Upwork, a freelancing platform, recognizes information architecture (IA) as a subdiscipline of user experience (UX) design, but doesn’t quite get it right, suggesting AutoCAD and residential building experts instead.
Designers have unquestionably valuable skills (Apple has thankfully settled that debate forever). I’m interested in exploring the phenomenon purely from a market curiosity standpoint.
Last week, I presented at a client’s headquarters here in Vienna. It was powerful to see senior product designers and leaders share a laugh IRL, complete Tone of Voice exercises, and connect over questionable product copy, while collaboratively proposing user-centric content solutions.
However, I’ve also been on projects where senior designers stood clear from content decisions.
I’ve worked with hundreds of designers and noticed different levels of comfort with information architecture activities. (IA is the practice of structuring information for websites and apps.)
Detached from IA decisions, some product designers lack the skills to design intuitive navigation structures and findable, clear, relevant, and timely product content. Some designers are skilled in the user interface (UI) aspects of their roles–typography, component design, color schemes, spacing, branding–but not IA.
Declining information architecture ownership or deeming it unnecessary seems to stem from a:
- Lack of business need – the company doesn’t have multi-step flows, complex product taxonomies, complex navigation, large amounts of information to structure, heavy reliance on UI content for the overall customer experience, or reliance on the product experience as a value prop to sell the product
- Delegation of IA decision-making to product managers, engineers, or, in a small number of companies, dedicated product content experts
- Fear of making errors due to limited knowledge, causing a lack of action
- Indifference from the job market towards IA skills
????????
It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation.
The core issue is a classic market development challenge: Whether the limited demand for IA specialization is causing a lack of professional opportunities, or whether the lack of perceived opportunities is suppressing the development of IA specialization.
Do product designers intentionally distance themselves from IA decisions? Or is the market not rewarding IA skills, causing candidates to not invest in learning them? Have rapid prototyping and design tools like Figma or Cursor made IA skills obsolete? Or are IA skills necessary beyond design roles, already incorporated across disciplines under terms like bringing coherence, maintaining standards, strategic user research, product storytelling, and delivering a unified experience?
We have several options here, some of which are already underway:
- Educational institutions developing targeted IA curriculum
- Industry leaders demonstrating concrete IA value
- Professional associations creating certification and networking opportunities
- Organizations recognizing strategic information management importance
- People increasing their contact surface area with professionals from diverse specialties (attending local events, subscribing to newsletters, following them, inviting folks for virtual coffee)
What do you think has caused the lack of IA training for product designers? I’d love to hear your experiences, either as a product designer or someone who works closely with one.
