The Role of IA in Product Design

As UX strategy consultants, we are often brought in to support teams with a standard "three-legged stool" team structure: Product, Design, Engineering. This combo of skillsets is vital to crafting, developing, and maintaining a product experience that serves users and businesses. However, when a product org grows beyond a small set of these powerful teams, and each is focused on their own slice of the experience, siloes can easily emerge.

When this happens, the siloes can have a really negative impact on the culture of the product org and on the actual product experience for users. When this starts to happen, Information Architecture (IA) can play a pivotal role in breaking down the walls to align teams around a shared vision for the entire experience.

The Role of IA in Product Design

Breaking Down Product Siloes to Create Clarity & Alignment

What is Information Architecture?

First, let's define what we mean by information architecture. In this context, IA is the way we organize and structure content and features within a product to support usability and action. It's the blueprint that guides users to where they need to go, without them having to stop and ask for directions. Good IA is like a well-organized store —everything is where you expect it to be, making the process of finding what you need a walk in the park.

For more on what IA actually is, check out this other post of ours: What is Information Architecture: A Foundation for Smart Design.

The Role of IA in Product Design

When we start designing a new experience, IA is one of the first things we tackle. Why? Because, when done well, it lays a user-centered foundation to support all the interactions that will take place within the product.

Here's how thoughtful IA impacts the experience design process:

Aligns Product Teams: A clear IA helps product and design teams cut through the "internal swirl" that can often stop progress in it's tracks. IA aligns everyone on the team around a common understanding of the product's structure, and the role of each element of the experience. This alignment means less time debating the basics and more time refining the details.

Drives User-Centric Design: By focusing on how content and information are grouped, structured, and labeled, we ensure that the product is organized around the user's mental model and expectations of the experience. This approach makes the product feel natural to navigate, leading to better user experiences. More on that below...

Supports Scalability: Good IA isn't just about meeting today's needs—it's also about anticipating tomorrow's growth. By establishing a scalable IA, we create a flexible framework that can evolve with the product, preventing costly overhauls down the line.

The User Experience Benefits of Thoughtful IA

So, what happens when we get IA right? Magic. Well, not literally, but the effects can be pretty remarkable. Good IA creates a whole that's bigger than the sum of it's parts by turning a bunch of datapoints into a comprehensive experience that helps users feel seen, heard, and cared for.

A few other positive impacts of smart IA include:

Intuitive Navigation: Users don't have to think twice about where to find information or perform an action. Everything feels right at their fingertips, which means less frustration and more satisfaction.

Increased Efficiency: An intuitive IA reduces the learning curve for new users and speeds up the interaction for returning ones. Users spend less time figuring out how to use the product and more time actually using it.

Better Accessibility: Thoughtful IA considers diverse user needs, including those with disabilities. By structuring content and data in a logical way, we enable assistive technologies to better interpret and present information to users.

Enhanced Trust and Credibility: When users find a product easy to navigate and understand, they're more likely to trust it. A solid IA helps establish credibility, which is essential for building long-term user relationships.

While information architecture may work behind the scenes, its impact on the product design process and the resulting user experience is front and center. As UX researchers and product strategy consultants, we advocate for giving IA the attention it deserves early in the design process. After all, a well-structured product is a joy to use, and isn't that what we're all aiming for?

Investing in IA is investing in the success of your product. If you need help crafting a structure that works, lets' connect!