Information Architecture for the World Wide Web Quotes

“And yet, unlearn we must, for technology relentlessly transforms the playing field, changing not just the answers but the questions as well.”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites

“Information architecture (IA) is a design discipline that is focused on making information findable and understandable. Because of this, it is uniquely well suited to address these challenges. IA allows us to think about problems through two important perspectives: that information products and services are perceived by people as places made of information, and that these information environments can be organized for optimum findability and understandability.”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond

“Users need to be able to find content before they can use it — findability precedes usability.”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond

“Organization systems present the site’s information to us in a variety of ways, such as content categories that pertain to the entire campus (e.g., the top bar and its “Academics” and “Admission” choices), or to specific audiences (the block on the middle left, with such choices as “Future Students” and “Staff”). Navigation systems help users move through the content, such as with the custom organization of the individual drop-down menus in the main navigation bar. Search systems allow users to search the content; when the user starts typing in the site’s search bar, a list of suggestions is shown with possible matches for the user’s search term. Labeling systems describe categories, options, and links in language that (hopefully) is meaningful to users; you’ll see examples throughout the page (e.g., “Admission,” “Alumni,” “Events”).”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond

“We say nothing essential about the cathedral when we speak of its stones. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond

“Input, output, end of story. This is a very mechanistic and ultimately dehumanizing model for how people find and use information. In”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond

“A minister was walking by a construction project and saw two men laying bricks. “What are you doing?” he asked the first. “I’m laying bricks,” he answered gruffly. “And you?’’ he asked the other. “I’m building a cathedral,” came the happy reply. The minister was agreeably impressed with this man’s idealism and sense of participation in God’s Grand Plan. He composed a sermon on the subject, and returned the next day to speak to the inspired bricklayer. Only the first man was at work. “Where’s your friend?” asked the minister. “He got fired.” “How terrible. Why?” “He thought we were building a cathedral, but we’re building a garage.”9 So ask yourself: am I designing a cathedral or a garage? The difference between the two is important, and it’s often hard to tell them apart when your focus is on laying bricks. Sometimes”
― Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond