Release It!, 2nd Edition

Information Architecture

Information architecture is how we structure data. It’s the data and metadata we use to describe the things that matter to our systems. We also need to keep in mind that it’s not reality, or even a picture of reality. It’s a set of related models that capture some facets of reality. Our job is to chose which facets to model, what to leave out, and how concrete to be.

When you’re embedded in a paradigm, it’s hard to see its limits. Many of us got started in the era of relational databases and object-oriented programming, so we tend to view the world in terms of related objects and their states. Relational databases are good at answering, “What is the value of attribute A on entity E right now?” But they’re somewhat ...