Some web sites "work" and some don't. Good web site consultants know that you can't just jump in and start writing HTML, the same way you can't build a house by just pouring a foundation and putting up some walls. You need to know who will be using the site, and what they'll be using it for. You need some idea of what you'd like to draw their attention to during their visit. Overall, you need a strong, cohesive vision for the site that makes it both distinctive and usable. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web is about applying the principles of architecture and library science to web site design. Each web site is like a public building, available for tourists and regulars alike to breeze through at their leisure. The job of the architect is to set up the framework for the site to make it comfortable and inviting for people to visit, relax in, and perhaps even return to someday. Most books on web development concentrate either on the aesthetics or the mechanics of the site. This book is about the framework that holds the two together. With this book, you learn how to design web sites and intranets that support growth, management, and ease of use. Special attention is given to:

• The process behind architecting a large, complex site

• Web site hierarchy design and organization

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web is for webmasters, designers, and anyone else involved in building a web site. It's for novice web designers who, from the start, want to avoid the traps that result in poorly designed sites. It's for experienced web designers who have already created sites but realize that something "is missing" from their sites and want to improve them. It's for programmers and administrators who are comfortable with HTML, CGI, and Java but want to understand how to organize their web pages into a cohesive site. The authors are two of the principals of Argus Associates, a web consulting firm. At Argus, they have created information architectures for web sites and intranets of some of the largest companies in the United States, including Chrysler Corporation, Barron's, and Dow Chemical.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 109 Ratings

Too Little Useful Information - 2009-03-20
Reviewer Rating:
Lot of text, nicely written, easy read, finished the book in one hour.

Not much useful

Gained almost nothing from the book. where can I get my money back ?

A book that defines a new field in the digital world. - 2009-02-23
Reviewer Rating:
I did not know the astounding amount of intersection between Library Science and Web Site Design until I read this book. If you design big web sites, corporate intranets, or other information sources you owe it to your users to read this book.

The first part of the book starts with a gentle, but cogent introduction to the nascent field of Information Architecture. Part two looks at ways of organizing information for web sites (e.g. taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, thesauri). The next three parts give you ways to implement Information Architecture in a variety of contexts (e.g. corporate, world wide web) with different methodologies and processes. The last part is also very helpful in that gives you two case studies, one being for Microsoft's intranet.

The authors are experienced in the IT world and steeped in knowledge of Library Science. Broaden your horizons in IT by reading this important book.

Useless for techies - 2009-11-13
Reviewer Rating:
I'm a developer building a company-internal website and I'm struggling to organize all the information it will contain. I bought this book hoping to ease that struggle. What I found is for a technical person like me, this book was so useless that it has compelled me to write my first Amazon review in years.

I planned to read it cover to cover. After 50 pages I realized that I haven't really read anything at all yet. So far it's been ridiculously verbose, rambling, and content-free. So I gave up and started skimming.

I couldn't find much better in the remaining pages. Page after page of touchy-feely gobbledygook that has not helped me organize information at all.

There are more useless diagrams in this book than I've ever seen before. For example, the term "synonym ring" is defined as a group of words with the same meaning. Does it really take a diagram with a bunch of arrows in a circle to explain that? (Figure 9-2)

To explain the concept of equivalence we have another diagram: "A=B" inside a circle. (Figure 9-21) Does such a diagram really enhance anybody's understanding of the concept of equivalence? Why does this diagram even exist in the first place?

Maybe some business or consultant type might get something out of this book. For a developer, run away. Fast.

A Poorly Organized Book About Organizing Information - 2009-11-05
Reviewer Rating:
Morville and Rosenfeld managed to sum up a very complex and difficult topic into about 500 pages of text. The humorous authors took an interesting approach to help readers understand the world of information architecture. Starting with the basics and working their way to the complicated material, Morville and Rosenfeld teach readers how to organize information on the web to make websites readable, searchable, usable and of course informative. They guide readers through a step by step process showing them what to do and why to do it in order to make their website more profitable.

The two authors made learning this complex, ambiguous topic simple by providing readers with plenty of familiar anecdotes, charts, examples and analogies. They draw readers in by talking to them as if they were there in person, and then take their time to explain each subject.

However, the organization of this book made it difficult to read. The sections jumped from definition of concepts, to elements of concepts and then to a step by step guide to information architecture. I often found myself confused and having to look back to remember what they were talking about. This made the how to confusing.

All in all, this book was able to tell me what to do and why I should do it when crafting the information of my website. But I still don't know how...

a required text for my graduate seminar in IA at UCLA - 2009-10-13
Reviewer Rating:
This book is the "Aha!" for many librarians ready to bring their game to the 21st century. Lou and Peter have created a solid introduction to the practice and profession of information architecture. Along with Dan Brown's book on deliverables (Communicating Design) and Peter Block's book (Flawless Consulting), this is the required reading for my graduate seminar in Information Architecture at UCLA's library school. And we read the entire thing in the first three weeks.

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Human-Computer Interaction > Information Architecture
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