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
"Sharing insights is like creating a learning space where stakeholders can use the information in their own way."
Jerome “Axle” BrownHow to Use Self-Directed Learning to Ensure Your Research Insights are Heard and Acted Upon
March 11, 2021
"Culture isn’t just behavior over time, it’s the artifacts that culture creates and embraces over time."
Phil GilbertA Consistent Culture of Design
May 14, 2015
"If research is going to slow down the product process, most companies will end up releasing those products without doing the research."
Kate Towsey Basel Fakhoury Oren Friedman Graham GardnerParticipant Recruitment and Management Tools
March 12, 2026
"Personas like Nick and Shelley help us understand different user attitudes towards music listening and skipping."
Sohit KarolDesigning Delightful Listening Experiences: Mixed Methods Research in the Age of Machine Learning
March 31, 2020
"It felt like an assembly line where you don't really know what is happening before you or after you."
Christopher Taylor Edwards Valerie RoskeDesign as a Team Practice, A Practical Guide to Cross-functional Collaboration
September 30, 2021
"Community engagement is a powerful lever often left out of systems thinking processes."
Sheryl CababaExpanding Your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
February 23, 2023
"Team members told me they felt really seen for the first time during these discussions."
Francesca Barrientos, PhDYou Need Your Own Definition of Design Maturity
June 8, 2022
"I’ve onboarded 80% of the design and CX department, and it really shapes their trajectory and connection to culture."
Allison SandersOperating with Purpose
January 8, 2024
"This was the first time the director saw the team doing something together."
Saara Kamppari-Miller"Prototype" vs "Prototype"--Breaking Down and Rebuilding Our Understanding of What We Do
October 24, 2019
