Summary

In this chapter, we focused on the foundations of IA to better understand how good IA guides customers/users to a desired outcome. We introduced The Four Cs of IA—a checklist of sorts to help validate your IA work and how to identify them across a wide variety of designs, both online and off. We also learned from example the presence of IA in our everyday lives and how that translates online. We looked at mental models and taxonomy and how understanding how your customers/users think is vital for guiding them to their desired decision. We looked at sitemaps and how important they are for understanding the complete design experience from a high level. We looked at how IA exists all around us, from cities to supermarkets to wherever a person needs to interact and understand information quickly and easily. We looked at IA as maps and how Wayfinding helps to guide users to their destination with care. Finally, we looked at seamless IA and how this connectivity allows IA to coexist in...