This is a quick post for those that want to become Information Architects.
You absolutely need to read two books: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web & Don’t Make Me Think.
You’ll need a really good attention to detail and a strong understanding of your deliverables. IA is not Usability and vice versa. They are sub sets of each other. In terms of deliverables, (being an IA) I deliver wireframes, power-points, word docs, POCs, and mockups. There are at times design aspects to those deliverables. If you come from the design side then you’ll excel, but if you’re coming from library sciences with no understanding of design principles, you have a bit more homework to do. On the usability side, I simply test if the ideas work through Usability protocols.
Find out what you’re in for. Below you’ll find the links to the books and what deliverables look like for IA.
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Don’t Make Me Think
Example of IA Deliverables
IA Links:
- Defining Information Architecture – Peter Morville
- Defining the damn thing – interactionbydesign.com.
- Information Architecture Defined – Christina Wodtke
- Information architecture models – Ben Hunt
- The Definition of Information Architecture – Peter Morville
- What Is Information Architecture? – Iain Barker
- Web Site Architecture 101 – Rudy Limebac
Simon is a Product Designer and Front End Dev with over 20 years of experience. He started as a graphic designer and illustrator coding his first website in 1996. He has worked with brands like Publix, Microsoft, and Discovery Channel.
