Design Information Architecture
Navigation & IA · authentication
Updated 2026-07-28
- Information architecture is how users understand where things belong.
- Good structure answers:
- Where am I?
- What exists here?
- Where can I go next?
- Organize around user mental models:
Good:
- Projects.
- Customers.
- Orders.
Bad:
- Internal team names.
- Database categories.
- Technical structures.
- A strong information architecture reduces searching and guessing.
- Structure is invisible when it works.
- Information architecture organizes knowledge.
- Good structure helps users:
- Find.
- Understand.
- Navigate.
- Remember.
- Create hierarchy:
Category.
Subcategory.
Detail.
- Avoid structures based only on internal company organization.
Related guides
UX Handbook