Information architecture refers to how information is organized and presented, with a focus on user experience. It can apply to any system organizing information, including websites. Different websites use different information architecture models, such as hierarchical or decentralized. The Journal of Information Architecture aims to scientifically approach the topic while considering real-world website design.
Information architecture is a broad, abstract term that means different things to different people. In its most general form, information architecture refers to how different pieces of information relate to each other. It can also refer to a representation of these relationships. The term has acquired a more specific and widespread meaning on the Internet, where it describes the way information is presented on a website.
In its most abstract usage, information architecture refers to any system involving the organization of information. The Dewey Decimal System, for example, is a type of information architecture because it attempts to place a large and chaotic array of topics into a linear numerical order. It’s no coincidence that this system was designed for the physical task of placing books on library shelves. Information architecture becomes relevant whenever someone is faced with the task of squeezing an amorphous set of ideas into a limited space.
A website is one such space. In the context of web design, information architecture is closely associated with user experience. Describes the layout of a website, with emphasis not on the visual aspect but on the structure through which information can be accessed. Menus and hyperlinks are crucial elements of this type of information architecture. Of course, the arrangement of ideas in a single block of text, like this article, is also independently part of the architecture.
This type of web-based information architecture does not focus on the intrinsic relationships between the information presented. The problem is how information can be assembled in a way that makes sense to a user interacting with it. A website probably has poor information architecture if users cannot easily navigate to the content that interests them.
The Internet makes many different information architecture models possible. Wikipedia, for example, has a highly decentralized architecture. Users generate not only the text of the individual articles, but the structure responsible for linking the articles. The first page contains mostly random content.
Yahoo! on the other, it has a more hierarchical information architecture. Its content is sorted into conspicuous categories which are subdivided in specific ways. WiseGEEK relies heavily on people using search engines to independently discover its pages; it has less in the way of independent architecture.
The Journal of Information Architecture attempts to tame this cumbersome topic. It aims to scientifically approach the idea of information architecture while paying attention to ongoing developments in real-world website design. A recurring theme in the journal, which is relatively new, is a negotiation between the theoretical and practical understanding of the concept.
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