The "How" of Enterprise Information Architecture
Summary
Enterprise IA problems are rarely caused by tricky information architecture. Instead, people and organizational problems manifest in bad IA. Sarah will share tools you can combine in different ways to help move your individual IA strategy forward.
Key Insights
-
•
Information architecture involves three core models: navigation, content (object), and information (taxonomies/metadata).
-
•
Most IA professionals rarely create traditional site maps; they focus on structural models instead.
-
•
The biggest challenge for IA in enterprises is not designing better systems, but getting organizational buy-in and ownership to implement changes.
-
•
A concrete, well-defined goal with clear final steps and resource needs is vital to making things happen in large organizations.
-
•
The political stream (internal worries and priorities) must align with problem and solution streams for successful change initiatives.
-
•
Enterprise change often requires working through product managers or backlog owners rather than relying on top executives like the CEO.
-
•
Small, visible wins (like installing a consistent header) can unlock momentum for bigger, more complex IA improvements.
-
•
IA experts need to understand organizational mechanisms and politics without losing their critical perspective or desire to improve things.
-
•
Building early credibility by being helpful on small tasks helps foster trust and support from other teams like developers.
-
•
UX and IA practitioners need to engage deeply with business realities and technical systems to have meaningful conversations and collaborate effectively.
Notable Quotes
"My job wasn’t to do good IA, it was figuring out how to be allowed to do good IA."
"The intellectually honest answer to most questions about information architecture is, I’m not sure, or it depends."
"Getting from terrible to not terrible is often more challenging than going from good to delightful."
"You can’t make anyone else care. We’re asking the wrong question."
"Windows of opportunity happen when problem, solution, and political streams align."
"Nobody cares about IA. If they did, they’d be IAs or at this conference."
"No amount of power is enough to make a wide-ranging agenda move forward on its own."
"If I do my job right, you never decide what goes in a dropdown again."
"This header took six minutes of IA work—but two years to make happen."
"Enterprise scale is what makes this hard, but also what makes it really satisfying."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Setting up a repository as a team of one or two is actually the prime time to establish processes like that."
Taylor Jennings Joe Nelson Alex KnollRepository Retrospective: Learnings from Introducing a Central Place for UX Research
March 9, 2022
"Potential refers to not yet actualized possibilities that may or may not come to fruition."
Nicole AleongFuture Orientations to Everyday Life: Futures Anthropology as a Methodology
March 26, 2024
"Adobe’s Kickbox is a fantastic professional development tool, but it doesn’t drive new lines of business."
Jeff GothelfInnovation Studios: the Engines of Enterprise Experimentation
May 14, 2015
"Tools are great, but they do not solve all problems; training and understanding the why behind accessibility is essential."
Saara Kamppari-MillerDesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility
May 26, 2022
"If you don’t have the basics taken care of, infinite promotions and ping pong tables are just noise."
Tess DixonC'mon Get Happy
September 29, 2021
"When your team sees themselves in your North Star and structure, they feel safe, secure, and inspired to stay."
Liam ThurstonWhy Your Design Team Is Quitting, And How To Fix It
June 10, 2022
"Your career is a design project. It’s the only one you own, so own it like you would a product."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"At DTA, distributed teams and lack of local diversity meant everyone was out in the field a lot to get diverse input."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"UX research is a team sport and our research process is cross-functional and non-negotiable."
Rachael Greene Alison DavisBuilding a Design Ops Practice that Really Works (Most of the Time)
October 2, 2025