Information Architecture

As a high school student, one of my favorite memories of taking the SAT (there are very few) was the analogies section. I found them intriguing and I still see their relevancy and application to my life today. If you share the same sentiment, I'm certain you will appreciate the following in helping to explain the mystery of Information Architecture as it relates to creating websites.

Information architecture is to website as blueprint is to house.

In case this alone doesn't instantaneously bring back the memories of your test-taking days, I'll restate this in a manner that may look more familiar:

1.) IA : WEBSITE ::

(A) cat : dog

(B) book : library

(C) blueprint : house

(D) peninsula : continent

Did you instinctively reach for your #2 pencil to record the correct answer on your scantron sheet? Mission accomplished.

Considering this analogy should get you thinking about the similarities between IA and a blueprint, but let's discuss in more detail by continuing to compare a website and a house. When planning to build a house, one needs to consider:

1. Who will live in the house
2. How many inhabitants will there be
3. How will residents use the space
4. What are the residents' expectations

In the same way a builder asks these questions, an Information Architect must analyze:

1. Who are the website's users
2. How many will visit and utilize the website
3. What tasks do users need to accomplish (login, find info, purchase, etc.)
4. What are users' behaviors & what do they consider to be a logical flow of information

Creating the taxonomy (the practice and science of classification), interviewing users, building sitemaps, and using wireframes are just a few of the tasks IA's complete to design this "blueprint".

For those who may confuse Information Architecture with Web Design, the house example still serves as a relevant example in distinguishing between the two. IA deals with the blueprint of the "house" (website) while Web Design relates to picking the paint colors, fabrics, wall hangings and so forth. In other words, a website's background/font colors, text content, graphics, etc. are handled by the Web Designer.