DSIA Research for Information Architecture

DSIA

The longest-running glossary devoted to information architecture since 2012, and is curated by Nathaniel Davis.

Information architecture (IA) is a field of study concerned with sustaining shared understanding and alignment with conceptual clarity. This glossary reflects proposed terms within the context of information architecture theory, science, and practices based on DSIA Research. This public-facing glossary does not reflect the exhaustive list of DSIA-based terms. Terms are generally added to this page when mentioned or implied in a related publication.

Last Updated: 10/6/2025

A

Abstract Construct

A conceptual relationship between two or more unique entities.

Abundance (Information Overload: Signature)

An excessive amount of information and content. See also information overload.

Activity Branch

The definition for this concept is not available at this time.

Activity Phase

The definition for this concept is not available at this time.

Architectural Intent

The rationalized objective of two or more reciprocating entities within a domain of behavior.

Application User Interface

The definition for this concept is not available at this time.

Application User Interface (AUI) Function

A function of network computing where human behavior is the central performance dependency.

Application Technology Interface (ATI) Function

A function of network computing where technology is the central performance dependency.

Architecture (Activity Branch)

This definition of architecture has been temporarily removed.

Architecture (Project : Activity)

The collective effort to frame systemic, relational constraints in a way that provides context and reveals an expression for an explicit intent.

Area of Interest

See: Subject Matter; relates to Practice Tier.

Assertion

A loosely supported concept that claims theoretical or practical relevance; conjecture.

B

Boersma Assertion

The Peter Boersma assertion implies that the complete practice of user experience design overlaps or entails some aspect of every form of professional practice in the architecture and design of computing interfaces.

C

Classic Information Architecture (Practice)

A school of thought concerned with the strategy and design for navigating, organizing, and relating information in ways that promote information findability, management, and use.

Common Set

An official grouping of probes and constructs that make up the tactical interests of information architecture in practice.

Communication

Communication is the exact or approximate realization of an intention.

Complex Domain

Describes the state of an information architecture where the physical and abstract constructs are not adaptive across modes and domains.

Conjecture

A conclusion that is deduced by surmise or guesswork.

— Source: Merriam-Webster

Concept

The referential abstract representation of an object of experience.

Concept Baseline

A concept baseline is the language required for optimal communication among system participants. In practice, it refers to the documented, readily accessible concepts that an organization or group manages to optimize activities related to insight, strategy, planning, and execution. The terms “Enterprise concept baseline” and “concept system” are equivalent.

When applied in technical environments with mature data governance practices, a concept baseline is best viewed as a complement to UX design systems. In this regard, a concept baseline can be described as a set of standard models for managing context alignment at scale.

Conceptual Debt

Conceptual debt refers to the operational cost associated with managing an organization’s concept baseline. Conceptual debt is used as an alternate term for UI structural debt.

Contemporary Information Architecture (Practice)

“A school of thought concerned with the design of information environments and the management of an information environment design process.” — Source: Earl Morrough

Construct (Common Set)

See: Abstract Construct, Physical Construct

Content

A set of information structured by language for the purpose of intentional communication.

Content Component (Application UI)

An interrelated set of content objects used to enable an interactive presentation and engagement within a user interface.

Content Definition

The collective set of models for the concrete and abstract constructs that impart meaning in support of sustainable behavior.

Content Model (Application UI)

A model of related content objects and the inherent attributes they require to achieve an intended outcome for an application user interface.

Content Object (Application UI)

A presentation-based HTML element with which a user of an application user interface will engage. For instance: text, image, table, list, header, etc.

Content Module

A description (model) for a set of interdependent components; the parent container of one or more content components.

Content Type (Application UI)

A description (model) for a collection of interrelated content modules within an application user interface; the parent container of one or more content modules.

Context

The temporal, interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs.

Cross-Domain Information Architecture

A site information architecture that serves as the canonical model for accommodating and enabling multiple abstract and physical constructs across multiple subject domains.

D

Design (Activity Branch)

The definition for this concept is not available at this time.

Design (Project : Activity)

The collective effort to provide a solution within the respective constraints of architectural intent; “the rendering of intent” (Jared Spool).

Design Solution

The outcome of design activity that serves as the representational requirement for an intentionally (with reference to architectural intent) built object.

Device

Equipment or a mechanism designed to serve a special purpose or perform a special function.

— Source: Merriam-Webster

Digital Literacy Gap (Information Overload: Signature)

The degree of education a user needs to effectively use and contribute to a knowledge system and information architecture; literacy gap. See also information overload.

Discipline

A system of rules of conduct derived from extensive practice.

Domain Extension

Integration of the physical and abstract constructs of UI structure into other physically independent domains.

Domain

A related set of concrete and/or abstract constituents (like a device, network of devices, or subject matter like Science or History).

Dynamic UI Structure

A reference model for UI structure that can be managed via systematic structural intervention.

E

Empathy

The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another in either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.

— Source: Merriam-Webster.

Engineering (Project : Activity)

The collective effort to rationalize a structure [5] that allows a design solution and architectural intent to be instantiated in the intended context.

Enterprise Concept Baseline

See concept baseline

Entity

Something that exists as a particular and discrete unit — Source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.;

See: object

F

Feedback (Information Overload: Signature)

The undesirable human performance or behavioral response that’s generated as a consequence of an information overload event. See also information overload.

Filter Failure (Information Overload: Signature)

Ineffective controls for determining content quality and relevance. See also information overload.

First-Order Domain

An informational pattern that represents the symmetrical grouping of multiple subject domains and their primary tiers.

G

H

I

Interaction Definitions

The collection of models that represent the affordances for engagement with an object within a given context.

IA

An acronym for the term information architecture.

IA Engineer

See IA Structural Engineer

Information

That which can be used as an asymmetric reflection (or representation) of experiential phenomena and accommodate relationships with other phenomena to facilitate language for the purpose of communication; a building block for language.

Information Architect

A practitioner who designates the function of information architecture as their core competency or primary functional responsibility within a business organization.

Information Architecture

See: Information Architecture (Business Function); Information Architecture (Practice); Information Architecture (Work Product).

Information Architecture (Field of Study)

Information architecture (IA) is a field of study concerned with sustaining shared understanding and alignment with conceptual clarity.

Information Architecture (Business Function)

Information architecture is an organizational function responsible for simplifying how people navigate and use connected content throughout an organization.

Information Architecture (Web Practice)

Information architecture is a practice concerned with the structural design and engineering of application user interfaces.

Information Architecture (Work Product)

“The structural design of [user interfaces and other] shared information environments (Morville and Rosenfeld)”; The assumptions and governing constructs for assigning properties and attributes to information and the endowment and evolution of information relationships over time within a given domain; a governing model for information behavior within a digitally mediated environment; the governing framework for content behavior. In digital contexts, information architecture functions as the structure of user interfaces.

Information Architecture Analyst (IA Analyst)

An information architecture analyst is an information architecture engineer specializing in diagnostics and financial impact analysis of IA structures (see Information Architecture as work product).

What is UI Structural Engineering?

Information Domain

A set of modeled information behaviors consisting of properties, attributes, and base information.

Information Environment

A set of modeled information behaviors that include one or more information domains.

Information Overload

In the context of information architecture theory, information overload is an expression of six conditions that create a backlog of “inefficient and unprocessed information” that produces cognitive stress to users of application user interfaces.

See also: Micro Information Overload and Macro Information Overload.

J

K

Koltay Assertion

The Tibor Koltay assertion argues that low digital (information) literacy contributes to the propagation of information overload. View Tibor Koltay’s original article.

L

Language

Language is a system of representations and interrelational constraints used to convey meaning in communication.

M

Macro Information Overload

Macro information overload is the state where the abundance of information becomes a quantitative obstruction to the underlying intention of an information technology system.

Micro Information Overload

Micro information overload is the state where the abundance of information obstructs the underlying intention of an agent interacting with a system.

Mode

The term mode refers to the physical container and its inherent properties by which information is consumed on a device.

Multi-Domain Information Architecture

A multidomain information architecture is a site information architecture that accommodates and enables multiple abstract and physical constructs of multiple sites within a single subject domain.

N

Natural Domain

A natural domain describes the state of an information architecture where the abstract and physical constructs are adaptive across modes and domains.

Navigation

See: Physical construct

O

Object

See Entity.

Order Grid

In theoretical IA terms, an order grid is the first-order mapping of a segmentation.

P

Perspective

In theoretical IA terms, perspective is a set of uniquely appropriated resources (UAR) within a domain of experience.

Physical Construct

A physical construct is the interactive sequence and dependent nodes for a single or all directed paths to content within a domain; navigation, and content designated for consumption.

Practice

A practice is the sum of collective behaviors of intentional empirical probing around an area of interest, whereby the contribution of documentation of discovery enables a consensus that builds and reinforces discipline around such behaviors.

Practice Tier

A practice tier is a single area of interest in a practice vertical.

Practice Vertical

A practice vertical is a set of practice tiers that represent a single professional practice’s primary areas of interest.

Probe

In IA common set theory, a probe is a perspective or content relative to a shared and dependent context.

Production (Project : Activity)

Production encompasses the collective effort to instantiate a design solution as a concrete object for use in accordance with its respective architecture, design, and engineering specifications; 2) the effort by which a product is made.

Q

Quartet Compression

The term “quartet compression” describes the co-dependent relationship among a technology platform, applications, information, and an individual or group of people.

R

Reactionary Propagation

Reactionary propagation refers to the perpetual cycle of increasing volatility and volume of use, adoption, and performance that’s encouraged by a compression of human behavior.

Representational Tolerance

Representational tolerance is the degree of acceptable transformation of a digital asset compared to its stored state within a data or digital storage repository.

Related Article: Information Architecture and The Impact of Generative AI

S

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is the practice of improving the relevant discoverability of information by search engines.

Segmentation

A segmentation is an assertion for the behavioral properties of an object within a domain of information.

Single-Domain Information Architecture

A site information architecture that does not share its abstract or physical construct with other information sources with the intention.

Shared Information Environment

A shared information environment is the given space, time, and respective mechanisms where participants willfully collaborate and coexist to satisfy their shared interests.

Shirky Assertion

The Clay Shirky assertion implies that the failure to filter information properly is what humans inaccurately interpret as information overload. Nathaniel Davis describes filter failure as a signature of information overload.

Static UI Structure

Static UI structure refers to a UI structure that relies on static documentation that does not support systematic intervention.

Structural Definition (IA Structural Definition)

A structural definition is a conceptual model used to represent the base objects, domains, or environment relationships of constrained behaviors in a system.

Structure

Structure is the coherent order and relations between physical and abstract constructs in support of a communicated design.

Subject Domain

Subject domain refers to the collective behaviors and vocabulary of an individual or group that directly relate to a unique subject matter or function within a business, organization, or social context.

Subject Matter

A subject matter is a topic of inquiry and discussion of single or multiple subject domains; an area of interest.

Syntax

Syntax refers to the rules that govern how information forms linguistic constituents like words, phrases, images, gestures, and sounds.

Systematic Structural Intervention

Systematic structural intervention refers to the ability to manage and modify the structural properties of an application user interface within an integrated system.

T

Target Operating Cost

Target operating cost is the estimated financial resources required to manage UI structure and its remediation.

Taxonomy

An abstract construct that reflects the collective division of entities into ordered domains arranged to demonstrate parent-child relationships between domain constituents.

Tier

A tier reflects an attribute within a property of a first-order grid; a domain attribute.

Total Cost of Ownership

Total cost of ownership refers to the cost associated with managing and leveraging the design and assets of an information architecture for a target information environment.

U

UI Structure

A UI structure is the coherent arrangement of and relations between an application user interface’s essential concepts and UI components.

UI Structural Debt

UI structural debt is the estimated cost of inefficiencies and additional rework caused by either a lack of expertise or by choosing a simpler approach over a better one to save time. UI structural debt is technically calculated by subtracting the target operating cost from the total cost of ownership; conceptual debt; UI debt

Related Article: UI Structural Engineering 101

UI Structural Design

See Information Architecture (Work Product)

UI Structural Engineer

A UI structural engineer is someone who applies the science of UI structure in professional practice and provides plans to mitigate structural failure.

UI Structural Engineering

Related Article: About UI Structural Engineering

Related Article: UI Structural Engineering 101

Related Article: Transforming Our Conversation of Information Architecture with Structure

UI structural engineering is the practice of defining the structure of application user interfaces using information architecture science.

Uniquely appropriated resources (UAR)

The definition for this concept is not available at this time.

User Experience Design

User experience design is the practice of determining the content, form, and behavior of a user interface and its related systems, grounded in a holistic exploration of situational context and user empathy.

User Interface (UI)

A user interface is the apparatus a human uses to communicate as a proxy for computation, communication, or mechanical effort. 

Utility Gap (Information Overload: Signature)

A utility gap is the amount of unused and unusable information stored within a domain. See also information overload.

V

Volatility (Information Overload: Signature)

The rate of information flow within a domain. See also information overload.

Verifiable Agency

Verifiable agency is the measure of an entity’s ability to exhibit free agency based on satisfying, at a minimum, 1) a successful demonstration of free agency, 2) competency in satisfying a predetermined set of known tasks constrained by unpredictable scenarios, and 3) an ability to satisfy prescribed criteria for trustworthiness.

Revision History

Week of 2/2/2026

  • Added new term: Language
    • This term was added to provide an official reference for an upcoming workshop on IA Strategy at the IA Conference (IAC) in Philadelphia, PA.
  • Added new term: Communication
    • This term was added to provide an official reference for an upcoming workshop on IA Strategy at the IA Conference (IAC) in Philadelphia, PA.

Week of 1/12/2026

  • Reversed all references to IA Structure back to UI Structure
  • Removed term: T-Model
    • Explanation: This term is no longer considered relevant.
  • Updated the sentence structure of definitions to include the subject term.
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Structural Definition
  • Made general grammatical updates to existing definitions for clarity and brevity.

Week of 10/6/2025

  • Added new term: Conceptual Debt – This term was added to reflect its relationship with IA structural debt. They are interchangeable. Conceptual debt is a more approachable (less technical) term that resonates with a larger audience.

Week of 2/24/2025

  • Added new term: Perspective
  • Added new term: Uniquely Appropriated Resource (UAR)
  • Note: Perspective is being used in an upcoming article in a way that warrants publishing the DSIA-based definition. While UAR was not mentioned in the article, it is used to describe perspective.

Week of 9/22/2024

  • Removed existing term: Structural Design
  • Renamed “Static UI Structure” to “Static IA Structure”

Week of 8/11/2024

  • Added new term: Target Operating Cost
  • Added new term: Total Cost of Ownership

Week of 7/29/2024

  • Added new term: Information Architecture Analyst

Week of 7/8/2024

  • Added new term: Shared Information Environment
  • Updated all “UI Structure and UI Structural Design” references to “IA Structure” and “IA Structural Design.”

Week of 7/1/2024

  • Added new term: Structural Definition
  • Removed existing term: This term was replaced with “structural definition” to improve coherence in the vocabulary.

Week of 6/17/2024

  • Added new term: Concept
  • Added new term: Concept Baseline

Week of 4/22/24

  • Retired existing term: Behavioral Definition

Week of 4/1/2024

  • Added new term – Structural Design

Week of 3/27/2024

  • Edited the existing term “Information Architecture (Work Product)” – Surfaced Peter Morville and Lou Rosenfeld’s definition as it is aligned with DSIA research. Over the years, it has slowly become the lead definition among a set of alternatives.

Week of 2/5/2024

  • Edited the existing term “Segmentation” for clarity.

Week of 1/8/2024

  • Edited the existing term “Information” for additional context. Added “for the purpose of communication” to the end of the sentence.

Week of 10.30.2023

  • Added new term – Verifiable Agency
  • Added new term – Representational Tolerance

Week of 9.18.2023

  • Edited an existing term for clarity – UI Structure.

Week of 6.26.2023

  • Add related article links to UI Structure and UI Structural Engineering.
  • Added an official definition for information overload. It had only been previously indirectly defined via the marco- and micro-Information overload definitions. The draft that is now provided takes its inspiration from Nate Davis’s original article, Information Overload: Reloaded.
  • General editing of sentence structure.

Week of 12.20.2022

Added new term – Discipline

Week of 12.07.2020

  • Added new term – Information Architecture (Field of Study)
  • Added related term – Object

Week of 12.07.2020

Added new term – Information Architecture (Field of Study)

Week of 09.13.2020

  • Corrected the definition of Information Architecture (Web Practice) to reflect the one used on the disambiguation page.

Week of 08.16.2020

  • Added new term – UI Structure
  • Added new term – UI Structural Debt
  • Clarification – Added “: Signature” to better disambiguate the six information overload signatures.
  • Added term – UI Structural Engineer

08.13.2020

  • Renamed term – Active UI Structure is now Dynamic UI Structure

08.07.2020

  • Renamed term – Conceptual UI Structure is now Static UI Structure
  • Renamed term – Physical UI Structure is now Active UI Structure

08.06.2020

  • Added new term – Application User Interface with definition pending
  • Added new term – UI Structural Engineer with definition pending
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Conceptual UI Structure
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Physical UI Structure
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Tier

07.29.2020

06.26.2020

  • Edited description to improve clarity – Content Component
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Content Model
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Content Module
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Content Object
  • Edited description to improve clarity – Content Type