Book Description
Today's web sites have moved far beyond "brochureware". They are larger and more complex, have great strategic value to their sponsors, and their users are busier and less forgiving. Designers, information architects, and web site managers are required to juggle vast amounts of information, frequent changes, new technologies, and sometimes even multiple objectives, making some web sites look like a fast-growing but poorly planned city-roads everywhere, but impossible to navigate. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd Edition, shows you how to blend aesthetics and mechanics for distinctive, cohesive web sites that work. Most books on web development concentrate on either the graphics or the technical issues of a site. This book focuses on the framework that holds the two together. By applying the principles outlined in this completely updated classic, you'll build web sites and intranets that are easier to navigate and appealing to your users, as well as scalable and simple to maintain.

From the Inside Flap
Praise for Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd Edition "It's been well worth the wait! This much expanded second version provides a holistic perspective on information architecture – something that wasn't possible earlier on when the concept was just beginning to be raised in the web space. It will be the starting place and the core reference resource for practicing and future information architects, as well as their managers. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to make their ideas become real, and most importantly, of value to their end-user community." -- Mary Lee Kennedy, Microsoft "In the first edition, Lou and Peter examined the emergence of a new species of technical professional -- the IA. In this second edition, they expose the complex electronic ecosystem in which IA now exist. With wit, wisdom, and a pinch of whimsy, they give you what you need to be or work with an architect of the wired world." - Bob Boiko, Lecturer, University of Washington iSchool & President, Metatorial Services Inc. "What's big and throbbing? Your headache. It's caused by the uncontrollable flood of web pages that you have to deal with, day after day. The pain you feel is the result of a web site that lacks structure and is getting more and more out of control. You want relief? The 2nd Edition of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web is the cure." -- John S. Rhodes, WebWord.com -- Industrial Strength Usability "The world will be a better place when web designers read this book. It's smart, funny, and artfully distills years of the authors' hard-won experience. Information Architecture is unlike any other book on web design I know in that it tackles political/organizational challenges as well as content, structure and user interface. This is not design-lite, but a deep treatment of fundamental issues of information presentation that advances the state of the art. Light years ahead of the competition." -- Bonnie Nardi, co-author of Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart, MIT Press, 1999. "If you are developing large-scale Web sites with a complex information architecture, this book will explain everything you need. Rosenfeld and Morville define the art and science of information architecture. This book is beneficial for both the novice or the experienced professional. Once again, Rosenfeld and Morville have written the Bible of information architecture. This book should be on every Web developer's bookshelf." -Cameron Barrett, Design Technologist, camworld.com "Clearly written, a powerful use of simple metaphors to make complex points. Restores information management to its rightful place in management thinking." - Dave Snowden, Director of the Cynefin Centre for Organisational Complexity IBM Global Services "Perhaps the only good thing about the dot.com bust is that it finally gave Lou [Rosenfeld] and Peter [Morville] time to finish their long awaited second edition of THE best book on Web design. As a reward for our patience, they've added tons of things they've learned in the intervening years, expanding it into the definitive book on Information Architecture. If you build Web sites, you need a copy on your bookshelf." - Steve Krug, Author of Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability "In this definitive text for the emerging profession of information architecture, Rosenfeld and Morville provide a wealth of experience-based examples and guidance for practitioners and students alike." – Gary Marchionini, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
You know you need to pay close attention to information architecture. But are you really comfortable with your level of expertise on the subject? It￯﾿ﾽs time to stop talking a good game about information architecture, learn what works, and start leveraging the field￯﾿ﾽs best practices. One book can help: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition.

You￯﾿ﾽll start with the fundamentals: what information architecture consists of, whose responsibility it is, and how to incorporate it into your already complex development process. Through practical examples, the authors show how to bring cohesion to even the most complex sites and intranets.

Next, they walk through every key component of information architecture: categorization (often ￯﾿ﾽambiguous￯﾿ﾽ approaches are better than ￯﾿ﾽprecise￯﾿ﾽ ones); labeling; navigation; and search. You￯﾿ﾽll learn how to maximize flexibility in navigation without excess clutter; how to improve your search engine￯﾿ﾽs results (tip: don￯﾿ﾽt leave all the decisions to IT); even how to write effective link descriptions.

Perhaps most valuable, the coverage of process: researching your audience and content; brainstorming; creating blueprints, page mockups, style guides￯﾿ﾽ then actually implementing your site and responding to feedback from -- can it be? -- actual users. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.

ANNOTATION

How do you balance organizational needs and audience needs? What determines Web content and functionality? How will users find information? How will your Web site change and grow? This book answers these questions and shows how the latest Web architecture can benefit your business enterprise. The authors help you determine whether your Web site should be a corporate intranet or an Internet flagship. They begin with a "...walk in the shoes of site users," and guide you through web principles, information organization, navigation design and good search systems. Then, they demonstrate site research and planning, including factors on site mission, budget, timeline, audiences and content. Content is considered the downfall of many sites. The book also focuses on conceptual design, site production and operation. You learn to create an appealing, comprehensive and succinct Web site.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Today's web sites and intranets are larger, more valuable, and more complex than ever before, and their users are busier and less forgiving. Designers, information architects, and web site managers are required to juggle vast amounts of information, frequent changes, new technologies, and corporate politics, making some web sites look like a fast-growing but poorly planned city -- roads everywhere, but impossible to navigate. A well-planned information architecture has never been as essential as it is now. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition, shows how to use both aesthetics and mechanics to create distinctive, cohesive web sites that work. Most books on web development concentrate either on the graphics or on the technical issues of a site. This book focuses on the framework that holds the two together. By applying the principles outlined in this completely updated classic, you'll build scalable and maintainable web sites that are easier to navigate and more appealing to your users.

SYNOPSIS

Some web sites "work" and some don't. Good web site consultants know that you can't just jump in and start writing HTML, the same way you can't build a house by just pouring a foundation and putting up some walls. You need to know who will be using the site, and what they'll be using it for. You need some idea of what you'd like to draw their attention to during their visit. Overall, you need a strong, cohesive vision for the site that makes it both distinctive and usable.

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web is about applying the principles of architecture and library science to web site design. Each website is like a public building, available for tourists and regulars alike to breeze through at their leisure. The job of the architect is to set up the framework for the site to make it comfortable and inviting for people to visit, relax in, and perhaps even return to someday.

Most books on web development concentrate either on the aesthetics or the mechanics of the site. This book is about the framework that holds the two together. With this book, you learn how to design web sites and intranets that support growth, management, and ease of use. Special attention is given to: The process behind architecting a large, complex siteWeb site hierarchy design and organizationTechniques for making your site easier to search

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web is for webmasters, designers, and anyone else involved in building a web site. It's for noviceweb designers who, from the start, want to avoid the traps that result in poorly designed sites. It's for experienced web designers who have already created sites but realize that something "is missing" from their sites and want to improve them. It's for programmers and administrators who are comfortable with HTML, CGI, and Java but want to understand how to organize their web pages into a cohesive site.

The authors are two of the principals of Argus Associates, a web consulting firm. At Argus, they have created information architectures for web sites and intranets of some of the largest companies in the United States, including Chrysler Corporation, Barron's, and Dow Chemical.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Saul Wurman first used the term Information Architecture in his book of the same name. His book was mostly lots of really pretty pictures of media and webs compiled from a graphic design perspective; they were beautiful but never really dealt with the information end of things. Rosenfeld and Morville get it right. They show how to design manageable sites right the first time, sites built for growth. They discuss ideas of organization, navigation, labeling, searching, research, and conceptual design. This is almost common sense, which is often overlooked in the rush for cascading style sheets and XML. Essential reading for librarians and information managers who deal with the World Wide Web in any parts of their jobs.

Booknews

Teaches the skills necessary to become a succesful information architect (IA). Covers the importance of recognizing the site user's perspective, the IA's role in developing web sites, the various ways that sites can be made browsable, creating effective and descriptive content labels, search interfaces, architecture blueprints, and a case study that demonstrates the evolution of an information architecture for a real client. Intended for webmasters, designers, and regular users. Avoids technical jargon in order to be accessible to anyone interested in creating a web site. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

John S. Rhodes

Stop Designing Web Pages, Start Developing Web Sites

In my early days as a cognitive scientist, I came across a bit of research that explained how the neurons in your brain produce a surplus of electrical activity when you encounter novel information. My interest in this area has waned over the last few years, but I do bring it up from time to time with friends and family. I'll avoid replaying the long-winded and dramatic explanation I give them -- in a nutshell, the light bulbs that kids draw over peoples' heads are based on a scientific reality.

When I read Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, I was satisfied to feel the bulb burning brightly above my head. Since I am a human factors engineer and usability professional, most of the concepts in the book were not new to me. However, I repeatedly observed that this book is one of the only resources that brings the eclectic ideas of web site information architecture together.

Rosenfeld and Morville bring to light some theoretically powerful material regarding the planning, design, testing, and maintenance of large scale web sites. Their approach, as the title suggests, is information architecture. The authors explain that people tend to design web pages rather than web sites, and they show how this is detrimental. When web pages are not developed within a well-conceived information architecture framework, the web site will suffer: Customers will complain, users will not revisit the site, and products will not sell. The big picture is crucial.

Human Factors and Usability

From a human factors and usability point of view, I was relieved to see that Information Architecture for the World Wide Web described web site development from two important angles -- the needs of the users and overall site planning. Knowing and understanding the users of your web site is crucial. Also, the planning behind a web site (e.g., developing content, planning for growth, creating an outline) can make or break it. Content development and navigation were given great attention by the authors also. Not surprisingly, the best web sites pay attention to all of these things.

I was pleased to see that the book runs contrary to the glut of graphic-design-oriented web-development books available that tend to focus on issues like graphics, HTML, and page layout. I admit that these issues are important, even critical, but only after your users are considered, planning takes place, and the content for the site is generated.

Not The Holy Grail

You would be wrong to think that this book is the answer to all of your web site problems. While the book is well written and insightful, it seems to be more of an introduction to a broad set of user-centered, site-planning heuristics. I feel that Rosenfeld and Morville are so intent on the big picture that readers will be unhappy with the lack of tools. I was left wanting more details and how-to's. Unlike most O'Reilly books, which can be a bit hefty, Information Architecture is only around 200 pages. The authors could have easily provided more examples, tools, and techniques to help the reader utilize their provocative approach. There are some great pointers, but not enough to satisfy. For example, Chapter 10, "Information Architecture in Action," was a case study meant to bring many of the book's ideas together, but it fell short for the reasons just mentioned. Similarly, the selected bibliography is a great resource, but it doesn't compensate for the lack of details throughout the book.

The book is certain to be an eye opener for many web site developers. If you have not utilized human factors and usability analysis, user-centered design, or information architecture in your web site development, I strongly recommend this book. But beware, the book is primarily laden with theory, not tools. I think you might be disappointed if you are looking for a hands-on formula for creating a great web site.--Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books

AUTHOR DESCRIPTION

Lou Rosenfeld is president and co-founder of Argus Associates. He has served as lead information architect on large, complex web sites for suchprestigious clients as Borders Books & Music, Chrysler, UMI, and many others.

He co-writes the regular "Web Architect" column for Web Review magazine and has written and edited numerous other books, book chapters, and scholarlyarticles. Lou also presents at numerous national conferences each year onthe topics of information architecture and information retrieval andevaluation.

Lou has worked to introduce the principles of information science andlibrarianship to the Internet environment since 1990. In 1993, he founded apopular Internet research service, the Argus Clearinghouse, on theseprinciples. Lou designed and co-taught the first academic information andlibrary science courses that dealt specifically with the Internet (at theUniversity of Michigan School of Information and Library Studies, 1993-1994).

Lou holds an M.A. in information and library studies and a B.A. in history,both from the University of Michigan.

Peter Morville is vice president of Argus Associates, an informationarchitecture design firm located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since 1993, he hasprovided strategy consulting and information architecture services to adiverse and prestigious group of clients, including Chrysler Corporation andDow Chemical.

Prior to joining Argus, Peter worked as manager of online services forMichigan Comnet, where he guided the creation and development of an onlinecommunity for non-profit organizations.

Peter has written extensively on the topics of information architecture andinformation retrieval. Recentpublications include the Internet Searcher'sHandbook and the "Web Architect" column in Web Review magazine. He speaks frequently at national professional conferences such as Internet World, Web Design & Development, and Comdex.