Information architecture is not about your database

I've recently started a new project with a new customer. It is a rather large project to redesign an old process-control application. I started by working with them on defining a design intent for the project and then I gave them an initial framework to define an information architecture.

And then I got an odd silence in email replies. And ultimately, I got a phone call with this question: Why do you need to talk about our database?

So I found myself in a position to explain information architecture on the spot.

I'm not trained as an information architect and there are plenty of better answers online but here's my ad-hoc, 5 minute explanation of information architecture:

Most systems that we get to design and work with today are made-up of a big pile of information. Not unlike the pile of Lego blocks in this picture. To be able to build an information system to warehouse and manipulate these blocks, systems architects will organize the data given specific criteria. For example, they might organize them based on their size. Or the number of studs on each block.

This is why my customer had this reaction about his database.

Information architecture, on the other hand, is more concerned with how the user of the system organizes this information in their head. If I were to dump a box of random Lego on your desk and asked you to organize them, how would you do it? You can organize them by their size, color, function or any of a dozen potential criteria.

This is a difficult task and it shouldn't be done in a vacuum. It needs to be done with the participation of your users. The main reason for this is that it is likely that you wouldn't organize the blocks the same way than they would. And it gets better: There is a good chance that different users of your system view the data from different angles and require different ways to organize it.

The benefit of going through this exercise is to discover the organization scheme that better suits your target user and the task that they are trying to accomplish. If you succeed in matching your user's mental model and design an interface that respects it, you will end-up with a system that makes more sense to them. A system that will feel more intuitive.

There's a lot more to information architecture than sorting blocks. But as a first step, using IA techniques to organize the information in your system is a great way to start making sense of your data. And making sense of your data is a good first step to make your application more intuitive to your users.