The three circles of IA (www.theguardian.com)
Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve had the privilege of presenting various training courses around Europe over the last year or two, focusing primarily on the intersection between search and user experience. For 2014 I’m pleased to announce a new course offering: an Introduction to Information Architecture. This will be presented for the first time at the University of West London on February 26, and is a collaborative effort with Stephann Makri of City University. Our aim is to offer the best of both worlds: academic rigour backed up by the experience of working a wide variety of commercial projects, in a format that emphasises the use of group work and practical exercises.
We’re quite excited at the prospect – it’s a new venture for us but we think between us we could have a winning formula. I’ve appended the course summary below, but If you‘d like to see more, just visit the UWL website. Hope to see you there!
Why is it easy to find information in some digital information environments, but difficult in others? Why do some websites make navigation easy, while others disorient us until we eventually get lost? A good information architecture can help ensure that digital information environments are easy to navigate, well-labelled and well-organised. It can also help ensure that they are usable and effective in meeting business objectives.
Information architecture involves the development of schemes to support the organisation and labelling of digital assets. It also involves the structural design of digital information environments to support users in finding and navigating those assets.
This 1-day course describes the purpose and value of IA across different platforms and environments (websites, mobile apps, Intranets, digital libraries) and outlines the important elements of an effective information architecture. It focuses on the development of practical skills in capturing IA requirements, designing IA solutions and in the user-centred evaluation of digital information environments.
Information Interaction 
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