Strategy, Architecture and Tomorrow's Web

Strategy, Architecture & Tomorrow’s Web

Peter MorvillePresident, Semantic Studios

March 21, 2003

Information Architecture

We define information architecture as:• The structural design of shared information environments. • The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets,

online communities and software to support usability and findability. • An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles

of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

Are these definitions definitive? Absolutely not. Our craft is new and still taking shape. We’re clear on the center but fuzzy at the boundaries. This inherent ambiguity challenges us to think deeply and seek diverse perspectives.

Business StrategyDefining how an organization will use its scarce resources to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

“Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities.”

“The essence of strategy is in the activities – choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals.”

Strategy at Vanguard

Early in its history, Vanguard established “a mutual structure without precedent in the industry – a structure in which the funds would be operated solely in the best interests of their shareholders.”

Since “strategy follows structure,” it made sense to pursue “a high level of economy and efficiency; operating at bare-bones levels of cost…for the less we spend, the higher the returns – dollar for dollar – for our shareholders/owners.”

John C. Bogle, Founder of The Vanguard Grouphttp://www.vanguard.com/bogle_site/october192000.html

“The prime responsibility of mutual funds must always

be to their shareholders.”John Bogle, Senior Thesis

Princeton, 1949-1951

Vanguard’s Activity System Map. Adapted from On Competition

Featured in Information Architecture for the World Wide Webhttp://webword.com/download/chapter18.pdf

Adapted from The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by Henry Mintzberg (1993)

Strategic Planning

UnrealizedStrategy

Plans Executed

EmergentStrategy

Realized Strategy

10%

90% 90%

Strategy Defined as 5 P’s

Plan. A direction, guide, course of action.

Pattern. Consistency in behavior over time.

Position. Locating specific products in specific markets.

Perspective. Way of doing things (The HP Way).

Ploy. Specific maneuver to outwit.

From Strategy Safari by Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, Lampel (1998)

Apophenia

The spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness

in unrelated things.

Futurism doesn’t mean predicting an awesome wonder; rather it means recognizing and describing a small apparent oddity that is destined to become a great commonplace.

Life expectancy for Americans has reached an all-time high of 77.2 years, mostly due to a decrease in deaths due to major diseases, including AIDS.

Business 2.0 Bionics

A wealth of information creates a poverty of

attention.

Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate Economist

“Among very experienced users, the Internet now ranks higher than books, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines as an important source of information.”

UCLA Internet Report, January 2003.

1. Design Look 46.1%2. Information Design/Structure 28.5%3. Information Focus 25.1%4. Company Motive 15.5%5. Information Usefulness 14.8%6. Information Accuracy 14.3%7. Name Recognition & Reputation 14.1%8. Advertising 13.8%9. Information Bias 11.6%10.Writing Tone 9.0%11. Identity of Site Operator 8.8%12.Site Functionality 8.6%13.Customer Service 6.4%14.Past Experience with Site 4.6%15. Information Clarity 3.7%16.Performance on Test by User 3.6%17.Readability 3.6%18.Affiliations 3.4%

“While information structure is often associated with usability, the comments here show how information structure has implications for credibility. Sites that were easy to navigate were seen as being more credible.”

“Executives routinely rely on their intuitions to solve complex problems when logical methods (such as a cost-benefit analysis) simply won’t do.”

“Your mind continuously processes information that you are not consciously aware of, not only when you’re asleep and dreaming but also when you’re awake. This helps explain the ‘aha’ sensation you experience when you learn something you actually already knew.”

“When to Trust Your Gut” by Alden M. HayashiHarvard Business Review, February 2001

David Roseambientdevices.com

Convergent ArchitectureSwisshouse

A new type of consulate for knowledge exchange…a 3,200 sq.ft. wired loft located in Cambridge, Massachusetts Jeffrey HuangHarvard University

“The more I watch what’s happening with the evolution of web sites, the more I believe that search is essentially an experiment that has failed.”

Jared Spoolrecent sigia discussion

Please indicate the importance of each factor to the practice of information architecture over the next five years.

(Business) Executive-level understanding of UX. 100

(Business) Executive-level understanding of IA. 99

(Software) Content management systems. 88

(Economy) Overall health of global economy. 81

(Economy) Size of e-commerce market. 65

(Hardware) Mobile / Wireless 64

(Software) Personalization / recommendation systems. 62

(Hardware) Increased Bandwidth 48

(Software) Social software innovations. 47

(Business) Standardized Interfaces / Architectures 46

(Software) Search engine innovations. 42

(Business) Savvy Users / Customers 37

(Hardware) Large Flat-Panel Displays 12

Future of IA Survey, http://aifia.org/calendar/000053.php

AgreeDis-

AgreeDon't Know

The number of people practicing IA will grow. 184 9 37

The Web will become more important to individuals and businesses. 177 15 48

More colleges will offer IA courses. 175 21 38

Organizations will increase spending on information technology. 149 28 20

The number of practicing "information architects" will grow. 136 39 33

Organizations will increase spending on information architecture. 133 32 17

IA processes and methodologies will evolve significantly. 124 56 40

More colleges will offer IA degrees. 118 55 38

Standards will emerge for measuring IA quality and ROI. 109 62 42

Software developers will have less influence on user experience design. 64 109 20

In the next 5 years…

Future of IA Survey, http://aifia.org/calendar/000053.php

0 50 100 150 200 250

The IA community can affect the futureof IA as a practice and profession.

The IA community should embrace abroad definition of IA.

The IA community should embrace anarrow definition of IA.

Agree

Disagree

Future of IA Survey, http://aifia.org/calendar/000053.php

Scenario Planning Exercise

• Scenarios are stories about the way the world might turn out tomorrow.

• Scenarios are not predictions. It is simply not possible to predict the future with certainty.

• An old Arab proverb says that “he who predicts the future lies even if he tells the truth.”

• Scenario planning is about making choices today with an understanding of how they might turn out.

Scenario Planning Process

1. What is the Focal Issue or Decision?2. What are the Key Factors (Local)?3. What are the Driving Forces (Macro)?4. Rank by Importance and Uncertainty.5. Select Scenario Logics.6. Flesh out the Scenarios.7. Consider Implications.8. Identify Leading Indicators and Signposts.

The Practice of Information Architecture

Over the Next 5 to 10 Years

IA = Luxury IA = Necessity

Web-Centric IA

Cross-Media IA

City WithoutArchitects

& Architectures

ISIST

IA as Coffee Table Book

IATopia

Tell A StoryHow Did We Get Here?

Paint A PictureWhat’s This Future Like?

Consider ImplicationsWhat Can We Do Today?

Name Your ScenarioWhich Label Works Best?

Links

Peter Morville morville@semanticstudios.com

Presentation http://aifia.org/pg/tomorrow.ppt

Semantic Studios http://semanticstudios.com/

Asilomar Institute http://aifia.org/