1. IA as described above is still pretty new, highly interstitial, and very complex; its materials are invisible, and its effects are, almost by definition, back-stage where nobody notices them (until they suck). We’re still learning how to talk about it. (We need more patience with this — if artists, judges, philosophers and even traditional architects can still disagree among one another about the nature of their fields, there’s no shame in IA following suit.)

2. Information architecture is a phrase claimed by several different camps of people, from Wurmanites (who see it as a sort of hybrid information-design-meets-philosophy-of-life) to the polar-bear-book-is-all-I-need folks, to the information-technology systems architects and others … all of whom would do better to start understanding themselves as points on a spectrum rather than mutually exclusive identities.

3. There are too many legacy definitions of IA hanging around that need to be updated past the “web 1.0″ mentality of circa 2000. The official explanations need to catch up with the frontiers the practice has been working in for years now. (I had an opportunity to fix this with IA Institute and dropped the ball; glad to help the new board & others in any way I can, though.)

4. Leaders in the community have the responsibility to push the practice’s understanding of itself forward: in any field, the majority of members will follow such a lead, but will otherwise remain in stasis. We need to be better boosters of IA, and calling it what it is rather than skirting the charge of “defining the damn thing.”

5. Some leaders (and/or loud voices) in the broader design community have, for whatever reason, decided to reject information architecture or, worse, continue stoking some kind of grudge against IA and people who identify as information architects. They need to get over their drama, occasionally give people the benefit of the freakin’ doubt, and move on.” (Andrew Hinton)

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No great explorer set out with a detailed set of explorer guidelines. They adjusted and discovered.

No great inventor set out with a detailed set of inventor guidelines. They experimented and adapted.

No great leader set out with a detailed set of leadership guidelines. Leaders point the way and rally followers when their faith fails.

“Making it up as you go along” means that you recognize a good foothold on your way up a mountain and know how to take advantage of it (in other words, you understand your craft). But you don’t need (literally) a step-by-step instruction book (because you understand your craft). In software development terms, the “step-by-step” equivalent is a requirements specification. Kind of like paint-by-numbers for would-be Rembrandts who don’t yet know that method is incapable of producing genuine art.” (Eric Reiss)

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Link to slides (English)

“If you’re a website designer, intranet manager or someone without much Information Architecture experience, this book answers all those questions you were afraid to ask.

Drawing on her many years experience of practising and teaching Information Architecture, Donna Spencer guides you through some simple steps to better IA and leaves you feeling empowered and able to run your own IA projects. Whether it’s organising content, providing clear descriptions or ways for people to get to them, this book is armed with practical advice and examples.” Five Simple Steps | Free Sample (PDF)

• Effort Actions—which categorize the ways people perform actions and their intentions, based on weight, time, space, and flow
• Body—which connects the structure and physical characteristics of the body in motion and how they interact
• Shape—which describes the ways in which the body changes shape during movement, in relationship to the environment in which motion takes place

Traci Lapore for UX Matters (via BogieZero)