By color (Category)13.!By taste (Category)14.!By texture (Category)15.!By size (Category)16.!By growing style (Hierarchy)17.!By climate (Hierarchy)18.!By type (Hierarchy)19.!By soil type (Hierarchy)20.!By best storing technique (Hierarchy)

10 facets of a vegetable

1.! Color2.! Texture3.! Taste4.! Season Planted5.! Season Harvested6.! Soil Grown In7.! Class8.! Subclass9.! Countries Consumed in 10.!Cost by Country

There is “technically” no right or wrong way

to structure information

There is “academically” no right or wrong way

to structure information

There is “theoretically” no right or wrong way

to structure information

All you can do is measure your results against your

rhetorical intent

Information Architecturealways exists

How you architect your information says something

about who you are

“It takes knowledge to know a tomato is a fruit. It takes wisdom

to not put one in a fruit salad” - Miles Kington

1. Know your material & level2. Start to unravel “truth”3. Wipe out linguistic insecurity4. List words you say/don’t say5. Identify facets6. Try on structures

Next Steps:

Define Good Realistically

Lesson 4

Good depends on intent

• Time: “I only have ___ left.”

• Resources: “I only have ________”

• Skill-set: “I know how to ________but I don’t know how to ______, yet.”

• Environment: “I am working within a market, serving an audience made of

various user types, within an ecosystem, via a platform, using technology.”

• Personality: “I want my work to say _____________________ about me”

• Politics: “Others want my work to say _________________ about ________”

• Ethics: “I want my work to do right by the world”

• Integrity: “I want to be proud of the results of my work”

Reality involves many factors

• Users: People you intend to interact with whatever is being made

• Stakeholders: People who care about the outcome of what is being made

• Makers: People making whatever is being made

WARNING: You may fall into all three categories yourself on a given project. Be extra careful when this is a case. Remember that in many cases, meeting our own needs can prevent us from meeting the needs of others.

Reality involves many players

1. Know your material & level2. Start to unravel “truth”3. Wipe out linguistic insecurity4. List words you say/don’t say5. Identify facets6. Try on structures7. Deal with subjective reality

Next Steps:

Make Diagrams & Prototypes

Lesson 5

Diagrams help us

Diagrams help uscompare our models

Diagram types should be collected but also continually

invented for your context

Prototypes help us

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test our ideas

Remember to zoom in and out as you work

Remember that when you are a hammer...

...everything looks like a wireframe

1. Know your material & level2. Start to unravel “truth”3. Wipe out linguistic insecurity4. List words you say/don’t say5. Identify facets6. Try on structures7. Deal with subjective reality8. Diagram the damn thing

Next Steps:

Information Architectureis not just for Information Architects

If you make things, you are probably already

practicing information architecture

Practicing IA requires bravery, but does not require permission

But in case you need permission to go with those next steps and few words of advice, I

can give you your membership card:

Information Architecture

helps me make sense of my

messes.

Your Name

And suggest you think about joining the IAInstitute.org

... Before you go ...

If you forget everything else,please remember...

• We live amongst a mounting mess of information• People make this mess of information• Information architecture helps us make sense• Language matters• Structure is rhetoric• We must define good realistically• We must make diagrams and prototypes to

understand each other's models of the world

...my hope is that the world will make a whole

lot more sense.

If we all think a little harder about the information we architect...

(a girl can dream )

How to Make Sense of Any Mess

@Abby_the_IA

http://abbytheia.com/makesense/Sign up to receive an email when pre sale opens this fall:

THANKS

(Ships Fall 2014)