Writing
My first book ‘How to Make Sense of Any Mess‘ demystified information architecture and is regarded as a must read for those working in design and technology. My second book, STUCK? Diagrams Help is a field guide for the trek from diagram novice to diagram nerd, it has already helped thousands of sensemakers to make more effective diagrams. This website has everything else I have written on information architecture, sensemaking, making sense of myself, and diagramming.
Turning Values into Missions
The second of a series of articles about the hard work it takes to get to know yourself.
Making Sense of Yourself
The first of a series of articles about the hard work it takes to get to know yourself
Back to Information Architecture Basics
Five patterns you will run into when practicing information architecture
Leading from Your Values
An exploration of what it means to develop, live by and lead from personal values
How to Make Meaning
Outlining a seven step process to make something more meaningful
Incentive Architecture
Incentive alignment is a key to effective management and leads to successful collaboration and project outcomes.
Hyperlink Hygiene
Information architecture considerations and strategies for determining, maintaining, and redirecting hyperlinks.
IA for Marketing
Examining eight reasons that marketing campaigns fail, and how being thoughtful about information architecture can help.
10 Information Architecture Lessons for Teachers
What I have learned about teaching information architecture that teachers of many different specialities might benefit from reading.
Information Architecture for Navigation
A simple guide to designing the information architecture part of navigation systems
Early Childhood Information Architecture
Improving our adult IA skills by learning about how we learned IA as small children
Structural Arguments for Information Architecture
A framework of seven common components of effective structural arguments for information architecture work.
What is the return on investing in information architecture?
A crash course for product leaders on understanding areas of potential IA investment and the types of measurements that can be used to measure the ROIA.
How to Care for Any Sensemaker
How to use information architecture tools and methods to take care of yourself.
Information Architecture (IA) for Authors
Information architecture is a skillset that great authors already use. In this post I provide four ways authors can improve a book’s IA.
Sitemaps for Beginners
Sitemaps are a core deliverable often associated with the practice of information architecture (IA). This article covers the basics.
Video Book Forward by Stephen Anderson
A video book forward (perhaps the first of its kind) from Stephen Anderson about his take-aways from Stuck? Diagrams Help. by Abby Covert.
Dr. Brené Brown is an information architect (and so are her interns)
A digital message in a bottle to convince a hero of mine that they are an information architect.
Book Club Reader Questions
Answering reader questions from Chapter 1 of How to Make Sense of Any Mess.
101 Diagrams: My Test Kitchen Results
A recap of the high level feedback from my diagrammatic test kitchen.
Five Superpowers of Diagrams
When are diagrams and diagramming our most helpful tool? And what superpowers do diagrams hold to help when we feel stuck?
Researching Diagrams
An interview with taxonomist and librarian, Jenny Benevento, about the historical and cultural context of diagrams and diagramming.
Vertical Labeling for Diagrams
I went down a rabbit hole about which way to rotate vertical labels on diagrams so you didn’t have to.
Really…Any Mess?
My advice for making sense of the four types of messes people told me about on World IA Day when I asked: “What is a mess you wish you could make sense of?”
World IA Day Curious?
The one in which I implore you to give either time or money to the World Information Architecture Day.
I choose me.
The story of why I went in-house, what happened to make me leave and what’s next for me.
The IA Element of Everything
Challenging the current state of the IA field to consider the ramifications of not standing up for our own label.
How to Set IA Up to Fail
Understanding the right environment and support structures for information architecture practices to be successful
Change is Good
Sometimes you have to step away from the comfortable and start something new.
Clarity in Mark Making
Pondering the difference between the art part and the science part of information architecture
Learn Information Architecture at Home
I want as many people as possible to learn about Information Architecture and what better way to learn than in your pajamas.
Information is made of people
Information Architecture is more than understanding our mess and our users, but also our co-workers, clients, and partners.
Architects Everywhere
The one where I try to convince each and every one of you that information architecture is a critical life skill that you already use in your work and play everyday
The Complex Nature of Why, What & How
There are three little questions that make up every project. They must work together to create successful solutions.
Let them go
You can’t please everyone, it’s actually impossible. But sometimes we can’t help but be bogged down by opinions that don’t matter.
Information, Meaning, Perception & Truth
The way we use language is important. The words we chose can change the way we feel about our work.
Just Critical Thinking
The way we use language is important. The words we chose can change the way we feel about our work.
IAI Library Progress Report
The community really came together to help rebuild the IAI library. Check out the data.
Goodbye, Confusion
In the year that How to Make Sense of Any Mess has been on sale, I’ve been up to a lot of exciting things.
What we need is a barn raising.
The IAI needs help, its library is lacking. We need to come together as a community to help bring this resource to its fullest potential.
So you want to be an information architect?
There is no “entry-level” into Information Architect. It just takes perseverance and passion.
Everything is Information Over Time.
Asking the question: Does the way we architect information affect happiness?
Diagram Critique BINGO
The one in which I create a game to get my students to critique each other’s diagrams
This is the work.
The work isn’t just about the product, it’s also the process. The work you do, the questions you answer, and the problems you solve.
Prioritization is deciding.
We never know what life will throw at us, so making key decisions up-front about how you will prioritize can save time down the road.
What’s Hard?
We all have to ask hard questions about our work – being a teacher is no exception.
How I made sense of my mess
IA is so much more than web navigation – information is everywhere! I just had to figure out how to talk about it.
EuroIA 2014 Keynote
The following was delivered as the closing plenary address at the European Information Architecture Summit in Brussels, Belgium on September 27, 2014. — I was asked here today to reflect on the past ten years of our practice in the field of information architecture. It is my opinion however that to only go back that far…
Selling Information Architecture
We shouldn’t have to sell IA, but we need people to understand its importance and the importance of it being done correctly.
The Making of the IA Summit 2014
As a committee chair for the 2014 IA Summit, I decided to give the conference a 15-year birthday present. A bunch of data about it’s growth!
Permission Granted
I’ve been practicing as an IA for ten years. A whole decade! Here’s the story of my time in the IA world.
Frequently Asked IA Questions
Information Architecture can be a complex idea to grasp, but there are a few questions that people always tend to ask.
On Terror
Terror happens. But when it does, admitting what is real, getting a good night’s sleep and making new plans forward are tools that help.
Establish Interactions
Breaking projects down into manageable tasks can make them feel less daunting. Here are some tips to help avoid procrastination.
On Taxonomy
Having structure is important. It can help us see a clear path forward or organize our messiest thoughts.
What do we mean?
We can’t make things that make sense to everyone, it’s impossible, but we can break down to establish an understandable meaning.
Confront Reality
At some point, you have to move from thinking to doing, but this move can come with a lot of emotions that can create hesitation.
On Resolution
The process of balancing resolution with fidelity is a dance every designer does as they move through their process.
On Fidelity
We just can’t just focus on where we are in a project, we also have to remember where we are going.
The Doldrums between Why and What
Clarity doesn’t always equal ease. Sometimes knowing and understanding your goals opens the flood gates of possibilities to reach those goals.
What does “Good” mean?
Good is a subjective concept. Thats an empowering and terrifying realization in many projects.
“Make Something”
Communication is key, but if that communication doesn’t come across the way you intended your audience may be prepared for a different conversation.
Are you afraid of the light?
It can be scary to step into a new space or take on a new challenge. There’s no way of knowing what will happen when you turn on the lights.
What I learned this semester
The one where I share my lessons learned from teaching IA to undergraduates at Parsons.
Teaching Information Architecture
What does it mean to create and take on a brand new Information Architecture course? Well, a lot, but it’s incredibly exciting.
My IA Heuristics Journey
A brief and simple introduction to systems thinking for those working in creative services and advertising.
Advice from the Void
You can’t just wait for it to happen. Sometimes you have to create the opportunity for yourself.
Dear dream job, I quit.
Sometimes to reach our goals we have to make huge changes, we have to take leaps and leave behind some comfort.
Aim to be listened to, not just heard.
Advice to those working in the marketing world about how to listen to users to make better business decisions.
Design Systems, Not Stuff
A brief and simple introduction to systems thinking for those working in creative services and advertising.
Make the unclear, clear
Advice to the agency world on the role of clarity in providing a good user experience.
Designing my Portfolio
Sharing the process of developing my own portfolio with a focus on lessons I have for others doing the same.
Design with, not for.
Social media has opened a lot of doors, unexpectedly, it’s opened a door allowing advertisers and consumers to create together.
Do unto others’ data…
We have to be respectful of consumer’s data. Everyone knows their data is being collected at every turn, but it should be handled better.
Dear Peter,
The UX community is helpful by nature. It only makes sense that Advertisement and UX go hand-in-hand.
User Experience Rules for Advertising
Advertisers don’t have to be the bad guys, they just have to reposition their stance with users. I think some basic UX philosophies can help.
Talk About Expectations
To break into “digital” brands can’t be blinded by the shiny new possibilities, they have to manage the expectations of their audiences first.
The new Ad process
User Experience and Advertising might seem to some as opposite ends of a spectrum, but in this article I posit we are more alike than not and benefit from each other’s strengths.
Killing the Slash
As a new manager building a team I share my thoughts on choosing a job title and the important of making a choice rather than not making one.
A book about information architecture for everybody.