Information Architecture For Entrepreneurs 2.8: Complex Architectures

Architecture schematics: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-pen-point-on-blueprint-1537008/

This blog is part of a larger class called Information Architecture for Entrepreneurs to help entrepreneurs effectively build their ventures.

This section delves into more complex information architectures. Within each of these architectures, there are also smaller groupings (pools, streams, walls, etc.). However, these are nested within larger site-wide architectures.

Strict Hierarchy

This method is generally used in places where there are clear, top-down uses for the website. Here there is a defined set of goals that the creator of the website wants their user to accomplish, and does not create any flexibility outside of this goal.

Entrepreneurs should use this structure when

Strict hierarchy: https://bmorrisseyeloueraslscwebsiteredesign.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/cagd202-assessment-task-3-website-re-design-and-re-brand-applying-functions-to-the-page-structure/

This hierarchy is also evident at the grocery store.

Grocery store shelves: https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-bottle-and-cans-811108/

Nested Pools

Pools inside of pools create a deepening of specificity within a community while allowing for users to

Reddit communities: https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/19/study-shows-distribution-of-reddit-fights/

Nested Channels

These are message channels that have connections to each other.

Slack channels: https://smhack.io/integration/slack

Tags/User-Generated Structures

— — user-created search patterns. Problem that if you don’t know what you don’t know

Closely linked — Related Items, or User-Generated Linkages — — tagging also demands that you know exactly what word to use to get to the information that you need.

Instagram tagging: https://mashable.com/2013/05/02/instagram-people-tagging/#bdhTQDip18qw

Daisy Architecture

This architecture is where a user has one primary page, and then delves into sub-sections, but continually comes back to one central location.

mimo dashboard: https://getmimo.com

Multi-Dimensional Hierarchy

This architecture is a combination of tagging and a hierarchy. A user can both search hierarchically from the main page through the Contents sections, but can also jump from one page to others via hyperlinks in the body of an article.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_US_science_fiction_and_fantasy_magazines_to_1950

It is important to remember that this idea is not constrained to simply online spaces.

Mannequin with clothes: https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-hanged-clothes-near-white-light-bulb-1233648/

Next Steps

• Write down all of the websites you’ve used in the last week that have not been used in the article. Next, name the kind of architectures each of these systems use.
• For your business, what kind of architecture seems most relevant for you to utilize? Why?