WHAT BEFORE HOW
MAKING A HOME
FOR INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE



                               By Dan Klyn + Bob Royce from
WHAT I WAS PLANNING TO DO WHEN I GREW UP
SNEAK IN THROUGH THE LIBRARY
WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN DIGITAL JOYCE?
WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN ALL MUSIC?
I’VE RUN OUT OF SUPERLATIVES
HUSBAND TO ADRIENNE SINCE 1990   FATHER TO ROBERT SINCE 2000
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6057/6890280374_dc42046fe8_h.jpg
THE LIBRARIANS V. THE COMPUTER SCIENTISTS
Focused on
‣ Organizing
‣ Labeling
‣ Navigation
‣ Structure




‣ Not Graphic Design
‣ Not Software Programming
‣ Not Usability
2006
2011
The Understanding Group
is an Information Architecture practice
  dedicated to making things be good.
WHAT BEFORE HOW: MAKING A HOME FOR IA               #WB4H




Why would anybody start an IA consulting practice
when there is no such thing as an
information architect?
DUTCH UNCLES AT THE IA SUMMITS: 2009 + 2010
“ THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN INFORMATION
 ARCHITECT. IA DOES NOT EXIST AS A PROFESSION. AS
 AN AREA OF INTEREST AND INQUIRY? SURE. AS YOUR
 FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB? ABSOLUTELY. BUT
 IT'S NOT A PROFESSION.                                “


                                 —   Jesse James Garrett
“ I THINK YOU SHOULD REALLY HUDDLE
 TOGETHER AND REFORM YOURSELF INTO A
 KIND OF UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS.
 IF YOU TALK ABOUT UNDERSTANDING YOU’RE
 NOT GOING TO BE BUMPED
               “
 OFF THE SHELF.



                            —   Richard Saul Wurman
SO WE DID
1989
Design Quarterly, No. 145
A way of thinking.
A whole way of life in which
the aim is not to make something
look good
but to make it be good.
WHAT BEFORE HOW: MAKING A HOME FOR IA   #WB4H




What is TUG
and what do we mean
when we say what we say?
Ontology
Particular meaning.



           Taxonomy
           Arrangement of the parts.



                          Choreography
                          Rules for interaction among the parts.
ARCHITECTURE IS NOT DESIGN
Donald Norman
We should change the name to
      the UX Summit
http://beep.peterboersma.com/2004/11/t-model-big-ia-is-now-ux.html
CODING

BUSINESS SYSTEMS




USER EXPERIENCE
                   VISUAL DESIGN
CODING

BUSINESS SYSTEMS


INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE



USER EXPERIENCE
                           VISUAL DESIGN
Dan Klyn points away
from bounded sets
Proposes meaning as the
center of the set.
Andrew Hinton talks about pace layers
of information environments
And Three Modes of Information



         Digital



        Sem antic


       Ecological
Business System s


  Information
  Architecture

User Ex perience
CODING

BUSINESS SYSTEMS


INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE



USER EXPERIENCE
                           VISUAL DESIGN
CODING

BUSINESS SYSTEMS            Object Models
                           Process Mapping
                           Information Model
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE   Structural Design
                               Personas
                               Journeys

USER EXPERIENCE             User Research
                           VISUAL DESIGN
WHAT BEFORE HOW: MAKING A HOME FOR IA   #WB4H




Who are the people
buying the stuff TUG sells and
using the stuff TUG makes?
User Experience

Marketing       Product
       Innovation
  IT                Agencies
Strategy   Planning   Building   Doing   Iterate
Information




Simple                 Complex
Goals                  Goals




         Interaction
Information
                         Complex
                         Systems


Simple                         Complex
Goals                              Goals


  Simple
 Systems
           Interaction
MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO UNITE MEANING + STRUCTURE
DANCING WITH AGILE
BALANCE IS THE KEY
WHAT BEFORE HOW: MAKING A HOME FOR IA   #WB4H




WHERE
Where is TUG heading
and what’s next for TUG’s practice
and for information architecture?
PUBLICATIONS
PUBLICATIONS
TEACHING + PRESENTING
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ARE LIKE… A THING
“ YOU’RE NOT GOING TO TALK IN TERMS OF
 WIREFRAMES AND DESIGN OF A PAGE, OR
 HAVE THE METAPHOR OF A BOOK IN YOUR
 HEAD. IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT.
 VERY SOON: I’M TALKING ABOUT A
                   “
 COUPLE OF YEARS.



                             —   Richard Saul Wurman
What Before How: Making a Home for Information Architecture

What Before How: Making a Home for Information Architecture