Information Architecture Document

Definitions

Information Architecture Document

the architecture work product that is produced during application development that documents the architecture of the application’s major data components.

Objectives

The typical objectives of the information architecture document are to:

• Document the architecture of an application's major data components.

Benefits

The typical benefits of the information architecture document are:

• It insures that the architecture of the data components is not under-emphasized.
• It supports the development of informational websites by capturing their informational content at a high-level of abstraction.

Contents

The typical contents of the information architecture document are:

• Site Content
  • For each Content Group X:
    • Content Group Name
    • Content Group Purpose
    • Size Estimate
    • Content Group Elements
    • Data Structure Diagram (relationship between data types)
    • For each Content Group Element Y:
      • Content Type (text, image, audio, film)
      • Content Variability (static or dynamic)
      • Download Support
      • Size Estimate
      • Content Elements
      • Data Structure Diagram (relationship between data types)
• Content Navigation Approach
• Site Map (showing mapping from content to webpage)
• Appendices:
  • Content Inventory
  • Content Formats (e.g., XML Data Type Definitions (DTDs))
  • Major Issues
  • TBDs
  • Assumptions

Stakeholders

The typical stakeholders of the information architecture document are:

• Producers:
  • Architecture Team (especially the Information Architect)
• Evaluators:
  • Architecture Inspection Team
  • Customer Organization, which inspects the content for correctness
• Approvers:
  • Technical Leader
  • Project Manager
  • Customer Representative
• Maintainer: Architecture Team
• Users:
  • Business engineering user experience team, which uses the information architecture document during the design of the human interfaces.

Phases

• Initiation: Completed
• Construction: Maintained
• Delivery: Maintained
• Usage: Maintained
• Retirement: Archived

Preconditions

The information architecture document typically can be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The initiation phase is started.
• The architecture team has been staffed with an information architect who has been trained in information architecting.

Inputs

The typical inputs to the information architecture document include:

• Work Poducts:
  • System Requirements Specification
  • Glossary
  • System Architecture Document
  • Software Architecture Document
  • Human Interface Prototype
• Stakeholders:
  • Business Domain Experts

Guidelines

• This is a living document that is developed incrementally and iteratively in parallel with other documents.
• Care should be taken to avoid any redundant overlap between this document and the Human Interface Design Document.
• This document should concentrate on strategic design decisions regarding major data components, leaving user analysis, requirements, and design to other documents.

Conventions

The information architecture document is typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Work Flow
• Content and Format Standard
• MS Word Template
• XML Template
• Inspection Checklist

Examples

• Example Information Architecture Document

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