My talk from the 2015 Information Architecture Summit in Minneapolis on April 24th. Earlier versions of this talk were also presented as the keynote for the Italian Information Architecture Summit in Bologna on November 8, 2014, and at World IA Day Seattle 2015 on February 1.

1. DESIRING ECOLOGIES
MEANING MAKING IN THE NETWORK WILDERNESS
Information Architecture Summit | April 24, 2015
Andy Fitzgerald | @andybywire www.andyfitzgerald.org

2. image by Forrest Cavale via unsplash.com

3. adapted from Peter Morville’s Intertwingled (2014)

4. inflow outflowstock
immigration
weather parasites
disease
food scarcity
adapted from Peter Morville’s Intertwingled (2014)

5. “It is the job of information architects
to make connected environments
intelligible to everyday end-users.”
THESIS #1

6. Search maps what we
know to what we find
The Droids We’re Looking For by Stéfan via flickr

7. Orienteering maps what
we find to what we know

8. – Richard Saul Wurman
“The organization of
information creates
new information”
http://www.amazon.com/Hats-Design-quarterly-Richard-Wurman/dp/B00072ALZ0

11. “We currently stand at the threshold
of an incalculably large emergent
organic information network”
THESIS #2

12. – Lucas, Ballay & McManus
“Well-designed complexity …
should look a lot like life.”

13. Lower Sarnac Lake by Mattes via Wikimedia Commons

14. – Phillip Howard, Wired
“Social media became a critical
part of the toolkit for greater
freedom.”
http://www.washington.edu/news/2011/09/12/new-study-quantifies-use-of-social-media-in-arab-spring/

15. – Micha Benoliel
“Usually, the more people in the same
location, the less connectivity you get
… with FireChat it’s the opposite.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/firechat-messaging-app-powering-hong-kong-protests

16. “Designing for emergence means
designing for desire”
THESIS #3

17. ‣ Social media
‣ Text messaging
‣ RFID
‣ IPv6
DESIGNED FOR DESIRE

18. – Louise Barrett
“It is the interaction of these rules with
the environment that equals complex
behavior.”
adapted from Barrett’s Beyond the Brain (2011)

19. ‣ Hierarchy
‣ Modularity
‣ Redundancy
‣ Generativity
BEAUTIFUL COMPLEXITY
adapted from Lucas, Ballay & McManus’s Trillions (2012)

22. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion
The Guardian (approximately)

23. ARTICULATED TAXONOMY
1. Define vision
2. Create base taxonomy
3. Articulate in context

24. VISION
‣ Informs and guides information design
‣ Provides a central point of cohesion
‣ Influences the choices we make about
structure, categorization, and labeling

25.
“To inform and empower the UK middle class”
VISION

26. VISIONVISION
“Connecting and enriching the community”

27. TAXONOMY
‣ A method of arrangement designed to
create a particular kind of understanding
‣ Creates new meaning with structure
‣ The model used to communicate vision

28. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA
TAXONOMY
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion

29. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA category
TAXONOMY
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion

30. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA
location
category
TAXONOMY
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion

31. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA
location
time
category
TAXONOMY
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion

32. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA
location
time
personality category
TAXONOMY
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion

33. world sports moneyculture environment
Americas NFL
Mid East MBL
Africa NHL
Europe NBA
location
time
hierarchy
personality category
TAXONOMY
regions scores popular region cities
UK people new age regions
Asia leagues people opinion opinion

34. world
sports
money
culture
environment
by category
opinion
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
The week in wildlife – in pictures

35. Americas
UK
Europe
by location
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
The week in wildlife – in pictures

36. developing
breaking
looking ahead
by time
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
The week in wildlife – in pictures

37. artists
leaders
athletes
pundits
by personality
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
The week in wildlife – in pictures

38. Popular
by hierarchy
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
The week in wildlife – in pictures

40. ARTICULATION
‣ The expression of a concept in context
‣ Defines “breakpoints” for an information
model
‣ Creates coherency across contexts

42. world
sports
money
culture
environment
large screen
opinion
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
The week in wildlife – in pictures

44. The week in wildlife – in pictures
world
top stories
Americas
small screen
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on
a Facebook post. We can’t let them make up the rules
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis
and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win
over Everton in nine-goal thriller
Karen O: soundtrack of my life
You can try to be the next
Hemingway – for $6000
sports
The week in wildlife – in pictures
Karen O: soundtrack of my life

45. – Malcolm McCullough
“[Navigation is] less a map
than a recombined collage”

48. “The designer […] must abandon the conceit
of absolute control of her medium and seek
instead the abstract understanding of the
scientist”
– Lucas, Ballay & McManus

49. “We cannot specify an ecology,
but nor are we powerless to
affect its evolution. ”
– Lucas, Bally & McManus

50. Thank you!
Andy Fitzgerald
@andybywire www.andyfitzgerald.org

51. BOOKS & ARTICLES
‣ Trillions. Peter Lucas, Joe Ballay, Mickey McManus. (2012)
‣ Intertwingled. Peter Morville. (2014)
‣ Beyond the Brain. Louise Barrett. (2011)
‣ Everyware. Adam Greenfield. (2006)
‣ Supersizing the Mind. Andy Clark. (2010)
‣ Digital Ground. Malcolm McCullough. (2004)
‣ Understanding Context. Andrew Hinton. (2014)
‣ “New study quantifies use of social media in Arab Spring.” UW Today.
Catherine O’Donnell. (2014)
‣ “FireChat – the messaging app that’s powering the Hong Kong protests.”
The Guardian. Archie Bland. (2014)
‣ “Hats.” Design Quarterly. Richard Saul Wurman. (1989)