Information architecture: Theory and practice

Taught at: OzIA 2008. Sydney, Australia
Workshop date:

This full day workshop will provide you with a thorough overview and understanding of information architecture theory & practice. It will cover a wide range of IA issues, including an understanding of how it fits into a project, fundamental skills & knowledge required for IA work and current IA issues. It will be theoretical and practical and allow you to immediately apply ideas to your projects.

Workshop outline

  • What information architecture is and how it relates to other user experience disciplines
  • Core IA techniques – analysing content, conducting user research, card sorting and more
  • Core IA theories – classification, categorization, metadata & labeling
  • IA structures – hierarchies, database and other structures
  • Designing navigation & page layouts
  • Putting it together in an IA project

The workshop will be at the level of an ‘advanced intro’, covering the basics and also allowing exploration of key challenges and issues. The format is a combination of short lectures, group discussion and hands-on activities. Extensive notes and resources will be provided for further personal exploration.

Learning outcomes

After the workshop, the participants will have:

  • An understanding of fundamental IA concepts and issues
  • An understanding of processes and techniques often used in an IA project
  • Hands-on experience with key techniques
  • Shared skills with other practitioners

Target audience

  • Beginners to IA
  • People working in related roles who need to know about IA
  • Intermediate IAs who have never had formal introduction to the fundamentals.