How to create Information Architecture

IA for the product is like a foundation plan for the 🏡. Learn how to create IA in 5 easy steps

Hello!

Today I want to talk to you about Information Architecture.

Imagine you have a bird's eye of your entire product. A blueprint of the entire product as a baseline for all decision-making. That would be SO COOL 🙂 But, how do you achieve this? 🎯

The simple answer is - Information Architecture (IA).

What is IA?

Information Architecture is the art of transforming your thoughts into output for seamless browsing.

Information architecture (IA) is the practice of deciding how to arrange the parts of something to be understandable.

The aim of IA is to organize content so that users would easily adjust to the functionality of the product and could find everything they need without big effort.

Why it is so important to have a well-written IA?

Look at it as the foundation of the new house 🏡 you are building. You can't build a skyscraper on lousy or nonexisting foundations - right?

The same goes for the IA. It gives you the ability to plan properly, and serves as a critical resource for decision-making, adding new features to the site, and expanding the site in the right direction.

🔍 Well-written IA massively improve UX by offering end user the simplest way to find the information they need.

How to create Information Architecture in 5 easy steps

1. Choose organizational structure

   1. A structure is a way of observing and presenting information

   2. You can choose from Hierarchical, Sequential, and Matrix organizational structure

   3. This means you can display information: from top to bottom of the page divided into sequences split by the flows

      

2. High level first

   1. Start at the center of the map

   2. Add first branches as the highest level of navigation/section name

      

3. Add details

   1. For each item, add all the details that should be displayed in a section

   2. Field names, section names, key actions, call to action (buttons

      

4. Connect similar parts

   1. Connect all parts that should be cross-connected in the app

   2. A place where you link pages/CTAs to demonstrate the high-level journey

      

5. RRR

   1. Review, Regroup, Repeat

   2. A loop process in which you polish the structure, once it is outlined This step is essential. This is where you make sure the foundations are set firmly

Extra tips

• Use colors and shapes for better visual representation

• Color code different features to map with release plans Use different shapes to mimic hierarchy in branches/sections/pages

I hope this will help you - hit the reply, I’d love to hear your thoughts.