How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody

Too much information Not enough information Not the right information Some combination of these

Current users: People who interact with whatever you're making. Potential users: People you hope to reach. Stakeholders: People who care about the outcome of what you're making. Competitors: People who share your current or potential users. Distractors: People that could take attention away from your intent.

Scope is your clearly stated purpose for the diagram.

But to make sense of real-world problems, you need to understand how users, channels, and context relate to each other.

What we remove is as important as what we add. It isn't just the ideas that get the work done.

Who's most important to serve? What words might make them defensive? What words might put them at ease? How open are they to change? How will this affect their lives? How does the current state of things look to them? Is that good or bad?

Maybe we fear light being shined our way. Confronting your fears and knowing what is real is an important part of making sense of a mess.

The only way to know what happens next is to do it.

When architecting information, focus on your own unique objectives. You can learn from and borrow from other people. But it's best to look at their decisions through the lens of your intended outcome.

Practicing information architecture means exhibiting the courage to push past the edges of your current reality. It means asking questions that inspire change. It takes honesty and confidence in other people.