How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert

Chapter 1: Identify the Mess | Page 11

Messes are made of information and people.

A mess is any situation where something is confusing or full of difficulty. We all encounter messes.

Here are some of the many messes we deal with in our everyday lives:

• The structure of teams and organizations
• The processes we undertake in working together
• The ways products and services are represented, sold, and delivered to us
• The ways we communicate with each other

Chapter 1: Identify the Mess | Page 16

People architect information.

It’s easy to think about information messes as if they’re an alien attack from afar. But they’re not.

We made these messes.

When we architect information, we determine the structures we need to communicate our message.

Everything around you was architected by another person. Whether or not they were aware of what they were doing. Whether or not they did a good job. Whether or not they delegated the task to a computer.

Information is a responsibility we all share.

We’re no longer on the shore watching the information age approach; we’re up to our hips in it.

If we’re going to be successful in this new world, we need to see information as a workable material and learn to architect it in a way that gets us to our goals.

Chapter 3: Face Reality | Page 55

Reality doesn’t always fit existing patterns.

Beware of jumping into an existing solution or copying existing patterns. In my experience, too many people buy into an existing solution’s flexibility to later discover its rigidity.

Imagine trying to design a luxury fashion magazine using a technical system for grocery store coupons. The features you need may seem similar enough until you consider your context. That’s when reality sets in.

What brings whopping returns to one business might crush another. What works for kids might annoy older people. What worked five years ago may not work today.

We have to think about the effects of adopting an existing structure or language before doing so.

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.

Chapter 3: Face Reality | Page 63

Architecture before design.

You can tell complex stories in a diagram with boxes and arrows. A box represents a thing; an arrow represents a relationship between things.

These relationships can be one-way (e.g., dropping a package into a mailbox) or two-way (e.g., calling the postal service to see if it was delivered).

We use a diamond shape to represent a decision point. This allows us to diagram relationships that change depending on the circumstances.

When you’re making a diagram, keep the structure pliable. Give yourself room to play with the boxes, move them around, and see what happens.

Start by creating a box for each concept, each piece of content, and each process. Arrange the boxes based on how they relate to each other. Play. See what reveals itself as you move things around. Try a few different arrangements before you add the arrows.

Keep it simple. The more you add styling and polish, the less you’ll feel comfortable changing and collaborating on the diagram.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 84

What are you making?

Nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything connects to a larger whole. Whenever you’re making something, figure out which levels you’re working at:

Object: a specific thing.

Interface: a point where a user affects that thing.

Location: a particular place or position.

Journey: the steps in or between locations.

Structure: a configuration of objects and locations.

System: a set of structures working together.

Ecosystem: a collection of related systems.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 90

Understand ontology.

If we were to write a dictionary, we’d be practicing lexicography, or collecting many meanings into a list. When we decide that a word or concept holds a specific meaning in a specific context, we are practicing ontology.

Here are some examples of ontological decisions:

• Social networks redefining “like” and “friends” for their purposes
• The “folders” on a computer’s “desktop” you use to organize “files”
• The ability to order at a fast food chain by saying a number

To refine your ontology, all you need is a pile of sticky notes, a pen, and some patience.

1. Find a flat or upright surface to work on.
2. Write a term or concept that relates to your work on each sticky note.
3. Put the sticky notes onto the surface as they relate to each other. Start to create structures and relationships based on their location.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 125

There are many ways to structure things.

A structure is a configuration. An unorganized pile is a structure. So is a table of contents or a house of cards. Every thing has a structure.

To choose a good structure for what you are making, you need to find one that:

• Makes sense to your users
• Reflects your intent
• Helps you to reach your goals

There will always be several structures you can use.

Allowing your content to try on a structure you believe to be bad or wrong can be helpful. When we determine what something won’t be, we often reveal a little more about what it will be.

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.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 126

Taxonomy is how we arrange things.

When you set out to arrange something, how do you decide where the pieces go? Is it based on what looks right to you, what you believe goes together, or what someone told you to do? Or maybe you let gravity or the alphabet determine the order?

To effectively arrange anything, we have to choose methods for organizing and classifying content in ways that convey the intended information to our intended users.

Structural methods for organization and classification are called taxonomy.

Common examples of taxonomies include:

• The scientific classification for plants, animals, minerals, and other organisms
• The Dewey Decimal system for libraries
• Navigational tabs on a website
• Organizational charts showing management and team structures

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 135

The way you organize things says a lot about you.

Classifying a tomato as a vegetable says something about what you know about your customers and your grocery store. You would classify things differently if you were working on a textbook for horticulture students, right?

How you choose to classify and organize things reflects your intent, but it can also reflect your worldview, culture, experience, or privilege.

Those same choices affect how people using your taxonomy understand what you share with them.

Taxonomies serve as a set of instructions for people interacting with our work.

Taxonomy is one of the strongest tools of rhetoric we have. The key to strong rhetoric is using language, rules and structures that your audience can easily understand and use.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 144

Play with Structure

Because your structure may change a hundred times before you finish making it, you can save time and frustration by thinking with boxes and arrows before making real changes. Boxes and arrows are easier to move around than the other materials we work with, so start there.

Try structuring the mess with common patterns of boxes and arrows as shown on the next page. Remember that you’ll probably need to combine more than one pattern to find a structure that works.

1. Assess the content and facets that are useful for what you’re trying to convey.
2. Play with broad and shallow versus narrow and deep hierarchies. Consider the right place to use heterarchies, sequences, and hypertext arrangements.
3. Arrange things one way and then come up with another way. Compare and contrast them. Ask other people for input.
4. Think about the appropriate level of ambiguity or exactitude for classifying and labeling things within the structure you’re pursuing.

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 149

The sum is greater than its parts.

We need to understand the sum of a lot of pieces to make sense of what we have.

For example, let’s say we’re working on bringing a product to the market. To support this process, we might create:

• A hierarchical diagram of how the product is structured and labeled for users
• A flow diagram of the sequence users experience in the product
• A lexicon of terms the product will use, vetted to make sense to our audience

These are all important pieces individually, but we need to look at them together to answer questions about the whole such as:

• What will users experience?
• Who will work on what, why, and with whom?
• When will things be released and how?
• How will things change over time?

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 152

If it isn’t under the floorboards, it’s a façade.

Information architecture is like the frame and foundation of a building. It’s not a building by itself, but you can’t add the frame and foundation after the building is up. They’re critical parts of the building that affect the whole of it. Buildings without frames do not exist.

It’s hard to relay your intended meaning through façade alone. When your structure and intent don’t line up, things fall apart.

Imagine trying to open a fancy restaurant in an old Pizza Hut. The shape of its former self persists in the structure. The mid-nineties nostalgia for that brand is in its bones. Paint the roof; change the signage; blow out the inside; it doesn’t matter. The building insists, “I used to be a Pizza Hut.”

(Now type “used to be Pizza Hut” into Google’s image search and enjoy the laugh riot!)

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 154

Make room for information architecture.

If you find yourself needing to promote this practice, here are some ways you can talk about it:

You: “Wow, we have lots of information floating around about this, huh?”

Them: “It’s a bit unruly, isn’t it?”

You: “Yeah, I think I can help though. I recently learned about the practice of information architecture. Have you heard of it?”

Them: “Never heard of it. What is it?”

You: “It’s the practice of deciding which structures we need so our intent comes through to users.”

Them: “Is it hard? Do we need an expert?”

You: “Well, it isn’t hard if we’re willing to collaborate and make decisions about what we’re doing. I have some tools we can try. What do you think?”

Chapter 7: Prepare to Adjust | Page 155

“Hey, nice IA!” — said no one, ever.

No one comments on the plumbing or electricity of a building unless the toilet is clogged or the lights aren’t working. Then all of a sudden, pipes and wires are a hot topic of conversation.

Similarly, people don’t compliment or even critique information architecture unless it’s broken.

The “information architecture part” is almost invisible when separated from how something looks and how it’s made. For example, we can’t evaluate the quality of the structure of this eBook without considering how it was written, edited, designed, illustrated, typeset, marketed and delivered.

If you practice information architecture for the glory, get ready to be disappointed.

But if you practice it for the clarity it can bring, get ready for some seriously interesting work.

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:

• Shed light on the messes that people see but don’t talk about.
• Make sure everyone agrees on the intent behind the work you’re doing together.
• Help people choose a direction and define goals to track your progress.
• Evaluate and refine the language and structures you use to pursue those goals.

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

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?