Information Architecture
Blueprints for the Web, 2nd edition
New Riders; February 2009. ISBN-978-0321600806. 312 pages.
Blueprints collects and introduces key user experience issues. I believe we’ve published the single, best, one-chapter introductions to business and user requirements, navigation, application flow, page layout, and search. We’ve also included the single best introduction to social media design you’ll find anywhere.
You’ll learn how to approach each of these issues and how to best use personas, scenarios, site maps, wireframes, card sorts, and site-path diagramming.
This isn’t a book about design. It’s about the architecture behind the design. We take you from concepts, requirements, and needs all the way down to laying out the page and stop just short of individual page elements. This is the book to read if you’re a product manager, engineer, visual designer, or student looking for a quick on-ramp into the world of user experience.
Learn the way you learn best
As book-lovers, Christina and I wrote a book that would be both easy and a pleasure to read, warm, and inviting. It’s obsessively crafted for reading and for readers; every point illustrated with clear examples.
It’s a quick read at approximately 250 pages, but almost half of the book consists of full-color screenshots and diagrams. We were obsessed with including visual examples for everything so you can see the concepts while you read them.
Not the first edition
It’s not the 1st edition. Not even close.
The chapters on search, navigation, application flow, and social media are completely new. The rest of the chapters has been totally revamped, rethought, and re-explained with new examples from the modern world. (And several chapters from the first edition were cut entirely.)
I’m really proud of the book we put together. So proud, that I never feel smarmy when I recommend it to people. If you’re looking for an introduction to user experience, I heartily suggest you check out Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web.
About the author
Austin Govella has helped the world’s largest and smallest organizations build better products and services for over 20 years. Austin combines product management, UX, and agile and shares his experience at conferences like SXSW, Agile, Big Design, and others.
Austin leads Experience Design at Avanade’s Houston studio where he helps cross-functional teams design and develop websites, workplace tools, and mobile apps. His experience includes product teams, consulting, B2B, B2C, and the non-profit sector. He wrote Collaborative Product Design and blogs at https://agux.co.
Learn more about workshops and collaboration
Collaborative Product Design collects 11 practical tools and hundreds of tips from the trenches that help teams collaborate on strategy, user research, and UX, ideally suited for agile teams and lean organizations.
Visit the book website to learn more or buy on Amazon.