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| Book: | Information Architecture for the World Wide Web | |
| Subject: | A Classic That Covers It All | |
| Date: | 2007-06-12 22:19:09 | |
| From: | C Masotti, Sacramento STC | |
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Rating:
In “Information Architecture for the World Wide Web,” Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld set out both to demonstrate the need for Information Architects, and to illustrate to believers what good successful information architecture entails. They succeed at both. Rosenfeld, a founder of the Information Architecture Institute and the User Experience Network, and Morville, president of Semantic Studios, are well-established experts in their field. With this 3rd edition of their very popular ‘polar bear book,’ they address the issues related to information structuring in an era of collaborative sites (e.g., wikis) and varying devices and platforms. The need for logical, useful information structure is real. As Jakob Nielsen writes in the book’s Foreward, critics say users don’t care about information architecture. They just want to perform their chosen tasks and get out. But, just as we pass without thought through a dozen green lights and complain when the 13th is red, users are only noticably affected by faulty architecture. Good architecture is rendered invisible by its very success. Morville and Rosenfeld cover a lot of ground here, suggesting improvements not only in the behind-the-scenes organization of information, but in actual interface design as well. For example, in Chapter 8, Search Systems, they discuss the anatomy of a search system, what to make searchable, and how to present the results. In Navigation Systems (chapter 7), the authors discuss the unique purpose of each of several types of supplemental navigation systems, and point to the recent developments in social navigation systems (e.g., Amazon’s ‘Customers who bought this book also bought,’ Epinions’ recommendation engine, and Flickr’s tag clouds) as a positive turn for visualization attempts, where tools such as sitemaps have fallen short. This book (in its first and second editions) didn’t become a classic without reason. With extensive treatment of everything from classifying data, to content mapping, to building an IA team, the authors have built a lasting reference for novices and sophisticates alike. Here is a guide to consult repeatedly as you come across specific problems that the book addresses. In Making the Case for Information Architecture (chapter 17), technical communicators will hear a familiar message from the authors to fellow information architects: You must sell the value of what you do. Although information architects face a slightly different strain of the ROI issue. Information architecture is unknown to most people, and Rosenfeld and Morville present their brethren with a basket of pro-IA arguments and a Value Checklist (one of which is “reduces reliance upon documentation”). In the end, the authors achieve their dual objectives of teaching good information architecture practices, and helping the architects illustrate their worth to the unconvinced. |
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