An increasingly complex world demands essential and ethical IA practices. This talk explored sensemaking, wayfinding, complexity, and essential IA practices.
20. Past Present Future
• There have always been IA and
design challenges
• Relatively straight forward
• Self-contained
• Complicated, but not complex
• Growing complexity and
interconnectedness
• CX Stagnation
• MarTech backlash
• Data rich, information poor
• Great opportunities for IA, UX
• Embrace IA and design principles
• Creative Problem Solving
• Diagnose and address complex
problems
• Responsible and ethical practice
30. Sensemaking
• Structuring and framing the unknown; giving meaning to
something
• Sensemaking is the activity that enables us to turn the
ongoing complexity of the world into a “situation that is
comprehended explicitly in words and that serves
as a springboard into action” (Weick, et al 2005)
33. - Deborah Ancona, MIT-Sloan School of Management
"Do not simply overlay your existing framework on
a new situation. The new situation may be very
different. Instead, let the appropriate map or
framework emerge from your understanding of the
situation.”
34. – Jay Forrester
Counterintuitive Behavior of Social Systems
"In other words, the known and intended practices of the
organization are sufficient to create the difficulties being
experienced. Usually, problems are blamed on outside
forces, but a dynamic analysis often shows how internal
policies are causing the troubles. In fact, a downward spiral
can develop in which the presumed solutions make the
difficulties worse and thereby cause greater incentives to
redouble the very actions that are the causes of trouble.”
TL;DR managers can usually identify the
problem; it’s in the company’s control; but they
push the lever in the wrong direction.
55. Technical
(Tame)
Adaptive
(Wicked)
Problem definition is clear; solution is clear Both problem definition and solution are unclear
Leader or expert provides solution
Responsibility for the solution resides within the
followers; the leaders joins the followers in
exploring for solutions
Solutions are “cut and dried” and can be
implemented quickly
Solutions require experiments and continuous
learning; solutions can take time to develop and
implement
From the Strategic Doing™ Practitioner’s Field Guide
97. – Kurt Vonnegut
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must
be careful about what we pretend to be.”
98.
99. – Abby Covert
“Practicing information architecture means
exhibiting the courage to push past the
edges of your current reality. It means
asking questions that inspire change. It
takes honesty and confidence in other
people.”
104. References
• How to Make Sense of Any Mess, Abby Covert
• Sensemaking, Deborah Ancona
• Living with Complexity, Don Norman
• The Half Life of Facts, Samuel Arbesman
• Strategic Doing, Ed Morrison et al.
• Counterintuitive Nature of Social Systems, Jay Forrester
• Team Tools for Wicked Problems, Michael Pacanowsky
• Understanding Context, Andrew Hinton
• Ruined by Design, Mike Monterio
• Design Nonfiction (documentary series by Tellart)
