codyhanson.com

Garrett, Jesse James. “The Elements of User Experience.” Jesse James Garrett’s Hidden Agenda. 2000.
http://jjg.net/ia/elements.pdf.

In this elegant diagram, Garrett addresses the differences between the web as “hypertext information space” and “remote software interface”. His diagram attempts to reconcile the information-oriented focus of the former with the task-oriented HCI/software engineering focus of the latter.

This diagram dates from early 2000, and the lines between these two aspects of the web have only further blurred in the past six years. In particular, interface design, navigation design and interaction design are now one and the same as sites achieve a degree of interactivity unimagined at the turn of the millennium. Sites like Google’s Writely and Gmail thoroughly replicate functionality heretofore relegated to desktop software, in this case word processing and e-mail, respectively. Likewise, renewed emphasis on web standards such as CSS, and the integration of data formats like RSS and OPML require rigorous information architecture and content management.

Rosenfeld, Louis, and Peter Morville. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd ed.. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2002. 3-35.

The first two chapters of Rosenfeld and Morville’s book are devoted to defining and defending information architecture. Rather than attempt a single definition of the practice of information architecture, the authors offer several different definitions each of what IA is and is not. I particularly like one of their definitions: “The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information.”

I also found interesting their assertions about the boundaries of information architecture. In particular, they take pains to say that graphic design, software development and usability engineering are not IA. While Rosenfeld and Morville are eager to draw bright lines in order to define IA, it’s important not to confuse these tasks with job titles. A graphic designer may also from time to time act as an information architect, for example. Each of these areas of expertise inform and reinforce the other, but they should not be confused for one another.

The impression I get from these first two chapters is that the authors presuppose a degree of suspicion on the part of decision-makers about the value of information architecture, largely because it is not visible to site users. One of the more effective illustrations is a diagram credited to Myra Messing Klarman depicting a web site as an iceberg, with the user-accessible interface represented by the small fraction of the ice floating above the surface while information architecture, the bulk of the iceberg, lurks beneath the murky waters. This is a metaphor that can only be taken so far, as web sites are intended to be simple, inviting and pleasing to users, not dangerous icy obstacles.

The invisibility of information architecture is addressed in the foreword, by usability guru Jakob Nielsen, who writes, “Allow users to focus on their tasks, and let information architects be the ones to spend time worrying about the structure of the web site or intranet…The more that answers are located in the places you look for them, the easier the design will feel to users, and the more successful the project.”

Rosenfeld and Morville define project success in IA as harmony between three factors, Users, Content and Context. Roughly speaking, this means providing users with fulfillment of their information needs through intuitive means, creating a site structure that accounts for the variety and volume of content necessary, and balancing both of these with business goals, politics, and budgets. Chapter three begins to get in to the meat of this by examining the needs of users.

The information needs of users, the authors say, vary greatly, as do their information seeking behaviors. Some users on some sites will know precisely what they want, where to find it and that the information does, in fact, exist on the site. Others will have a broader need, one that more closely resembles “learning about” than it does “learning that”. And still others will be interested in exhaustive, indiscriminate information gathering. Most often users will exhibit information seeking behavior that is iterative, which combines a number of techniques (i.e., searching, browsing), and which has a goal that changes throughout the process. Rosefeld and Morville cite Bates’s berry-picking model, which is one of my readings for next week.

This chapter serves mainly to introduce the concept of information needs and models of information seeking behavior. In Part III, Ch. 10 of the book it appears that the process of systematically identifying the needs and behaviors of users is addressed more specifically. I’m looking forward to it.

Based on some discussions on the MNteractive mini-list, a handful of local IA/UXP folks have volunteered to share information about their areas of expertise in a fairly informal series that we’ve titled IA 101. My employer, the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota graciously agreed to let me host the events. The first will take place on Thurs. Sept. 21 at 7pm. Full details are available on the MNteractive site and calendar (.ics calendar link).

Rosenfeld and Morville’s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd ed. remains the most canonical text for the study of information architecture. I intended to use it as the centerpiece of my independent study, as I’ve regularly skimmed it and used it as a reference, but have never made a systematic effort to read it cover to cover.

I was pleased to find that Peter Morville himself has published a syllabus that focuses on his book, but also offers further readings and case studies. I intend to use his syllabus as my main reading list, but because it appears to be a few years old, I’ll be supplementing it with some more recent case studies and articles drawn from other sources.

Below you’ll find citations and links to the syllabi, articles, and other resources I’ll be studying from now until mid-December. I’ll likely be making additions and subtractions, and would appreciate any suggestions for further readings.

(Citations are listed in the order I’ll be reading them rather than in alphabetical order.)

Main Syllabus:

Morville, Peter. “Information Architecture Syllabus.” Semantic Studios. 2003. 22 July 2006.
http://www.semanticstudios.com/publications/iasyllabus.html.

Garrett, Jesse James. “The Elements of User Experience.” Jesse James Garrett’s Hidden Agenda. 2000.
http://jjg.net/ia/elements.pdf.

Bates, Marcia J. “The Design of Browsing and Berrypicking Techniques for the Online Search Interface.” University of California at Los Angeles Graduate School of Library and Information Science. 1989. 22 July 2006.
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/berrypicking.html.

Berners-Lee, Tim, James Hendler and Ora Lassila. “The Semantic Web.” Scientific American May 2001. 22 July 2006.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00048144-10D2-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21.

Merholz, Peter. “Innovation in Classification.” Peterme.com. 2001. 22 July 2006.
http://www.peterme.com/archives/00000063.html.

Leise, Fred, Karl Fast and Mike Steckel. “All About Facets & Controlled Vocabularies.” Boxes and Arrows. 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/all_about_facets_controlled_vocabularies.

Flamenco Search. http://flamenco.berkeley.edu/. UC Berkeley School of Information. 9 September 2006.

Nielsen, Jakob. “First Rule of Usability? Don’t Listen to Users.” Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox. 2001. 22 July 2006.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010805.html.

Willis, Dan. “Classic IA Tools.” Boxes and Arrows. 2003. 22 July 2006.
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/images/042103_willis/dswilliscom_classictools.pdf.

Crotty Fraser, Janice. “Taking a Content Inventory.” New Architect. 2001. 22 July 2006.
http://adaptivepath.com/events/training/complete/files.php.

Garrett, Jesse James. “ia/recon.” jjg.net. 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://jjg.net/ia/recon/.

Shirky, Clay. “Social Software and the Politics of Groups.” Clay Shirky’s Writings About the Internet. 2003. 22 July 2006.
http://shirky.com/writings/group_politics.html.

Morville, Peter. “Social Network Analysis.” Semantic Studios. 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000006.php.

Morville, Peter. “Ambient Findability.” Semantic Studios. 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000008.php.

Saffo, Paul. “Untangling the Future.” Business 2.0 June 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://www.saffo.com/essays/untangling.php.

The Long Now Foundation. 22 July 2006.
http://www.longnow.org/.

Case Studies:

Rosenbaum, Howard. “L571: Information Architecture for the Web Syllabus: Spring 2006.” 2006. Indiana University School of Library and Information Science. 22 July 2006.
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/hrosenba/www/L571/syll/outline.html.

Fox, Chiara. “PeopleSoft.com Case Study Enterprise Information Architecture.” Adaptive Path. 2001. 22 July 2006.
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/hrosenba/www/L571/pdf/fox_peoplesoft.ppt.

Lippell, Helen. “The ABCs of the BBC: A Case Study and Checklist.” Boxes and Arrows. 2005. 22 July 2006.
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/the_abcs_of_the_bbc_a_case_study_and_checklist.

Parrish, Hannah. “Customer Storytelling at the Heart of Business Success.” Boxes and Arrows. 2005. 22 July 2006.
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/customer_storytelling_at_the_heart_of_business_success.

Rampoldi-Hnilo, Lynn. “Uncovering Users In Your Own Organization.” Boxes and Arrows. 2005. 22 July 2006.
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/uncovering_users_in_your_own_organization.

Story, Greg. “Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason).” A List Apart. 2005. 22 July 2006.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/landwarinasia.

Other resources:

Miller-Francisco, Emily. “A Brief Bibliography on Information Architecture.” Southern Oregon University. 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://home.sou.edu/~millere/ia/handout.html.

Jacob, Elin. “L540 : Foundations of information architecture.” Indiana University School of Library and Information Science. 2003. 22 July 2006.
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/syllabi/fall_2003/L540_jacob.html.

Morville, Peter. “Information Architecture Research.” Semantic Studios. 2004. 22 July 2006.
http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000030.php.

Turnbull, Don. “LIS385T Information Architecture and Design.” University of Texas Graduate School of Library and Information Science. 2002. 22 July 2006.
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~l385tdt/.

Brown, Mary E. “Course Syllabus: ILS 599 Information Architecture.” Southern Connecticut State University. 2006. 22 July 2006.
http://www.southernct.edu/~brownm/599ia_Sp2006_syllabus.html.