Term (noun.)

What is good?

Language is any system of communication that exists to establish shared meaning. Even within a single language, one term can mean something in situation A and something different in situation B. We call this a homograph. For example, the word pool can mean a swimming pool, shooting pool, or a betting pool.

Perception is the process of considering, and interpreting something. Perception is subjective like truth is. Something that’s beautiful to one person may be an eyesore to another. For example, many designers would describe the busy, colorful patterns in the carpets of Las Vegas as gaudy. People who frequent casinos often describe them as beautiful.

However good or bad these carpet choices seem to us, there are reasons why they look that way. Las Vegas carpets are busy and colorful to disguise spills and wear and tear from foot traffic. Gamblers likely enjoy how they look because of an association with an activity that they enjoy. For Las Vegas casino owners and their customers, those carpet designs are good. For designers, they’re bad. Neither side is right. Both sides have an opinion.

What we intend to do determines how we define words like good and bad.

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 104

Control your vocabulary.

Are you facing a mess like Rasheed’s? Do your stakeholders speak the same language? Do you collectively speak the same language as your users? What language might be troublesome in the context of what you are doing? What concepts need to be better understood or defined?

To control your vocabulary:

Create a list of terms to explore.
Define each term as simply as you can.
Underline words within your definitions that need to be further defined, and define them.
Document the history, alternatives, and myths associated with each term.
Review your list of defined terms with some of your users. Refine the list based on their feedback.
Create a list of requirements that join your nouns and verbs together.

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 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.

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

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 91

Your ontology already exists.

Ontology always exists, but the one you have today may be messy or nonsensical. If you were trying to understand the ontology of your grocery store, your map might look like this at first:

By asking your customers for words they think about within a grocery store, your map could grow to reflect overlapping and related terms.

If you were choosing words for the aisle and department signs or the website, this exercise would help you along.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 92

Design with, not for.

It’s important to discuss and vet your ontological decisions with stakeholders and users. Talking about language choices gives you a chance to test them.

It may sound obvious, but it’s quite common to think something is clearly defined before talking about it with other people.

A good starting point in exploring ontology is to bring everyone together to make a list of terms and concepts. Ask each person to share:

One term that they wish they knew more about
One term that they wish others understood better

Go through each term as a group and use this as a forum for educating each other on what you know about language and context. Don’t “uh huh” your way through words you’ve never heard or don’t understand. Instead, untangle acronyms and unfamiliar phrases.

If someone uses a different word than you do, ask for clarification. Why do they use that word? Get them to explain it. Complexity tends to hide in minutiae.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 93

Create a list of words you say.

A controlled vocabulary is an organized list of terms, phrases, and concepts intended to help someone navigate a specific context.

Documenting language standards can reduce linguistic insecurity.

A good controlled vocabulary considers:

Variant spellings (e.g., American or British)
Tone (e.g., Submit or Send)
Scientific and popular terms (e.g., cockroaches or Periplaneta Americana)
Insider and outsider terms (e.g., what we say at work; what we say in public)
Acceptable synonyms (e.g., automobile, car, auto, or vehicle)
Acceptable acronyms (e.g., General Electric, GE, or G.E.)

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 94

Create a list of words you don’t say.

A controlled vocabulary doesn’t have to end with terms you intend to use. Go deeper by defining terms and concepts that misalign with your intent.

For the sake of clarity, you can also define:

Terms and concepts that conflict with a user’s mental model of how things work
Terms and concepts that have alternative meaning for users or stakeholders
Terms and concepts that carry historical, political, or cultural baggage
Acronyms and homographs that may confuse users or stakeholders

In my experience, a list of things you don’t say can be even more powerful than a list of things you do. I’ve been known to wear a whistle and blow it in meetings when someone uses a term from the don’t list.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 95

Words I don’t say in this eBook.

I’ve avoided using these terms and concepts:

Doing/Do the IA (commonly misstated)
IA (as an abbreviation)
Information Architecture (as a proper noun)
Information Architect (exceptions in my dedication and bio pages)
App as an abbreviation (too trendy)
Very (the laziest word ever)
User experience (too specific to design)
Metadata (too technical)
Semantic (too academic)
Semiotic (too academic)

I have reasons why these words aren’t good in the context of this book. That doesn’t mean I never use them; I do in some contexts.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 96

Define terms for outsiders.

When I was in grade school, we did an assignment where we were asked to define terms clearly enough for someone learning our language. To define “tree” as “a plant that grows from the ground,” we first needed to define “plant,” “grow,” and “ground.”

It was an important lesson to start to understand the interconnectivity of language. I like to apply this kind of thinking in my work to uncover terms that are nested within other terms and their definitions.

To define a term clearly:

Write down the meaning of the term as simply as you can.
Underline each term within your definition that needs to be further defined.
Define those terms and test your definition with someone who doesn’t know those terms yet.
Look at each individual word and ask yourself: What does this mean? Is it as simple as possible?

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 97

Understand the past.

As you talk through your controlled vocabulary, listen for stories and images people associate with each term.

Language has history. Synonyms and alternatives abound. Myths can get in your way too, unless you’re willing to uncover them.

Gather the following about each term:

History: How did the term come into being? How has it changed over time?
Myths: Do people commonly misunderstand this term, its meaning, or its usage? How?
Alternatives: What are the synonyms for the term? What accidental synonyms exist?

When it comes to language, people are slow to change and quick to argue. Documenting these details will help you make your controlled vocabulary as clear and useful as possible.

Chapter 4: Choose a Direction | Page 98

Think about nouns and verbs.

Nouns represent each of the objects, people, and places involved in a mess.

As an example, a post is a noun commonly associated with another noun, an author.

Verbs represent the actions that can be taken.

A post (n.) can be: written, shared, deleted, or read.

Verbs don’t exist without nouns. For example, an online share button implies that it will share this post.

Nouns are often created as a result of verbs. A post only exists after posting

It’s easy to adopt terms that are already in use or to be lazy in choosing our language. But when you’re deciding which words to use, it is important to consider the alternatives, perceptions, and associations around each term.

How would your work be different if “authors writing posts” was changed to “researchers authoring papers,” or “followers submitting comments?”

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 129

Classification can be exact or ambiguous.

Postal codes are what we call an exact classification. We can generally rely on the codes to hold steady. If the postal code is 10012, the building is in Manhattan. There’s nothing to argue about. It just is.

Ambiguous classifications require more thought to decide where something goes. The more ambiguous something is, the more it can be argued about.

Movie genres like Comedy and Drama may seem exact. But if you put three movie reviewers in a room and ask them to classify a dark comedy into one of those two genres, they may challenge each other.

Ambiguity and exactness relate to context as well.

For example, in editing this book, Nicole suggested I use the term “Postal code” instead of “Zip code” in the example above. Both would have expressed the point, but one is more exact for our context, which includes readers outside of the United States.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 130

Ambiguity costs clarity; exactitude costs flexibility.

The more ambiguous you are, the more likely it is that people will have trouble using your taxonomy to find and classify things.

For every ambiguous rule of classification you use or label you hide behind, you’ll have to communicate your intent that much more clearly.

For example, what if I had organized the lexicon in the back of this book by chapter, instead of alphabetically? This might be an interesting way of arranging things, but it would need to be explained, so you could find a term.

The more exact your taxonomy becomes, the less flexible it is. This isn’t always bad, but it can be. If you introduce something that doesn’t fit into a category things can get confusing.

Because there are many words for the same thing, exact classifications can slow us down. For example, I recently tried to buy some zucchini at a grocery store. But it wasn’t until the clerk in training found the code for “Squash, Green” that she could ring me up.

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 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.

How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert