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Practice Collaborative Information Architecture

September 29, 2016
by Adam Churchill

Information Architecture is a practice of arranging parts to make sense of a whole. Naming and cataloging information in a logical and simple framework is a critical step to creating an understanding between the content and our users, says Abby Covert.

Collaborative Information Architecture is a practice that draws stakeholders out of their respective silos within an organization, helps teams reach clarity on content and goals, and ultimately creates a common ground of understanding between all parties through the use of meeting facilitation, and visual diagrams that communicate complexity and resolve conflicts.

Collaborative IA can alleviate the following problems:

  • Internal disputes over what to call things
  • Lack of clarity over what things “are” within an organization (people often have a different understanding across departments)
  • Overlapping functionality
  • Lack of prioritization of audiences or goals
  • Arguing about priority through a lens of organizational politics
  • “This is how we’ve always done it” thinking
  • “Lacksonomy” instead of taxonomy, when language and structure is developed organically and not thought-out