UX Design 101: Information Architecture — Structuring & organizing content

Session 03 — Key takeaways, lesson & application exercises.

Alongside the ability to Think in (User) Flows (Session 02), Information Architecture is one of the most important, foundational components of creating impactful human-centered Interaction Design.

If a designer is not thoughtfully structuring and presenting content to a user, they are not considering a users context and how they will extract value from what is being designed when interacting with a product or service.

For UX Designers and Researchers, the ability to understand a users context, interpret how users extract meaning, then effectively structure and present content to them in a way that is relevant to their needs is a critical skill in their toolkit.

Information Architecture defines how content will be structured and presented to a user when they are interacting with your design. The structure of Content + a Users Context determines the Meaning that they extract, and subsequently their Interpretation of what it means (for them).

What are the goals of this session?

Building upon the previous session (Thinking in Flows), this session provides an understanding of the underlying principles of Information Architecture — including how to design content structures that effectively convey meaning to users within the context of their experience.

Additionally, it introduces methods for structuring and organizing content in ways that effectively support a user’s journey through a system and facilitate desirable outcomes for customers and the business.

The participatory exercises in this session encourage participant to build upon their output from past sessions. This allows participants to better understand how the the techniques being taught work together and how they can be applied to a real project that they are working or have worked on in the past.