Direction (noun.)

Definition: An indication of the place something or someone is traveling toward.

Also referenced as: Directions (noun) Directing (verb)

Related to: Agreement, Alternative, Controlled Vocabulary, Design, Edge, Intent, Journey, Option, Place, Progress, Purpose, Reflection, Rhetoric, Scale, Stakeholder


Chapter 1: Identify the Mess | Page 17

Every thing is complex.

Some things are simple. Some things are complicated. Every single thing in the universe is complex.

Complexity is part of the equation. We don’t get to choose our way out of it.

Here are three complexities you may encounter:

Chapter 2: State your Intent | Page 40

What before how.

There are reasons it makes sense to wait to cook until after you know what you’re making. For these same reasons, we all know not to construct a building without a plan.

When we jump into a task without thinking about what we’re trying to accomplish, we can end up with solutions to the wrong problem. We can waste energy that would be better spent determining which direction to take.

When deciding what you’re doing, ask yourself:

  • What are you trying to change? What is your vision for the future? What is within your abilities?
  • What do you know about the quality of what exists today? What further research will help you understand it?
  • What has been done before? What can you learn from those experiences? What is the market and competition like? Has anyone succeeded or failed at this in the past?

Chapter 2: State your Intent | Page 41

How varies widely.

The saying “there are many ways to skin a cat” reminds us that we have options when it comes to achieving our intent. There are many ways to do just about anything

Whether you’re working on a museum exhibit, a news article, or a grocery store, you should explore all of your options before choosing a direction.

How is an ever-growing list of directions we could take while staying true to our reasons why.

To look at your options, ask yourself:

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 101

Opinions are like…

No matter how hard we try to be aware of opinions swirling around us, it’s hard to remain neutral. But in the end, progress can’t happen without a decision.

When you’re choosing a direction, you may run into these questions:

  • What if I disagree with a user need or opinion identified in my research?
  • What if I disagree with the way another stakeholder sees a core concept or decision?
  • What if I don’t want to do this the way others want me to?

Some people choose to hide from the realities behind these questions. But if you shield your ideas and simply follow orders, you may end up with goal-crushing (and soul-crushing) results.

We have to balance what we know with what we see and what other people say.

We listen to our users and our guts. There is no one right way. There is only your way.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 103

Meet Rasheed.

Rasheed is a consultant helping the human resources department of a large company. They want to move their employee-training processes online.

Rasheed’s research uncovered a lot of language inconsistencies between how employees are hired and trained in various departments.

He always expects to account for departmental differences, but he fears this many similar terms for the same things will make for a sloppy system design.

Rasheed has a choice. He could document the terms as they exist and move on. Or he could take the time to find a direction that works for everyone.

He decides to group the terms by similar meanings and host a meeting with the departments to choose which terms should lead, and which ones should fall back.

During the meeting, Rasheed:

  • Questions acronyms and proprietary terms
  • Eliminates accidental synonyms
  • Documents myths, alternatives, and histories

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 82

Moving from why to what.

After you face reality, it still takes a tremendous amount of work and courage to move from understanding why something needs to change to knowing what you can do about it.

There are many directions to choose from. Each has its own twists and turns.

People often get in their own way by becoming overwhelmed with choices, choosing not to choose instead. Others are limited by frustration over things they can’t change immediately or easily.

Change takes time.

Start by choosing a direction to go toward. If you take one step in that direction each day, you’ll get to the finish line in due time.

If you spend all your time thinking about how far the finish line is and fearing never getting there, you’ll make slower progress or never make it at all.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 88

Language matters.

I once had a project where the word “asset” was defined three different ways across five teams.

I once spent three days defining the word “customer”.

I once defined and documented over a hundred acronyms in the first week of a project for a large company, only to find 30 more the next week.

I wish I could say that I’m exaggerating or that any of this effort was unnecessary. Nope. Needed.

Language is complex. But language is also fundamental to understanding the direction we choose. Language is how we tell other people what we want, what we expect of them, and what we hope to accomplish together.

Without language, we can’t collaborate.

Unfortunately, it’s far too easy to declare a direction in language that doesn’t make sense to those it needs to support: users, stakeholders, or both.

When we don’t share a language with our users and our stakeholders, we have to work that much harder to communicate clearly.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 89

Reduce linguistic insecurity.

The average person gives and receives directions all day long, constantly experiencing the impact of language and context. Whether it’s a grocery list from a partner or a memo from a manager, we’ve all experienced what happens when a poor choice of words leads to the wrong outcome. Whether we’re confused by one word or the entire message, the anxiety that comes from misunderstanding someone else’s language is incredibly frustrating.

Imagine that on your first day at a new job every concept, process, and term you’re taught is labeled with nonsense jargon. Now imagine the same first day, only everything you’re shown has clear labels you can easily remember. Which second day would you want?

We can be insecure or secure about the language we’re expected to use. We all prefer security.

Linguistic insecurity is the all too common fear that our language won’t conform to the standard or style of our context.

To work together, we need to use language that makes sense to everyone involved.

Chapter 5: Measure the Distance | Page 115

Baselines help us stay in touch with reality.

The first step in understanding how something is performing is to measure it as it is.

A baseline is the measurement of something before changing it. Without baselines, assumptions will likely lead us in the wrong direction.

Here are two examples:

  • If a prominent department store saw quarterly profits increase by $1.5M after their Super Bowl ad, the ad may be seen as effective. But if the baseline of regular quarterly profit increase for this brand is typically $5.5M+ after a Super Bowl ad, we’d judge the ad differently.
  • Imagine an elementary school is reporting test scores averaging in the C+ range for the majority of their students. This may seem unimpressive, or even worrisome, until our baseline is introduced: average test scores this time last year were a D+.

When we have a baseline, we can judge performance. Without that, we may mistake the ad as successful and the teachers as incapable.

Chapter 5: Measure the Distance | Page 118

Fuzzy is normal.

What is good for one person can be profoundly bad for another, even if their goal is roughly the same. We each live within a unique set of contradictions and experiences that shape how we see the world.

Remember that there’s no right or wrong way to do something. Words like right and wrong are subjective.

The important part is being honest about what you intend to accomplish within the complicated reality of your life. Your intent may differ from other people; you may perceive things differently.

You may be dealing with an indicator that’s surprisingly difficult to measure, a data source that’s grossly unreliable, or a perceptual baseline that’s impossible to back up with data.

But as fuzzy as your lens can seem, setting goals with incomplete data is still a good way to determine if you’re moving in the right direction.

Uncertainty comes up in almost every project. But you can only learn from those moments if you don’t give up. Stick with the tasks that help you clarify and measure the distance ahead.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 131

Ambiguity hides in simplicity.

Imagine that on your first day working at a record store, your manager says, “Our records are organized alphabetically.” Under this direction, you file your first batch of vinyl with ease.

Later, you overhear a coworker saying, “Sorry, it looks like we’re sold out of Michael Jackson right now.”

Your manager looks under “J” and checks the inventory, which says the store should have a single copy of Thriller.

You remember that it was part of the shipment of records you just filed. Where else could you have put that record, if not under “J”? Maybe under “M”?

The ambiguity that’s wrapped up in something as simple as “alphabetize these” is truly amazing.

We give and receive instructions all day long. Ambiguous instructions can weaken our structures and their trustworthiness. It’s only so long after that first album is misfiled that chaos ensues.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 141

Hypertexts bridge taxonomies.

We use hypertext to connect things without necessarily placing them together.

Hypertexts are fundamentally different from hierarchical, heterarchical, and sequential taxonomies, because they don’t change where things are located, just how they’re found.

We use hyperlinks to allow users to jump between taxonomies instead of duplicating or moving content. For example, we might hyperlink the bolded words throughout this book. If a user clicks on one of them, we could take them to a definition in the lexicon. We’re moving the user to the content instead of repeating it.

A signpost directing you to a store around the corner is also hypertextual, because it sends you to a specific location without changing the location of the store.

Similarly, websites use hypertext to link to content without needing to repeat it.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 143

Meet Joan

Joan is the social media coordinator for an airline that recently merged with another airline. Overnight, her team became responsible for twice as much work as before. She’s also now responsible for managing twice as many people.

As the details of the merger iron out, duplicative channels have to be dealt with. For example, they now have two Twitter accounts and two help directories on two different websites. To tie everything together, Joan:

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 148

Adjustments are a part of reality.

From moment to moment, the directions we choose forever change the objects we make, the effects we see, and the experiences we have.

As we move towards our goals, things change and new insights become available. 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.

Don’t seek finalization. Trying to make something that will never change can be super frustrating. Sure, it’s work to move those boxes and arrows around as things change. But that is the work, not a reason to avoid making a plan. Taking in feedback from other people and continuously refining the pieces as well as the whole is what assures that something is “good.”

Don’t procrastinate. Messes only grow with time. You can easily make excuses and hold off on doing something until the conditions are right, or things seem stable.

Perfection isn’t possible, but progress is.

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 150

It’s easy to reach agreement alone.

Maybe you’re working on a project independently and you’re the only stakeholder and user.

More likely, you’re working with other people to serve other people. In that scenario, making maps and diagrams alone at your desk is not practicing information architecture.

Your whole team should be able to influence and react to your tools and methods. You should be making prototypes to get feedback from users on language and structure.

Getting everyone involved early is crucial. Every step you take should come from the direction you choose together. If you don’t get agreement up front, prepare for more work later.

When you see the world through the eyes of other people, you can spot weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Don’t hide from other stakeholders or wait until the end of the project to talk to users.

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 151

Argue about discuss it until it’s clear.

It’s totally normal for fear, anxiety, and linguistic insecurity to get in the way of progress. Learning to work with others while they’re experiencing these not-so-pleasant realities is the hardest part of making sense of a mess.

Tension can lead to arguments. Arguments can cause resentment. Resentment can kill momentum. And when momentum stalls, messes grow larger and meaner.

To get through the tension, try to understand other people’s positions and perceptions:

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 156

Be the filter, not the grounds.

When making a cup of coffee, the filter’s job is to get the grit out before a user drinks the coffee. Sensemaking is like removing the grit from the ideas we’re trying to give to users.

What we remove is as important as what we add. It isn’t just the ideas that get the work done.

Be the one not bringing the ideas. Instead, be the filter that other people’s ideas go through to become drinkable:

With those skills, you’ll always have people who want to work with you.

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 158

It’s far more rewarding than hard.

It’s rewarding to set a goal and reach it.

It’s rewarding to know that you’re communicating in a language that makes sense to others.

It’s rewarding to help someone understand something in a way they hadn’t before.

It’s rewarding to see positive changes from the insights you gather.

It’s rewarding to know that something is good.

It’s rewarding to give the gifts of clarity, realistic expectations, and clear direction.

It’s rewarding to make this world a little clearer.

It’s rewarding to make sense of the messes you face.

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 159

Meet Abby.

Abby Covert is an information architect. After ten years of practicing information architecture for clients, Abby worried that too few people knew how to practice it themselves. She decided that the best way to help would be to teach this important practice.

After two years of teaching without a textbook, Abby told her students that she intended to write the book that was missing from the world: a book about information architecture for everybody.

As she wrote the first draft, she identified a mess of inconsistencies in the language and concepts inherent in teaching an emerging practice. At the end of the semester, she had a textbook for art school students, but she didn’t have the book that she intended to write for everybody. She had gone in the wrong direction to achieve a short-term goal.

She was frustrated and fearful of starting over. But instead of giving up, Abby faced her reality and used the advice in this book to make sense of her mess.

To get to the book you are reading, she wrote over 75,000 words, defined over 100 terms as simply as she could, and tested three unique prototypes with her users.

She hopes that it makes sense.

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 160

Make sense yet?

  1. Have you explored the depth and edges of the mess that you face?
  2. Do you know why you have the intent you have and what it means to how you will solve your problem?
  3. Have you faced reality and thought about contexts and channels your users could be in?
  4. What language have you chosen to use to clarify your direction?
  5. What specific goals and baselines will you measure your progress against?
  6. Have you put together various structures and tested them to make sure your intended message comes through to users?
  7. Are you prepared to adjust?