Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Second Edition

MSWeb’s Achievement

Nothing that the MSWeb team did—whether considering the initial problem, coming up with an approach, and developing the tools and expertise to make it happen—can be described as revolutionary. Rather, these were rational steps taken to address complicated problems. So why discuss their work here?

Well, if you have ever worked in a large organization—or even many smaller ones—you know that what’s rational isn’t often what happens. The rational, the obvious, and the good often never make it off the drawing board, thanks to corporate strategies that change with the wind, extreme fluctuations in budgets, and, worst of all, the dreaded reorganization. And Microsoft isn’t immune to such problems; one MSWeb team member went through seven different managers and had three title changes in just five months.

The MSWeb team has developed some neat taxonomies and tools. But we’re recognizing the team for its most impressive achievement: successfully implementing a rational plan in a large, corporate environment. The team understood that only a holistic approach—one that accommodated content, users, and context—could make a difference. They also knew that enterprise-wide solutions require sufficient time—years, not months—to take hold.

If you’re taking on a similar challenge, we suggest you follow Vivian Bliss’s advice:

. . . Improving information systems affects people, process and technologies. To not recognize that will spell doom. In other words, technology alone is not the ...