Closing thoughts

The Internet is filled with good IA and bad. Knowing how to identify which is which and transferring that knowledge to your own design and IA work is what will separate good IA from bad. IA is not something to dabble in or to put off until a later time. It requires serious attention and thought. Before considering a design solution, identify what you want to convey before you consider how you are going to do it. Piles of data and content are useless unless your users can understand and interact with it, and design is useless unless it has a strong IA driven by a well thought out sitemap and a holistic understanding of the larger whole of the design.

If you find yourself designing the look and feel before IA, then it is time to change course. Begin with IA, create a sitemap, and make sure to think about each of the IA strategies presented in this chapter and then test them with real users. Designing good IA can be a challenge, but before long, you will begin to see improvements...