There’s a good article on information architecture in the enterprise over at Boxes and Arrows. Written by James Robertson, it talks about how an IA has to work at different levels of analysis to be effective in an enterprise setting.

Quoting James:

In a typical web or design project, the information architect is given a task…the problem is known, and the challenge is to work out the best way to design the solution.

However, within the enterprise space, the problem to be solved is often not well understood. For example, information architects may be approached with ill-defined “problems� such as:

• Improve the effectiveness of the intranet
• Help call center staff to access required information
• Increase the uptake of the document management system
• Support sales staff with better online resources

The first task for the information architect in this context is to better understand the problem. Only then can an overall approach be defined, and the normal user-centered design process initiated.

In all, a good read. Full article at “Enterprise IA Methodologies.”

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