Understanding Context: Environment, Language, and Information Architecture - Softcover

Hinton, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1449323170 ISBN 13: 9781449323172

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 2015

Synopsis

To make sense of the world, we're always trying to place things in context, whether our environment is physical, cultural, or something else altogether. Now that we live among digital, always-networked products, apps, and places, context is more complicated than ever--starting with "where" and "who" we are.
This practical, insightful book provides a powerful toolset to help information architects, UX professionals, and web and app designers understand and solve the many challenges of contextual ambiguity in the products and services they create. You'll discover not only how to design for a given context, but also how design participates in making context.

• Learn how people perceive context when touching and navigating digital environments
• See how labels, relationships, and rules work as building blocks for context
• Find out how to make better sense of cross-channel, multi-device products or services
• Discover how language creates infrastructure in organizations, software, and the Internet of Things
• Learn models for figuring out the contextual angles of any user experience

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Hinton is an Information Architect at The Understanding Group (TUG). Since the early 90s, he's been helping clients and employers of all shapes and sizes make better information environments. Andrew is co-founder and past board member of the IA Institute, and is a frequent speaker at UX conferences. You can find links to Andrew-related things at andrewhinton.com. Learn more about the book at contextbook.com

Review

Advance Praise (1 of 3):     "Andrew takes us on a journey from not knowing to knowing; he asks good, interesting questions about the role context plays in the design and architecture of understanding."  -- Richard Saul Wurman   "...a thoughtful, well-researched and insightful book, full of key ideas to help you navigate the connected future." -- Dave Gray, Author, The Connected Company   "...come away better situated in a world remade (but not replaced) by technology, and get ready to give it better architecture." -- Malcolm McCullough, author of Ambient Commons and Digital Ground 

Advance Praise (2 of 3): 
"...helps us perceive, make sense of, and engage with the contexts that surround us..." -- Louis Rosenfeld, Author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web; founder, Rosenfeld Media 
"...masterfully makes the case for meeting users where they are, and putting context in its proper place: at the center of making meaningful design." -- Dana Chisnell    "...A necessary read ... for those who create products and services spanning the digital and the physical, where context is everything." -- Andrea Resmini, PhD, Author, Pervasive Information Architecture 

Advance Praise (3 of 3):     "...a door to knowledge that will allow an entire generation of digital designers to more properly consider the context in which their work is used..." -- Abby Covert, Author, How to Make Sense of Any Mess    "...a rigorous and wide-ranging framework for thinking about how we perceive and interact with our linguistic and digital environments, based on cutting edge cognitive science... the result is an invaluable guide..."  -- Andrew D. Wilson, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett University

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1449323170
• ISBN 13: 9781449323172
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 461