Architecture Development
The goal of Information Architecture is not construction a website or multimedia object.
It is the development of a design and plans for implementation.
Just as architects create blueprints for construction, IA's create sitemaps and wireframes.
But, more importantly, they create documentation about users: goals, functions, and contexts.
Image courtesy of Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites, by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton,
a classic reference work.
Design Documents
Multiple Viewpoints
Information Architects communicate with several audiences. End users are, of course, key.
But, end users do not pay for the cost of an interactive design. Clients do that. And, clients are actually a set of audiences themselves. They have their own goals and agenda. They have reasons for the creation of a product or service.
The other primary audiences are the people who will build a site or multimedia object: experts in graphic design, programming, database development, and specific interaction skills.
Just as the built environment has constantly evolved in physical complexity and evocative aesthetics based on increasing requirements of clients, computer systems are also advancing in response to more sophisticated clients and ubiquitous interactions.
