Information Architecture Articles & Videos

  • Context Libraries: How AI Power Users Manage Context Engineering

    Claude power users rarely edit their context files and often can’t find them. Your AI agent is only as powerful as its context library.

  • Context Architecture

    Context architecture applies information architecture principles to AI systems, helping agents interpret information and produce better, user aligned responses.

  • Explicitly State the Difference Between Options

    When the key differences between choices are implied or buried, users often select the wrong option or misunderstand the features.

  • Card Sorting: Pushing Users Beyond Terminology Matches

    Labels in a card sorting study must be neutral to prevent keyword matching and encourage careful, conceptual groupings from users.

  • Card Sorting vs. Tree Testing

    Card sort studies help shape information architectures; tree-testing studies evaluate them.

  • Card Sorting: Uncover Users' Mental Models for Better Information Architecture

    In a card-sorting study, users organize topics into groups. Use this research method to create an information architecture that suits your users' expectations.

  • Tree Testing Part 2: Interpreting the Results

    Analyze tree-testing results including success, first click, and directness to improve information architecture and navigation labels.

  • Information Architecture vs. Sitemaps

    Information architecture is the practice of structuring and organizing content on your site. Sitemaps are visualization tools used predominantly for planning.

  • Tree Testing: Evaluate Menu Labels and Categories

    Follow these tips to effectively evaluate a site’s navigation hierarchy and to avoid common design mistakes.

  • 3 Common IA Mistakes (that Are All Due to Low Information Scent)

    Vague call-to-action verbs, unnecessary parallel language, and conversational tone of voice used in links and navigation labels are confusing. Use labels with strong information scent instead.

  • The UX of Phone-Tree Systems: 16 Usability Guidelines

    Phone trees are often frustrating. Badly designed interactive voice-response (IVR) systems violate many of the 10 usability heuristics.

  • Taxonomy 101: Definition, Best Practices, and How It Complements Other IA Work

    A taxonomy is a backstage structure that complements the visible navigation. Taxonomies support consistent information retrieval by creating formal metadata rules.

  • Information Architecture: Study Guide

    Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about information architecture (IA).

  • How to Handle Category Outliers in Your IA

    Users’ mental models of concept categories are far less strict than you might expect. Consider keeping small numbers of outlier pages within their larger parent category, rather than creating unnecessary subcategories.

  • Local Navigation Is a Valuable Orientation and Wayfinding Aid

    Local navigation indicates to users where they are and what other content is nearby in an information hierarchy.

  • Left-Side Vertical Navigation on Desktop: Scalable, Responsive, and Easy to Scan

    Vertical navigation is a good fit for broad or growing IAs, but takes up more space than horizontal navigation. Ensure that it is left-aligned, keyword front-loaded, and visible.

  • Privacy Policies and Terms of Use: 5 Common Mistakes

    Policy pages often fail to follow basic usability guidelines: they are not readable, lack high-level summaries and inside-policy navigation, have poor formatting, and are not available in expected places.

  • How to Organize COVID-19 Information on Your Intranet

    Interviews with intranet designers and case-study analyses show that designers are positioning COVID-19 content on intranets all in one place and are making it easy to find and consume.

  • The 3-Click Rule for Navigation Is False

    While it is important to keep key information easily accessible, the 3-click rule is an arbitrary rule of thumb that is not backed by data.

  • Unbridged Knowledge Gaps Hurt UX

    Many websites fail to provide the right information for research-based tasks, requiring unnecessary effort for users to piece together various information sources manually.