Educating the Client on Information Architecture

Keith LaFerriere published an interesting article today on A List Apart about communicating the value of Information Architecture (IA) to clients, and outlining deliverables by phases.

Keith does a thorough job of outlining the various deliverables that are produced in sequence, and incorporates a brief description of each one. This is a particularly useful overview of artifacts for someone who is unfamiliar with what an information architect produces.

What seemed to be missing from the article was an explanation of how information architecture works with other strategies to provide an optimal solution -- interaction design, graphic design, and so on. Therein lies the true value of a good information architect - someone who considers the complete user experience across these various disciplines, not someone who works in isolation on the IA.

On a side note, I found myself wishing the deliverable tables were presented as a swim lane diagram to more easily see phase:deliverable mapping. (thanks OM)