Center Centre students get to choose their own learning adventures. We don’t require students to learn from one, specific resource. Instead, students choose resources and experiences that meet their learning styles and learning needs.
Our students develop their own learning adventures to gain skills like information architecture. Information architecture (IA) is how designers organize everything in a design to help users find the specific content they’re seeking.
If you’d like to learn more about IA, use some of our favorite resources listed below to develop your own learning adventure.
Books
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How to Make Sense of Any Mess is a charming book that makes IA principles understandable and accessible. It’s also a quick read.
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UX designers call Information Architecture for the Web and Beyond, “The Polar Bear Book” because of the bear on its cover. Now in its fourth edition, this book is an essential IA resource because it takes a deep dive into IA.
- In A Web for Everyone, Chapter 6, “Helpful Wayfinding: Guides Users” explains how IA helps all users, including people with disabilities.
Articles
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“Information Architecture Basics” this article provides a brief overview of IA and is a great resource to start with if IA is new to you.
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“The Ultimate Guide to Information Architecture” reviews many information architecture concepts. This article is an immersive read that goes into detail about each IA concept.
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“At The Drive-In — In/Casino/Out” explores the challenges of creating a classification system to support your content.
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In “The Difference Between IA and Navigation,” the author explains why IA is much more than just navigation menus.
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“The Pain with No Name” explores the challenges organizations often face with IA. One of the biggest challenges is most people practicing information architecture have never heard the term information architecture before.
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In “The Only Five Ways to Organize Information (Five Hat Racks or LATCH),” the author reviews the five ways of organizing information.
- “Web Accessibility for Information Architects – Part I” explains how a good IA is the foundation for usability and accessibility. Accessibility is an extreme use case for usability. If you enjoy this article, read Part 2.
Videos
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How to Make Sense of Any Mess explores multiple IA concepts. The presenter explains how there’s no right way to organize information. She shows you effective ways to organize information based on your business and your customer.
- The Five Hat Racks reviews the five ways of organizing information. You can watch this video instead of reading “The Only Five Ways to Organize Information (Five Hat Racks or LATCH)” article above.
Podcasts
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In “A Practical Guide to Information Architecture with Donna Spencer,” the guest explores the difference between browsing and searching. Users can’t always rely on search alone to find what they’re seeking.
- “Sorting out this mess with Abby Covert & Andrew Hinton” is an impromptu, unplanned podcast interview. It provides a fresh perspective on information architecture and UX design.
Become a Center Centre student
Do you want to learn how to organize your site’s content so that it’s understandable to your organization and your users? Would you like to become a well-rounded, industry-ready, junior UX designer? Apply to be a Center Centre student. View our full program or apply today.