This poster is a synthesis of my research in the framing of information architecture.

From 2000 until 2014, the field of information architecture experienced an identity crisis that left many contemplating the description of information architecture as a practice and its value in the creation of web user interfaces.

The interest to define information architecture reignited and peaked between 2009 and 2013: The IA Institute sponsored a Define IA contest, the Journal of IA published its first volume to provoke a scientific body of knowledge, and Andrea Resmini vigorously sponsored a “Reframe IA” movement that is still active under the IA Roundtable.

In 2014, I shared the original version of this research poster at IA Summit 2014. The 2014 research poster illustrated how the field’s framing of information architecture matured over time and posited that any effort to frame information architecture as a practice must encapsulate multiple perspectives versus a singular frame. The timeline was removed from this public version of the poster, mainly for simplicity.

This study of IA framing helped me to understand how my research interests and practice of information architecture related to others. It can likely do the same for you.

BTW. I’m sharing this poster six years later because I forgot to post it! Thanks to Andrea Resmini, Sara Rice, and Bernadette Irizarry who triggered my memory!

Related Article:

• The Value of Information Architecture
• Information Architecture Schools of Thought – Beta