What is Information architecture and why it matters?

Information Architecture or IA, can be defined as the science of labelling websites, organizing online communities and intranets that promotes findability and usability. Information Architecture strives to bring the principles of architecture and design onto the digital background and can be described as the basic design of shared information environments.

So, what does Information Architecture consist of?

• Labelling Systems that helps one to symbolise or denote information
• Organization Systems that help information to be categorized and arranged in a relevant manner
• Navigation Systems that supports users to sift through humungous information
• Search Systems that assists users to look for information

To put it Information architecture in the right perspective, imagine you are surfing the web for a company and after accessing their website, you are unable to locate their contact details. IA has evolved over the past three decades to help people know their surroundings and help them find what they are searching for. This applies to the real world as well as the virtual world too. Imagine visiting a restaurant or a mall and you are unable to locate the washroom, wouldn’t that be frustrating, given the fact that there are no directions to lead you there.

Why Information Architecture?

The right IA when applied to its fullest acts as a guide for the users while laying the required groundwork for an information system and helps the flow of relevant information to the user. With the exponential growth of information happening all around us, the success of websites and software applications hinges completely on its usability, and Information Architecture ensures its implementation.

The positioning of the varied information and data on a website or a system has to be done according to its need and usability to the user. Non-conformance to these basic norms will create an unsatisfied user experience as users expect certain information to be available in specific places only. It can be easily deduced, that if your website is unable to implement information architecture in the right manner, your competitor may get an edge over your business as the user may prefer their website than yours.

The understanding of this critical function has created the position of an Information Architect within many modern organizations who lead the way in development processes for product architecture to file systems. Organizations that do not have a similar position, use knowledge architects or internet strategy consultants to fulfil their need of developing Information Architecture. Creation of classifications within a product or handling a variety of legacy data, IA is a critical tool used to creating a solution.

In order to get the necessary competitive advantage, many organizations are keen on investing with web development solution providers, who can get the content or information architecture suitably spruced up or rebuild from scratch. The proper navigation of a user along with a clear understanding of the user’s problems is the key to a great user experience that leads to increased web traffic.

Zyxware provides an array of Web development services that will ensure proper restructuring of your website with a minimum turnaround time and create robust yet flexible information architecture. Call now to partner with us and get complete architectural support that your company needs.

For detailed information on our Web development services, please contact us.