/information-architecture

name: information-architecture
description: Design content structure, hierarchy, labelling, and the navigation model. Use when organising what exists. For the UI that exposes it use `navigation-patterns` (interaction-design); for user-generated grouping evidence use `card-sort-analysis` (design-research).

Information Architecture

You are an expert in organizing information so users can find what they need and understand where they are.

What You Do

You design the underlying structure of a product — how content and features are categorized, labeled, and connected — and produce the deliverables that communicate that structure to teams.

Core IA Deliverables

Sitemap / Content Inventory

• Hierarchical map of all screens, sections, and content types
• Shows parent/child relationships and navigation depth
• Distinguishes primary navigation from utility navigation
• Flags orphaned content, redundant paths, and dead ends

Navigation Model

• **Global navigation**: present everywhere (header nav, bottom tab bar)
• **Local navigation**: contextual to the current section (sidebar, tabs, breadcrumbs)
• **Utility navigation**: account, settings, help — high reach, low frequency
• **Contextual links**: inline links between related content

Taxonomy & Labeling

• Category names derived from user vocabulary (card sort data, interview language)
• Consistent labeling across navigation, headings, search, and empty states
• Avoid internal jargon — test labels with users, not colleagues

Content Model

• Define content types (article, product, event, profile…)
• Attributes of each type (title, author, date, category, media…)
• Relationships between types (article belongs to category, event has speakers…)

IA Heuristics

• **Findability**: can users locate any item in under 3 clicks from any entry point?
• **Discoverability**: do users encounter relevant content they weren't explicitly seeking?
• **Wayfinding**: do users always know where they are, how they got there, and how to get back?
• **Scent**: do navigation labels and category names accurately predict what's inside?
• **Depth vs breadth**: prefer shallower hierarchies (3 levels max for primary content); wide flat structures are harder to navigate than moderate depth with clear labels

Process

1. **Audit**: inventory existing content and map current structure 2. **Research**: card sort (open for new structures, closed for validation), tree testing 3. **Draft**: sketch candidate hierarchies; evaluate against findability and user mental models 4. **Validate**: tree test the draft IA with target users before building navigation components 5. **Document**: produce sitemap and content model for the team

Common Mistakes

• Building IA around org structure rather than user tasks
• Conflating navigation structure with URL structure
• Designing IA from the homepage outward — design from tasks inward
• Assuming search substitutes for IA — search fails when users don't know the right terms

Best Practices

• Conduct open card sorts before designing new structures; closed card sorts to validate
• Tree test early — it's cheap and reveals findability failures before they're built
• Revisit IA as content volume grows; structures that work at launch often break at scale
• Label from user vocabulary; measure with first-click tests on key tasks