##defining information architecture

1. Navigation

   the combination of organization, labeling, & navigation schemes within an informational system

2. Interaction

   the structural design of a space to facilitate tasks and intuitive access to content

3. Art meet Science

   the art and science of structuring and classifying web apps to find info

4. Discipline

   practices focused on bringing design priniciples to the digital world

information architecture lives at the center of users, context and content.

the user interface (what looks so pretty) acts much like your skin; its peripheral.

the information architecture (whats underneath it all) acts like a skeleton; it keeps everything in tact.

##design process:

1. project inititation
2. Blind enthusiasm
3. Dispear
4. Chaos

but really it looks more like this:

1. discover

   things like stakeholder interviews, business requirements, competitive audits, user research, site inventory

2. define

   personas, audit content, card sorting methods, use cases, sketching, site mapping

3. design

   site maps, tasks flows (think omnigraffle), sketches, wireframes, stakeholder reviews, visual design, prototype, usability testing (do your users actually want to use what you've made)

4. develop

   web app development, user acceptance testing (are all specifications met for user + client), quality assurance (how can we prevent mistakes), user testing

##IA Deliverables

requriements document

comparative/competitive review

feature inventory

experience brief

##Visual Design

sketches

personas

user flows

use cases

site map

wireframes

prototype