IA: WTF? Course
Learn Information Architecture
The secret behind great websites and apps.
Have you ever sailed through an unfamiliar website as if you’d always known the place? Conversely, have you struggled to complete a task or find what you were looking for?
Easy-to-use isn’t an accident.
To be usable, digital systems must first be understandable. And there’s a secret to creating understandable experiences. But it’s been buried for years in an avalanche of trendy tools and techniques.
Our key social interactions are moving to “information environments.” How we organize them has a big impact on the quality of people’s lives – including yours.
The secret to great websites and products is a discipline most designers overlook: information architecture (IA).
Think about it. Most of what you see on screens are words. Navigation bars and section headings explain what your website or app is about. Choosing the right words matters – and that’s what IA does.
Great IA turns a confusing experience into one that simply “clicks.”
Alas, most UX pros misunderstand IA or skip it altogether. To some, it feels like a relic from the past. To others, it’s too abstract – a step that only slows things down.
It’s anything but.
Measure twice, cut once.
IA honors the time-tested principle of measuring twice and cutting once. You organize the experience so it works from the get-go. It won’t be perfect, but you’ll start from a good place. Then, you tweak over time.
In IA: What’re the Fundamentals?, I’ll show you simple, practical models and techniques so you can structure your product or publication to delight users and drive results. You’ll learn timeless principles to:
Build on solid ground.
Learn which research techniques best inform your IA in the shortest time possible.
Produce results.
Create structures that match user expectations and needs with intended outcomes.
Eliminate frustration.
Design websites and apps that reflect how users think about the space your product plays in.
Course Contents
The course consists of 20 short videos adding up to around two hours. You also get a list of recommended readings and an IA glossary.
Foundations of IA
What information architecture is and why it matters. How people find and understand things.
IA Research
Designing effective information architectures starts with research.
Designing IA
Moving from models to the components that people experience in websites and apps.
Making IA Real
How to communicate architectural intent and manage change. On IA's strategic and ethical importance.
Reference Materials
Recommended readings and more.
Do it at your own pace.
Look, we’re all tired of Zoom meetings. I’ve taught IA to hundreds of designers and content pros for close to a decade. After the pandemic, it’s been mostly over Zoom. But that isn’t ideal. It’s hard to make time for live workshops. Live is also expensive.
IA: What’re the Fundamentals? features the same content as in my live IA workshops, minus the hands-on exercises. The upside: you’ll do it on your own time. Twenty short videos you can watch at your own pace – and at a third of the cost of my live workshops.
Learn from an IA OG.
Let me tell you a bit about me. My name is Jorge Arango. I trained as an architect, but switched to website design in 1994, when I first saw the web.
Back then, I thought great visuals and clever metaphors were enough. I soon realized that beautiful UIs are only skin deep. They’ll fail if the underlying structure isn’t right.
Then I read a book that changed my life: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. The ‘polar bear’ book taught me how to do IA right. Many years later, I had the privilege of co-authoring the fourth edition of this classic book.
IA: What’re the Fundamentals? distills lessons from the polar bear book + my three-decade practice in a format designed to explain the basics at your own pace.
But don’t just take it from me.
Here’s what some folks have to say about the live version of this course. The self-paced version has much of the same content minus the hands-on exercises – at a fraction of the cost and on your own time.
“Simply put, this course will supercharge your practice. Jorge’s lectures are the perfect balance of theory, practicality and good magic — they will inspire you to do your best work.”
Tara Kimura
“If you're drawn to humans and systems, and how humans make sense of complexity, Jorge Arango's 4-week course IA: WTF? will be a boon. ”
Rosa Vieira de Almeida
“Jorge provides excellent, real-world examples to explain how an IA is developed and implemented. The workshop’s content is perfect for a novice to the IA field like me”
Keith Corona
University of California, Santa Barbara
Start now.
Trends come and go in UX. Technology is constantly changing. Invest today in principles that stand the test of time and start structuring digital experiences that deliver results.
If you’re unsatisfied for any reason, I will refund your money – no questions asked.
- $299
IA: What’re the Fundamentals?
A self-paced video course that introduces key information architecture concepts for UX pros.