Perspective

Having a shared understanding is crucial for human collaboration, but it requires a conscious effort to articulate and realize. Our use of the Web has made this more essential than ever before, as millions of people across the globe collaborate to build technology and effective user interfaces for people. Information architecture thinking is a valuable lens.

At Methodbrain, information architecture informs everything we do. As a leading contributor to the study of information architecture, we currently describe information architecture as “a field of study that explores how to facilitate understanding and alignment with conceptual clarity.” We use conceptual modeling as a galvanizing language to foster alignment in the structural design and engineering of application user interfaces and the teams that create them.

Areas where we apply information architecture thinking

Since the introduction of the Web, information architecture has evolved as both an art and science. At Methodbrain, we focus on IA science to bring sound guidance and greater predictability to our work. We leverage our expertise in information architecture research to provide specialization in three areas in the field of human-computer interaction:

• UI (Website) Structural Design – Information architecture is the original practice responsible for today’s common methods for designing site structure. The complexity of a site can range from simple to complex. Site content and functionality can also creep with increasing complexity becoming too convoluted for people to use as intended. We help clients and digital teams create better user experiences and user interfaces by using sound information architecture science to make recommendations for new projects, improve existing site structure, or provide advisory services to assist teams as they draft a structural system.

• UI (Website) Structural Engineering – It’s one thing to design the structure; it’s another to own and manage it over time. We’ve developed an arsenal of methods for handling complex and enterprise-scale site structure. Effectively managing site structure requires specialized software and years of experience in monitoring, improving, and remediating the risks associated with information environments used by thousands to millions of users. Our innovative managed service offers clients unparalleled site modeling expertise and diagnostic insights and is the first managed service of its kind for digital organizations. More about UI Structural Engineering

• UI Team Diagnostics for Design Operations – UI design organizations must continuously maintain their strategic alignment with the business. We are researching and developing diagnostics, analysis, and recommendation framework to help design managers build strategies that improve team structure. This research will help managers understand the structure behind their teams and provide actionable findings. More about UI Team Diagnostics