Information architecture

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Definition

Information architecture is the science of organizing and structuring of information for use in defined contexts. This may involve the classification and management of information as in library sciences or the structuring of a web or software architecture or the modeling of the relationships between data within a system.

also referred to as information design

A selection of definitions over at eleganthack.com.

Origins

Wyllys (2000) claims Information architecture has its origins in architecture. and was brought into wide use by Richard Saul Wurman, who used the term to refer to the process of bringing together the multifaceted information contained within urban environments and representing them to multiple target users (city planners, architects, engineers, dwellers). Wurman likened this task to function of an architect who must:

“

ascertain needs

   * organize the needs into a coherent pattern that clarifies their nature and interactions
   * design a building that will--by means of its rooms, fixtures, machines, and layout, i.e., flow of people and materials--meet the occupants' needs.”

In teams that can include visual designers, interface designers, navigation designers, information designers, and interaction designers, the information architect is free to focus on the structure and organization.

Structures

hierarchies: classification such as the Dewey Decimal Classification system whose goal is to classify knowledge into categories, sub-categories, sub-sub-categories, etc.
networks of nodes and links between nodes (non-hierarchical), such as the Web
database-oriented models: pieces of information stored in fields and grouped into records and files with metadata to relate the fields and records