Information architecture and its Scope

In this article, we will learn about Information architecture and its scope.

If you are into UX design, you must have come across a term called ‘Information Architecture’. It is a very important aspect of UX design.

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By the term you must have got an idea that it is related to arranging some information somewhere.

Here, we will learn the details of it and will try to understand the following-

• What is Information Architecture?
  • Who is an Information Architect?
  • Qualifications of an Information Architect
  • Responsibilities of an Information Architect
• What is the scope of Information Architecture?
  • Scope of Information Architecture worldwide
  • Scope of Information Architecture in India

What is Information Architecture?

Information architecture can be defined as the proper structuring of content involved in a product. Structuring should make it easy for the user to find required information without any issues.

The acronym for Information Architecture is IA.

The concept of Information Architecture is given by Richard Saun Wurman. He is an American artist and graphic designer.

Why Information architecture is important? Because the user might face problem in finding information if the content is poorly organized.

As a result, the user might feel lost and confused in the product.

This will become a bad experience for the user. He will avoid using that product again. And this will bring huge loss to the company.

Consider the following statement given by Jorge Arango –

Where architects use forms and spaces to design environment for inhabitation, information architecture create nodes and links for environment of understanding.

Jorge Arango, Architectures

Arango is trying to say that there is a relation between architects and information architecture. Architects use forms and spaces to create organized places for living.

Similarly, information architecture uses nodes and links to create organized places for information. Here, nodes are groups of information.

They consists of one or more content elements like images, texts, videos, etc. Links are considered as the relationship between nodes.

Who is an Information Architect?

Information architecture is the responsibility of a UX designer.

Information architects or UX architects are the UX designers who specialize in Information architecture.

You can consider an Information architect as a digital librarian. A digital librarian has to organize a lot of books in different parts and sections.

He has to make sure that any user is easily able to find an item.

Let’s take an example of The Library of Congress. It is situated in United States. The library was founded in 1800 and is the largest in the world.

It is said to have more than 170 million items. It includes books, research papers, magazines, journals, etc. Imagine the amount of data they have to deal with.

But they have designed a system for all this. It helps them organize the items and help the users find them easily.

Similarly, Information architects also have to organize the data properly in pages or sections. Such that the user can access it without any issues.

Qualifications of Information Architects

There aren’t a lot of colleges providing degrees for Information architecture. But there are still a few options if you want to go that way.

There are alternate options as well.

You need to have at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology or any other related field.

Other than that, you might need some certifications like IASA. This will help you improve your skills and also your value in the market.

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Responsibilities of Information Architects

Following are some of the major responsibilities of an Information Architect-

• User research
• Organizing content
• Labeling content
• Designing a clear navigation

What is the scope of Information Architecture?

In this section we will discuss the scope of Information Architecture.

Information architecture is a very crucial part of UX design. Arrangement of content and ease of finding information plays a huge role in a good user experience.

So we can say, UX design of a product is incomplete without Information architecture.

Scope of Information Architecture worldwide

The world is going more and more digital day by day. This implies that the scope of UX design and Information Architecture is only going to increase in future.

But it might become more challenging with time. There is an increase in the use of new technologies like Voice UI, Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.

People might need to improve their skills to survive in the market.

Presently, UX designers have hell lot of responsibilities to take care of.

But now a shift in the pattern can be observed. Companies have now started to hire for specific roles. So, specialists are being valued more.

So, Information architecture has a good scope worldwide but might become more competitive.

Scope of Information Architecture in India

Now lets discuss the scope of Information architecture in India.

UI UX design has just begun to spread its magic in India. We can already see a lot of craze around it.

Similar to the rest of the world, even in India now the UX roles are becoming more defined and specific.

According to Payscale, the average salary of Information Architects in India is INR 18 Lakhs per year.

Salary of a UX designer

This is a pretty handsome salary as compared to other fields. This field requires quality knowledge and experience. It is also very important in the making of a successful product.

So don’t worry! Scope of Information architecture is good in India. It will be in demand as long as there is UX.

But obviously, continuous improvement will be expected with time.

Conclusion

I hope now you have got a good idea about Information Architecture and its scope. With this knowledge you can decide if it is your thing or not.

If you have that anxiety to keep everything at its proper place, do give this field a shot!