Information Architecture is about organizing and simplifying information, designing and integrating information spaces/systems, and creating ways for people to find and interact with information content. Its goal is to help people understand and manage information and make the right decisions accordingly. This updated and revised edition of the book looks at integrated information spaces in the web context and beyond, with a focus on putting theories and principles into practice.
In the ever-changing social, organizational, and technological contexts, information architects not only design individual information spaces (e.g., websites, software applications, and mobile devices), but also tackle strategic aggregation and integration of multiple information spaces across websites, channels, modalities, and platforms. Not only do they create predetermined navigation pathways, but they also provide tools and rules for people to organize information on their own and get connected with others.
Information architects work with multi-disciplinary teams to determine the user experience strategy based on user needs and business goals, and make sure the strategy gets carried out by following the user-centered design (UCD) process via close collaboration with others. Drawing on the authors’ extensive experience as HCI researchers, User Experience Design practitioners, and Information Architecture instructors, this book provides a balanced view of the IA discipline by applying theories, design principles, and guidelines to IA and UX practices. It also covers advanced topics such as iterative design, UX decision support, and global and mobile IA considerations. Major revisions include moving away from a web-centric view toward multi-channel, multi-device experiences. Concepts such as responsive design, emerging design principles, and user-centered methods such as Agile, Lean UX, and Design Thinking are discussed and related to IA processes and practices.
Dr. Wei Ding is a digital product strategist and program manager with more than 20 years of experience in user experience design, marketing, and consumer behavior. She is currently leading the digital product team at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), overseeing the ideation, design, and development of all consumer-facing digital products. Previously she held various design leadership positions at other federal government agencies and private sectors, including the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Marriott International, and Vanguard. She helped institutions establish user experience design disciplines, and led the successful design/redesign of large-scaled ecommerce or government websites, such as uspto.gov, Marriott.com, and vanguard.com. Dr. Ding has been an adjunct professor at Drexel University teaching Information Architecture and other graduate level courses since 2006. She has a Ph.D. degree in Information Science from the University of Maryland, and a B.S. and M.S. from Peking (Beijing) University. She has published a number of research papers and articles and is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and industry forums.
Dr. Xia Lin is a Professor in the College of Computing and Informatics at Drexel University. His major research areas include digital libraries, information visualization, information retrieval, and knowledge organization. He initiated the Information Architecture course at Drexel in 2003 and has taught the course for many years. Dr. Lin has published more than 100 research papers and received significant research grants from federal agencies and industries. His visualization prototypes have been presented and demonstrated in many national and international conferences. Dr. Lin has a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Master of Librarianship from Emory University at Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to join Drexel, Dr. Lin was an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Michael Zarro is a User Experience consultant with over 15 years experience leading UX projects for some of the largest technology companies in the world. Currently he manages an international customer research practice for the Project Management Institute. Previously, he taught graduate-level Information Architecture courses at Drexel University, supervised a Master's Thesis at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and taught in a technology learning program at Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Zarro has a Ph.D. in information science from Drexel University, and an MSLIS also from Drexel. He has managed UX research projects around the globe, from the wilds of Alaska to a banking center of Germany. Dr. Zarro designed one of the first product subscription services in eCommerce, and conducted some of the earliest research on social curation. He has published over a dozen research papers and articles, and presented his work at leading international conferences.
