Lasotell Information Architecture

An Information Architect is a high-level designer who uses information as building material. Every time someone says "I could not find/use the information I wanted", it points to an information design flaw. It is just the same as "No Step Here" is an engineering design flaw.

How can you avoid information design flaws?

Firstly, by recognising there are three types of information architecture:

Enterprise Information Architecture: indentifies the information needs of business functions as part of enterprise-level IT planning (based on the US National Institute of Standards and Technology model)

Web Information Architecture: focuses on the web site blueprint, upon which all other aspects are built — form, function, metaphor, navigation and interface, interaction and visual design (from HotWired)

Everything-else Information Architecture: all the other information-based activities that need to be resolved in a cost-effective manner — meaning someone should specify the structure of the components and their relationships, together with the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time before any money is spent on software / hardware (based on IEEE STD 610.12).

Secondly, by realising that Information Architecture is about what information you need and what needs to happen so you can use it. Figure 1 shows the primary functional views of any enterprise — notice that there is no direct connection between the [6] Business View and the [5] Technology View. That is why the [2]Information View (the information architecture), sitting across all the views, is so important (especially for successful Business Intelligence activities).

Information architectures start by asking questions such as: What are you trying to do? What do you have to deliver? What information do you really need? What will you do with it when it is available?

Such questions are fundamental to approaching a wide variety of business activities, such as, process and procedure re-engineering, introducing organisational change, developing products, producing reports, developing user documentation, etc. And they point to the most fundamental aspect of all information — understanding and defining who is going to use the information. If that step fails, there is a significant risk of wasting time and money.

Benefit: A Lasotell Information Architect minimises that risk for you.

This on-line process and procedures manual shows a different way to make information easy to access and easy to navigate (requires the Acrobat Reader on your PC -- if you get a "cannot open file" message, download this Demo zip file (664 Kb), unzip the files into a directory and double click on DEMO_Map.pdf)
To see the output in full screen, open Acrobat, select File -- Preferences -- General and deselect Web Browser Integration.

Specific Lasotell Information Architecture Skills and Functions

Project-based information architecture consulting services

Project managing Information Architecture projects

Specifying the relevant aspects of client organisations, their goals, users and content requirements

Designing and specifying organisational, structural, functional and business requirements for information projects (including for web and multimedia access)

Preparing, writing and presenting architecture process documentation, such as blueprints, storyboards, flowcharts

Detailed organisation of large volumes of information

Working with designers to develop intuitive visual interfaces and user-friendly, interactive structures, such as forms and shopping carts

Conducting usability testing

After launching the information solution, working with Quality and Help Desk personnel to conduct root cause analysis of user-related problems and corrective actions.