Understanding Context

Part V. The Maps We Live In

Information Architectures for Places and People

FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE BOOK, the main focus will be about how we use information to create architectures—environmental structures that shape the experience of “place.” Prior chapters provided many examples of close-focus structures at the level of interaction; now, we will adjust our “zoom level” to be from a higher altitude, as we see how all those objects participate in systems of meaning. Like the natural environment, there are no places without objects, and objects ultimately define the moment-to-moment experience of place. But the overall coherence of the system brings architectural challenges to our work.

Figure V.1. A map, with people inside it. In this case, on the side of a favorite pizza joint in; Phoenixville, PA^[287]

Information architecture is a discipline and practice well suited for attending to these challenges. It has been working with them in one way or another for decades. Early on, information architecture started as a way to make complex information about the world and its places understandable. Over the years, it has grown to also be a way to use information for creating places in the world itself. The framing device for understanding how semantic information forms environments will be “maps.” But these are not just representational maps—they are maps we inhabit together. ...