Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web

This book is a pretty quick read and a very good overview/introduction to the field of information architecture and HCI methods in general. Wodtke covers wireframes, content inventories, usability testing, interviewing users, heuristics, metadata, personas/scenarios, human memory, the concept of recall vs. recognition, and many other topics. After having a year of graduate coursework in HCI, I'm not sure I really learned anything new from this book but it was a really good refresher. Moreover, there's a diagramming chapter that is excellent. It included examples of some diagrams that I had never tried before and wasn't familiar with. Overall, I would highly recommend this book. It was fun and easy to read and very useful. For me, it will serve as a nice handy "all-in-one" reference guide.

As a professional Information Architect (IA), I try to read as many design books as I can, and this is one I will recommend again and again, mainly for it's refreshing lack of pretense and it's easy-to-follow style.For the Non-IA, read this book because it "demystifies" IA on many levels. It explains what an Information Architect does, why you might need one, and does a great job of discussing all of the possible deliverables an IA might produce and why. If you're overwhelmed with design "buzzword bingo", this book explains a lot, and in easy-to-understand terms.For the IA, read this book for the up-to-the-minute tools and techniques. She doesn't dictate a fixed methodology or hard-and-fast rules, instead, she presents a toolbox and guidelines for using them. I found the chapters on Personas and Taxonomies/Controlled Vocabularies especially helpful. She demonstrates that she's been out there working in the real word when she offers advice on overcoming creative blocks, working with people, and how to get your ideas across to (not always supportive) groups of people.Many IAs will see themselves in this book ("I've created wireframes that look just like that" or "Yes, I've found that too!"), but the real value here might be recommending this book to your favorite Project Manager or Developer so they can gain a little more insight into what you do and go to bat for you on the next collaborative project.

This book is full of that kind of energy that makes it hard to stop reading. You can tell that Christina Wodke takes IA as something very personal, and has placed all that passion into these pages.She starts by making a solid case for IA, then proceeds to ditch the gurus and their hard rules with braveness and wit. Next, she opens her toolbox, and starts showing you an impressive set of tools which are exhaustively described, with all the secrets you need to use them effectively and great examples. It's the most practical book on Information Architecture that I've read so far.It doesn't matter if you are new to the discipline or an experienced architect, you'll still learn lots of useful stuff. The traditional subjects of IA are presented in a refreshing point of view, and it explains subjects that nobody before had revealed, with clarity and detail. For example: best practices for developing user research, how to build a good taxonomy, a great chapter on interaction design, and all you need to know about documentation - just to mention sample topics that were particularly relevant to me.Then she wraps it all up into an exercise project, and as if that wasn't enough the goes on to give you greats bits of advice on how to be a better professional, like how to get out of a creativity block and how to win the respect of the people you work with. Prof. Norman is best as describing it in the back cover: "what else can you ask for?"Within the first pages she says it's a small book, I'd say that's not quite precise. She also says she's put her whole brain into this book, she surely did. So my recommendation would be: don't waste the chance to feed on a really bright brain.

When I read the following, I knew I'd purchased the right book:"You are going to do it. You might be the project or product manager, the designer, the engineer, or the marketing guy. You're not really sure why it landed on your desk; heck, you're looking around to see if there is another desk you could slide onto. But as your hope for getting someone else to do it fades, you realize it has to be done. And this is the book I wrote for you."I am a software engineer (primarily web application development) and I spend most of my time writing "backend" code to query databases, apply business logic and generate server driven web pages (much like the one you are viewing right now).As these applications grow more sophisticated it becomes more and more important to organize the which, how and what of content. This comes up in many ways: the order in which the user sees information, the navigation from screen to screen, the amount of data being display and so on.This book begins with a description and basis for information architecture and then introduces a variety of principles that one can employ in creating an information architecture for a web site. Some examples of topics include wayfinding, navigation, organization, interviewing and mapping content.The author's voice maintains an informal tone - it's obvious the author did not want to sound pedantic. However, the content is rich and well developed so one doesn't feel patronized.The hidden value of this book is that it gives many examples when a principle is asserted. Just by touring the websites given with these principles in mind will make one a better information architect, be it formal or informal.So my rating is 5 stars; loved it, loved it, loved it!

Christina Wodtke has done for Information Architecture what Steve Krug did for usability - produce a practical and accessible introduction to the field. 'Blueprints' provides a pragmatic look at the practice of information architecture, illustrating a solid "toolbox" of techniques and methods useful for web designers, producers, developers, and others involved in the creation and evolution of web sites.Wodtke's quirky humor and light tone make the book an easy read, but don't let the fresh style convince you that the content is lightweight. Behind the breezy prose is solid instruction in methods that hit the sweet spot of effective tools that still work with limited budgets. The "How-to" coaching is coupled with reasonable explanations about why and when to apply the techniques...Ms. Wodtke doesn't just prescribe methodology, she informs the reader with enough theory behind the practice to explain and justify it to management, clients, or other team members.The tools taught in the book all center on creating a web site with great usability and findability - where things are easy to use and content is easy to find. While the "toolbox" isn't complete, it's a great foundation for pursuing a user-centered approach to creating web sites.The book's biggest shortcoming is inevitable - IA is a complex field, and there could be so much more detail on some of the topics. Sometimes I felt that I wanted more on a particular subject, and it wasn't there. But to keep the book readable and accessible, some things have to be left out. The book's recommended reading list does go into more depth on many of the topics, providing an avenue for people to learn more once they've absorbed the lessons here.Overall, this is a great debut and a valuable addition to the field of information architecture and the broader practice of web design and development. Experienced information architects will find little new here, but it's great to have a book that acts as a gentle on-ramp to IA and puts so much into one package. If you're new to the field, work in a related discipline like graphic design, or want to have a quick explanation of various IA methods for colleagues, I highly recommend Blueprints for the Web.