The "How" of Enterprise Information Architecture
Summary
Enterprise IA problems are rarely caused by tricky information architecture. Instead, people and organizational problems manifest in bad IA. Sarah will share tools you can combine in different ways to help move your individual IA strategy forward.
Key Insights
-
•
Information architecture involves three core models: navigation, content (object), and information (taxonomies/metadata).
-
•
Most IA professionals rarely create traditional site maps; they focus on structural models instead.
-
•
The biggest challenge for IA in enterprises is not designing better systems, but getting organizational buy-in and ownership to implement changes.
-
•
A concrete, well-defined goal with clear final steps and resource needs is vital to making things happen in large organizations.
-
•
The political stream (internal worries and priorities) must align with problem and solution streams for successful change initiatives.
-
•
Enterprise change often requires working through product managers or backlog owners rather than relying on top executives like the CEO.
-
•
Small, visible wins (like installing a consistent header) can unlock momentum for bigger, more complex IA improvements.
-
•
IA experts need to understand organizational mechanisms and politics without losing their critical perspective or desire to improve things.
-
•
Building early credibility by being helpful on small tasks helps foster trust and support from other teams like developers.
-
•
UX and IA practitioners need to engage deeply with business realities and technical systems to have meaningful conversations and collaborate effectively.
Notable Quotes
"My job wasn’t to do good IA, it was figuring out how to be allowed to do good IA."
"The intellectually honest answer to most questions about information architecture is, I’m not sure, or it depends."
"Getting from terrible to not terrible is often more challenging than going from good to delightful."
"You can’t make anyone else care. We’re asking the wrong question."
"Windows of opportunity happen when problem, solution, and political streams align."
"Nobody cares about IA. If they did, they’d be IAs or at this conference."
"No amount of power is enough to make a wide-ranging agenda move forward on its own."
"If I do my job right, you never decide what goes in a dropdown again."
"This header took six minutes of IA work—but two years to make happen."
"Enterprise scale is what makes this hard, but also what makes it really satisfying."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Meisner taught actors to respond truthfully in the moment, prioritizing presence over preconceived ideas."
Daniel GloydDesigning From the Inside Out: How Method Acting Can Inspire Design Research
February 12, 2026
"Inviting leaders to shadow research sessions helped one department hire a client feedback panel representing marginalized voices."
Deirdre Hirschtritt Cesar Paredes Marie PerrotResearch is Only as Good as the Relationships You Build
November 17, 2022
"I was not able to come up for them to be involved so I had to learn how to structure it in a way that we could share how this was important for the team."
Benjamin RealMaturity Models: A Core Tool for Creating a DesignOps Strategy
October 1, 2021
"If you think fossil fuel companies are going to help us solve this, then we probably have a very different idea of how this system works."
Max Gadney Andrea Petrucci Joshua Stehr Hannah WickesAssessing UX jobs for impact in climate
August 14, 2024
"Seb is career UXer fresh at Canadian railways with a steep learning curve."
Lada GorlenkoTheme 1: Intro
January 8, 2024
"C-FRE stands for curiosity, freedom, reframing, exploration, and engagement—the soft qualities we tend to overlook in play."
Feyikemi AkinwolemiwaPlay to innovate: How curiosity and experimentation transform UX
March 11, 2026
"If you have a question at the end of a presentation, please put that question in the thread associated with the talk."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
March 29, 2023
"If you can’t see a human in a video, how do you know the entire conversation wasn’t fabricated?"
Llewyn Paine[Demo] Deploying AI doppelgangers to de-identify user research recordings
June 5, 2024
"OKRs help highlight intentions to leadership and open up conversations that generate alignment and support."
Bria Alexander Benson Low Natalya Pemberton Stephanie GoldthorpeOKRs—Helpful or Harmful?
January 20, 2022
