I’ve just finished reading How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert. I devoured it in a few sittings and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book is an introduction to information architecture: “a set of concepts that can help anyone making anything to make sense of messes caused by misinformation, disinformation, not enough, or too much information.”
It was a timely read as I wrestle with a few complex client projects. What follows are a few highlights that resonated.
“Knowing is not enough. Knowing too much can encourage us to procrastinate. There’s a certain point when continuing to know at the expense of doing allows the mess to grow further.
I’m working on a project right now where we’ve hit the discovery phase hard: gathering requirements, doing research, interviewing dozens of stakeholders. All that knowledge quickly becomes overwhelming. This is a good reminder: at some point you have to commit to a direction and start making decisions.
“Things always change when we begin to understand what we couldn’t make sense of before. As a sensemaker, the most important skill you can learn is to adjust your course to accommodate new forces as you encounter them on your journey.
This is why too much discovery upfront can be damaging. You need to start building, because you’ll learn more as the project progresses. A website redesign is a journey, not a straight line. New insights will emerge along the way, and the most successful projects are the ones that adapt to new information.
“It can start to feel like the mess wants you to fail in making sense of it. Don’t worry. That thought has occurred to everyone who has ever tried to change something.
This is so true. The design process is messy.
“When we don’t define what good means for our stakeholders and users, we aren’t using language to our advantage. Without a clear understanding of what is good, bad can come out of nowhere.
This feels obvious, but I’ve worked on plenty of projects where “good” was never defined. Everyone assumed they were aligned until they weren’t.
“Pretty things can be useless, and ugly things can be useful. Beauty and quality are not always related.
This is a great reminder. Pushing pixels around and getting the visual design just right can be a distraction from the real work.
“To determine who matters, ask these questions:
Who’s most important to get agreement from?
Who’s most important to serve?
What words might make them defensive?
What words might put them at ease?
How open are they to change?
These are great questions. Understanding who you’re designing for and who needs to sign things off is critical to making a project successful.
“When architecting information, focus on your own unique objectives. You can learn from and borrow from other people. But it’s best to look at their decisions through the lens of your intended outcome.
It’s often tempting to copy what others have done. But what worked for them might not work for you. Always filter other people’s decisions through your own context.
“Don’t settle for the first structure you come up with. Take the same things and arrange them, not in one way, but in two or three ways. Compare them. Iterate. Test. Refine. Combine. Change. Argue.
This is a mindset that many teams could benefit from adopting. The design process benefits from iteration, which means you can’t be afraid of making mistakes.
“Don’t seek finalization. Trying to make something that will never change can be super frustrating.
“Perfection isn’t possible, but progress is.
I’m always trying to remind my clients that a website is never “done”. Launch, learn, and improve.
“No one comments on the plumbing or electricity of a building unless the toilet is clogged or the lights aren’t working. Similarly, people don’t compliment or even critique information architecture unless it’s broken.
Don Norman said something similar in The Design of Everyday Things:
“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible.”
Information architecture done well is invisible too. This is what we should strive for.
If you're involved in organising content, I recommend giving this a read. It's short and accessible for people new to information architecture. It's available online to read for free or you can order a copy.