How to Do Information Architecture

08/11/15 • 37 min

Abby Covert, author of How to Make Sense of Any Mess, teaches us about information architecture, a subject she strongly feels is a core life skill. She's seen people get fired over language and informs us that – quite obviously in hindsight – architecture is less expensive than design.

Here's what to listen for:

00:44 What is information architecture?
01:52 How is information architecture used specifically in building software?
04:25 Is information architecture synonymous with customer development?
04:52 Is information architecture as a practice pervasive and can it be used in multiple contexts?
06:28 How do we make sure everybody’s on the same page?
10:24 What does deciding what language to use entail?
13:27 How do you get started with information architecture?
15:06 Does everybody on the team need to be involved in the information architecture/design process?
17:49 Are there a range of emotions/feelings about people’s involvement in architecture design?
19:34 What is meant by a “mess”?
20:53 How do you get customers involved in the information architecture process?
24:01 Why should you consider architecture before design?
25:18 How can we make sure we’re going about naming things properly?

Here's what to listen for:

00:44 What is information architecture?
01:52 How is information architecture used specifically in building software?
04:25 Is information architecture synonymous with customer development?
04:52 Is information architecture as a practice pervasive and can it be used in multiple contexts?
06:28 How do we make sure everybody’s on the same page?
10:24 What does deciding what language to use entail?
13:27 How do you get started with information architecture?
15:06 Does everybody on the team need to be involved in the information architecture/design process?
17:49 Are there a range of emotions/feelings about people’s involvement in architecture design?
19:34 What is meant by a “mess”?
20:53 How do you get customers involved in the information architecture process?
24:01 Why should you consider architecture before design?
25:18 How can we make sure we’re going about naming things properly?

Previous Episode

Product Design and User Experience

Sven Lenaerts joins us to share his expertise on product design and user experience. This conversation includes some thoughts on MVPs, when to hire a designer, and what a product person really does.

Here's what to listen for:

00:46 What do you do as a product designer and UI/UX designer?
04:18 What should I figure out before I talk to a designer or developer about building a product?
07:01 What things can I do inexpensively that are lower-risk to see if building an app is the right solution for the problem I am trying to solve?
12:35 What are the biggest mistakes people make when trying to define their Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
15:29 Should you do much experimentation before the product goes out into the wild?
17:53 What do you do when clients are including features in their MVP that they shouldn’t be?
21:22 How do you formulate conversations to make sure the vision of the product is realized? What do those conversations look like?
27:13 Does your vision document have a narrative start/finish to it?
31:17 What “expensive mistakes” can be made when building products?
34:58 Are there any qualities that would distinguish a good product person from a bad one?
38:38 What can I do if I want to stretch my skills and be a little risky without feeling like I’m putting a client at risk?
44:32 What do you do when you find yourself becoming cynical about product ideas and features?
50:06 What can I do to help a UI/UX design person do their best work?

Next Episode

Using Data to Make Informed Product Decisions

Lincoln Ritter, director of engineering at Animoto, shares how they use data to make more informed product decisions.

Here's what to listen for:

02:01 What can we do with data?
04:21 Why should a company care about data and trends?
08:02 How can you become more data-driven?
12:28 How can you get more people involved in caring about data?
16:41 What are the tradeoffs when it comes to agility in software development?
18:29 How do you combat paralysis and help people on your team understand the data better?
20:58 Is data-supported a better term than data-driven?
22:50 What’s the difference between data engineering and data science?
24:59 How do you get data in the right format?
25:59 What kind of question might you have that requires information from multiple sources?
30:13 How do you decouple, consolidate, and keep data separate?
33:01 Do you think real-time data is necessary?
35:06 How would Animoto look at data and make a product decision?
39:04 When is split-testing useful and not useful?