Why Information Architecture Matters

Our team just finished two new implementation projects, both of which required a good deal of information architecture work. The case for good information architecture shouldn’t need to be made, but in the course of our latest work I was reminded of three big reasons that IA matters:

1. It’s the foundation for good navigation.
mStoner works with a lot of different content management systems. Some generate navigation and update link references dynamically. Others don’t. When navigation is created dynamically-usually based on folder and hierarchy structuresIA matters because pages should be grouped logically in order to make sense to the user. With CMS packages that require navigation to be created manually, IA matters all the more-imagine trying to change 100 references to “contact us” in your site because you decided to move the page into a different folder. (Yes, yes, I’ve heard of search-and-replace. Sometimes, it actually works.)

2. It minimizes the need to update the same information … in multiple places.
IA that’s well constructed will allow you to put key information (e.g., fast facts, enrollment figures, contact information, costs & fees) on one page or section that you can cross-reference throughout the site. One of our clients actually had tuition & fee figures on four different pages in their site but only updated one of those pages—oy! They’ve broken the habit.

3. It establishes a pattern that translates into more scaleable sites.
I’ve had the same conversation with most all of our vendors and partners, and we all agree-college and university sites are much harder and more complex than any of the corporate sites we’ve worked on. All of the offices, departments, subsites within subsites-all in a great, big organic sprawl. Good IA brings order, establishes patterns, and helps the user to anticipate where they’ll find information in various sections of the site.

What’s good IA? Ask Lee Reilly, our IA expert, or stay tuned for a follow-up post…