“I was excited. He asked Good Client type of questions.”

This was part of a longer question I asked online related to an interaction with a potential client. I hadn’t verbalized Good Client questions before, but it seemed like a useful enough distinction to warrant writing about it.

The premise of Good Client type of questions™️ is that the questions potential clients ask during meetings and sales calls are a solid predictor of what it will be like working with them.

What are some examples of Good Consultant questions for information architecture?

I’d like to discuss what you can expect as a client. An effective information architecture consultant may ask some of these questions in your first few emails or calls before sending you a proposal and signing the contract.

These questions are based on my experience leading multiple content redesigns for anything from enterprise websites to university admission experiences, backend workflows, open source libraries, and search plugins.

The questions will vary based on project needs and how thorough your initial message or RFP was. They should give you an idea of potential inquiries you may encounter, but they’re not meant as items to cross off from a list and don’t necessarily indicate the quality of a consultant.

AI Policy: All content on this website is written by me. I do not use AI such as ChatGPT or other LLMs to generate articles from prompts or similar. All content reflects my own thinking, ideas, style, and craft. Occasionally, I ask AI (such as Frase or Formalizer) to summarize or re-state my own ideas on the basis of a complete skeleton I’ve written. Based on the response, I may reorder, restructure, or alter my original thinking. I personally write each draft and final copy.

What does success look like for this project and how might we measure it? – Information architecture questions

Not everything is measurable, but it’s generally easy to think of and track important metrics in the context of websites and apps. A good service provider will focus on your needs, not their process.

I really like a story from Jonathan Stark from the time his garage had a squirrel infestation and he called someone named Ed to take a look. In Squirrels are eating my garage, Jonathan writes:

Ed’s quote had lots of words on it.

Words like “white coil stock” and “mushroom vent” and “custom roof guard.”

These words probably make sense to people in wildlife services.

These words don’t make sense to me.

The only words that I wanted to see on that quote were: “After we’re done, you’ll never have squirrels in your garage again.”

These are words I understand.

And guess what?

I’d be willing to pay a lot more to rid my garage of squirrels than to have a mushroom vent installed.

Why we ask: A clear definition of success sets us up for success and ensures we’re not spending time or energy on initiatives that won’t move the needle.

Why now? – Information architecture questions

The ability to hire consultants varies depending on the organization’s policies and practices, but I’ve found that clients have already tried a few things before looking for external help: different processes, new tools, shared responsibility models among teammates.

As consultants, we need to understand what you’ve tried, successes and failures, and what you’re excited to keep or move away from.

Why we ask: Unnecessary context is infinitely better than lacking context. Asking “Why now?” helps avoid major misalignments and selfishly, helps solidify our messaging for future clients so we’re speaking directly to their pains and dreams. 😇

Do we have leadership support for this initiative? – Information architecture questions

Sometimes, you do, i.e., the VP of design worked with a content design team at her previous company and saw tremendous benefits from their work, and she’s hoping to recreate those wins in her current role.

Sometimes, you’re brought in to secure leadership buy-in.

Why we ask: Identifying project supporters and skeptics and their involvement in decision-making helps us consultants modify our presentations, communication, and deliverables as needed to achieve project success.

How are decisions usually made? – Information architecture questions

Many designers fear design by committee, defined by Hotjar as “a practice where multiple parties are involved in the product design process, and all of their input is treated equally. This phenomenon emphasizes the weaknesses of incorporating too many opinions into a single project.”

You’ll probably get a few decision-making-related questions outside of leadership buy-in questions during your initial calls that are made to gauge the likelihood of design by committee:

• Who are the key decision makers?
• Who’s responsible for the changes?
• Who needs to be consulted?
• Which employees’ expertise can we leverage for this work?

Why we ask: We’re trying to gauge the likelihood of design by committee, which results in poor quality products, mediocre UX, and a sense of dissatisfaction among everyone involved with the compromises made.

How is access authorization typically managed? – Information architecture questions

As a consultant, I’ve been on projects where I was auditing and redesigning one platform. The main stakeholder I met with was in charge of login details and could easily get me access to what I needed within a few hours.

This is not always the case, and it gets trickier with more robust product ecosystems and highly regulated fields like healthcare or finance, where you need training before accessing links.

Why we ask: Gaining access to platforms can be simple and fast or cumbersome and slow. The earlier we know what we’re dealing with, the better we can plan for waiting time, disruptions, and alternative ways to get the info we need.

Any initiatives that may affect or depend on this work? – Information architecture questions

This is often addressed in response to the second question: Why is this the appropriate time? Clients will say there’s a big event coming, an important launch, a clash with a competitor, a donor gala, an anniversary, a new market they’re entering.

Why we ask: It’s easy to forget the nitty gritty when there’s no PM and we’re juggling multiple client projects. By asking up front about dependencies, the team’s availability, timeline concerns, and if there are any key stakeholders on holiday or busy with other priority projects during this time, we can plan ahead and avoid missing important dates or delaying other initiatives.

Can I go wild? – Information architecture questions

Oh, sorry, I meant, to what extent should I exercise prudence in formulating my recommendations?

Everyone—besides Bradley Cooper in that movie—has their limits. Companies are the same way. What’s considered risky for one company is a regular Tuesday afternoon for another. Questions to assess your comfort level with changes might sound like:

• Are you seeking solutions that align with your current designs and architectural framework, or are you open to a comprehensive redesign of essential components and user experiences?
• Are there any specific integrations or technical constraints that I need to consider, or are you flexible and not bound by existing commitments?

Why we ask: If we develop a solution that significantly contributes to shaping the company’s vision, but will take 10 years to implement, while your stated goal was to achieve immediate incremental improvements, we haven’t met our objectives. Understanding the level of caution you feel at ease with is crucial in creating valuable work that you and your company can actually put to use.

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This was a list of questions you might expect from an information architecture consultant during your first call. Again, they’ll be worded differently or entirely separate questions depending on the project, consultant, if you have an existing relationship, and the level of detail provided in your initial RFP or inquiry.

“I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that before.”

I heard that last week and it felt good. I’ve ended up talking about Hard Fork, ducks, and Harry Potter in initial calls. There’s a world out there of interesting topics and questions, even for the first few interactions.

The willingness to explore new ideas, learn, and ask questions is a must in all Little Language Models projects. Curiosity takes courage because the familiar feels safe. As long as both clients and consultants approach the potential collaboration with a spirit of curiosity and openness, we can anticipate a successful partnership and positive outcomes.