Tradeoffs: Decision-making in Information Architecture
Doing information architecture involves making tradeoffs. Working with abstract structures means there’s never one right answer. Deciding on one direction means explicitly deciding against myriad others, and doing so costs the team and the product some important benefits. One typical tradeoff in designing products is flexibility vs. clarity. Making a product more flexible in its structure often means making it harder to understand. Another possible tradeoff is plain language vs. precision. It may be harder to be precise without the use of technical jargon, but it may be less accessible to a wider audience. Information architects must be aware of these tradeoffs, and help the team understand them. This talk identifies some typical tradeoffs in designing structures, and suggests some collaborative activities to facilitate conversations about them. The purpose of this talk is to shift the paradigm of our process from “failing fast” to being more deliberate about the choices we make.
