Make Sense: Information architecture for
everybody Presented by: Abby Covert | @Abby_the_IA

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Information Architecture (IA) is a
practice of making sense

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Objects aid
us in discourse

Typical IA Problems • Too
much information: Overwhelming use of messages and notifications • Not the right information: Confusions of meaning, intent and/ or action • No information at all: Limited signals for people to understand what is happening, has happened or is about to happen next 7

Tools of IA • Ontological
Clarifiers • Taxonomic Structures • Diagrammatic Techniques • User Research • Market Research • Organizational Research • Heuristic Evaluations 8

Why is Information Architecture important
for everybody to understand? 9

Because The world is complex
• People face more choices and avenues • Businesses are under more pressure • Technology is advanced, but constantly changing • We are all personally experiencing information overload 10

because Communication is about understanding
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How people understand Data Contextless,
Exhaustive, not curated, not meant to inform the consumer • • • • Research Creation Gathering Discovery Information The careful arrangement of data to perform in a context • • Presentation Organization Knowledge Wisdom An intimate understanding of patterns and meta patterns enough to allow for novel uses Gained through experience with the same set of data from a variety of perspectives • • • Conversation Storytelling Integration • • • • Contemplation Evaluation Interpretation Retrospection Slide adapted from Nathan Shedroff’s Diagram “An Overview of Understanding” 12

“To make an apple pie
from scratch, you must first invent the universe” - Carl Sagan 13

Complexity can get in the
way of true understanding Rabbit Hole of Complexity 14

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking • “Uh, Huh”: Not admitting ignorance when faced with it List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking • “Uh, Huh”: Not admitting ignorance when faced with it • Unnecessary Exactitude: Including more detail than is helpful List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking • “Uh, Huh”: Not admitting ignorance when faced with it • Unnecessary Exactitude: Including more detail than is helpful • Rainbow Worship: Believing that more color or colorful flowery language is always better List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking • “Uh, Huh”: Not admitting ignorance when faced with it • Unnecessary Exactitude: Including more detail than is helpful • Rainbow Worship: Believing that more color or colorful flowery language is always better • Edifitis: Belief that a better, shinier “such and such” could and will fix the problem List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking • “Uh, Huh”: Not admitting ignorance when faced with it • Unnecessary Exactitude: Including more detail than is helpful • Rainbow Worship: Believing that more color or colorful flowery language is always better • Edifitis: Belief that a better, shinier “such and such” could and will fix the problem • Not asking Why: Simple as that. Always ask why. List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Some Enemies that lurk in
Complexity • Familiarity: Being too close to the problem can make you forget to remember what it is like to NOT understand • Looking good vs. being good: Tricking yourself into thinking something is good because it is good looking • “Uh, Huh”: Not admitting ignorance when faced with it • Unnecessary Exactitude: Including more detail than is helpful • Rainbow Worship: Believing that more color or colorful flowery language is always better • Edifitis: Belief that a better, shinier “such and such” could and will fix the problem • Not asking Why: Simple as that. Always ask why. • How before What: Thinking to specifically about solutions before the problem is defined List adapted from Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety 2 15

Information architecture is for making
Sense of complexity 16

Critical Components Of IA* Ontology:
Do you know what you mean when you say what you say? Ontology Taxonomy Choreography Taxonomy: Have you provided logical structures that bring meaning to what you present? Choreography: How is meaning affected across various channels, over time and through usage? *HT @DanKlyn

Ontology This is a fish.
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Ontology = Meaning
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Meaning is subjective Meaning is
demographic Meaning is socio political Meaning gets lost in translation Meaning is complex 20

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 21

Taxonomy = Structure
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There are only 5 ways
to organize anything 1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy 2. Alphabetical: Rome starts with “R” 3. Time: Rome started in 753 BC 4. Category: Rome is a Romantic city 5. Hierarchy: Rome is within Italy, which is within Europe, which is within the Eastern and Northern Hemisphere *HT Richard Saul Wurman -­‐ Informa:on Anxiety 2 23

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Organizing information is not the
hard part building true consensus on the meaning and intent of information is the hard(er) part 25

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) 26

Taxonomy is Rhetoric The way
you choose to organize your vegetables says something about what kind of store you are 27

“It takes knowledge to know
that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom not to put it in a fruit salad.” – Miles Kington 28

Mental Models Matter A mental
model is an explanation for the way someone makes sense of something. These models of perception shape our behavior and how we relate to information that we encounter. 29

What facets do you have?
• A facet is a particular aspect or feature of something. The number of facets something has the more ways it can be organized against other things. 30

Will you use Ambiguous vs.
Exact Classifications? 31

The more Ambiguous classifications, the
less effective the taxonomy Clarity of Taxonomy Level of Ambiguity in Classification 32

Are you designing for homogenous
information or heterogenous information? 33

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How much information is appropriate
and at what rate of discovery? 35

Taxonomic Considerations • How much
are you organizing? • How much choice can the user handle at each point in the process they are undertaking? • What are the bounds of the medium you are working in? • How does the mental model of you target user relate to this decision? 36

Choreography = Intent • Context:
the circumstances that form the setting for an interaction • Channel: A medium for communication or the passage of information 37

How you choreograph Your service
says something about who you are 38

Home Create Post Direct Home
Home Home Posts Home Home Home User Profile Your Profile Direction (Default/ Front Facing) Comment Photos of User Activity (Following/ News) Explore Edit Profile Flash (No, Auto, On) Like Followers Delete Home Home Home Photos on Phone Following Choose from Library Grid (On/Off) Likers Home Home Home Your Posts Video (On/Off) Copy Share Share URL Comment Take Photo Copy Share Email Photo URL Like Edit Email Photo Tag People Report Inappropriate Tilt Tag People Tweet Frame Comments Copy Share URL Filter Comment Blur (Off, Circle, Line) Comments Brightness (Default, On) Next Post to Followers Post (Direct) Caption Facebook (On/Off) Facebook Login Tag People Twitter (On/Off) Twitter Login Add to Photo Map (On/Off) Tumblr (On/Off) Tumblr Login Name this Location Email (On/Off) Foursquare Results Add Email Address from Contacts Add Email Address Manually Add Email Post IPhone Contacts Caption Send To Choreographing simplicity can be really complex 39

Lesson 1: When unraveling complexity,
Start with language not interfaces 40

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Controlled Vocabularies • A controlled
vocabulary is a list of approved terms and definitions for a particular context and/or setting • Frameworks like this 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”) 42

h,p://6thfloor.blogs.ny;mes.com/2011/05/20/words-­‐we-­‐dont-­‐say/
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Alien Dictionary
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Synonym Rings tranche de Pizza
fetta di Pizza Pied de Pizza Slice of Pizza Piece of Pizza Pizza Pie Piede di Pizza Pizza 45

Lesson 2: Diagram the damn
thing 46

diagrams and maps Can be
“invented” for a certain context ... but here are a bunch that I keep going back to 47

Funnel
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Quadrants Urgent 1 NA 2
Important Not Important 3 Not Urgent 50

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Gantt 7:00 PM 7:05 PM
7:10 PM 7:15 PM 7:20 PM 7:25 PM 7:30 PM Hungry Starving Full Commute Home At Home Call For Pizza ORder Pizza Delivery Info Payment Info Wait Eat Pizza 52

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Flow Diagram Yes! Arrive Home
After Work Call Pizza place Order Pizza Delivery & Payment Wait Eat Yes! Hungry? No! Watch Movie No! Yes! Doorbell? Pizza Guy? No :( 55

Venn Diagram Movie Friday Night
at Home Pizza 56

Tree Meat Veggie Toppings Meat
Plain Plain Chicago Style Veggie Toppings NYC Style Pizza 57

Swim lane Pizza Eater Customer
Service Driver Read Order Hungry Cook Take Pizza Call Pizza place Answer Make Pizza Drive to house Give Order Take Order Bake Pizza Ring door Bell Enter into POS Box Pizza Answer Door Pay for Pizza Eat Pizza 58

Block Pizza Crust Thin "NYC"
Thick "Chicago" Toppings Service Delivery To Go To Stay 59

schematic Crust Tomato Sauce &
cheese Slice Pie Toppings 60

EXPLODED schematic Toppings cheese Tomato
Sauce Crust Pizza 61

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Journey Map Unlock Door Get
Pizza Outside Walk to Door Get out of Work Car Drive Order Pizza Park In Drive Home Get Home Hear Doorbell Eat Pizza 63

Hierarchical Map Abby's Pizza Customer
Service Sales manager Cooks Cooks Driver Kitchen Chef Cooks Cooks Cook Operations Manager Cooks Cooks Ast Mngr 65

Association Map About Menu Order
Website Delivery Radio Abby's Pizza Ads Paper Store Board Take Out Dine In Flyer Signs Print Menu Coupon 66

PLAN THE BUSINESS ASSORT THE
PLAN SELL-IN THE PLAN EXECUTE THE ASSORTMENT BRING ASSTMT TO LIFE GTM CSI/ Showroom KAPM Create Seasonal Experience SIM Wholesale Sales Point of Sale Key City Samples Business Account Trends Strategies Plans Season Competitor Develop Marketplace Insights Market Share Data Consumer Trends Develop Accountvv Insights Account Financials In Season Sell-thru Account Recap Craft Sell-in Package SELL-IN PREPARATION Learn to Sell & Service Seasonal Top Nike Driven Changes Rep Directed Assortments Account Credit Order Net Allocations ASSORTMENT PLANNING Tailor Seasonal Offering Modules At-once Campaigns availability Financial Plans Targeting Shop Suggested Allocated Replacements Sales Sales Programs Programs Retail Space Futures (Annual, & Foresighting Seasonal, Monthly) Financial Asstmt Store sell-in Manage Fill-in Order RETAILER BUYING Category Visual Manage Delivery PRODUCT EDUCATION & PRESENTTAION Always Available/ Buy Order Physical Carriers Assets Educat e Consumers (SKU) Quickstrike Self-serve Digital Recaps Order Manage the buy UPCs Assets (wholesale.com) Replenishment At-Once Account Seasonal Tracking Digital Present Products Product Create Account Assortment Plans Hindsighting Guidelines & Directives Consolidators Sales & Open to Buy ORDER MANAGEMENT Allocated Products Stock & Manage Gaps & Opportunities PP Nike DC 3rd Party Logistics Product Sales Scorecar ds Account DC Entry Errors Product Analysis Gross to Review the Business Train Retail Associates Launch Content Edited Offering Profitabilty Modeling Build & Manage the Plan EKIN In-store Training Demand/ Supply match Manage Load-in Catalog Plan BUSINESS PLANNING SKU Online Training Account Driven Changes content Analyze the Assortment Account Plans Commercial Fundamentals (Nike U) Analyze the Business Assortment In-store associate Invoices Claims Call-o ffs 67

Lesson 3: Information architecture is
not just for Information Architects 68

INSERT CASE STUDIES HERE
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If you believe in IA
• Call it out by name without changing your job title • Join the cause and support the IA Institute • Teach other people how to think about the architecture of information • Share any stories where IA breaks the current popular view of being a digital skill-set 70

Thanks
Abbycovert@gmail.com
@ Abby_The_IA
www.Abbytheia.com