Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites

2.5. What Lies Ahead

So, information architecture happens. Information architectures are being created every day by generalists and specialists, by innies and outies, risk takers and people who get things done, and by people who've never heard the term "information architecture." They're being created inside all manner of information ecologies with unique combinations of users, content, and context.

Herein lies the dual challenge to the information architecture discipline. As professionals, we must advance our own understanding and our ability to perform this very difficult work inside massively complex environments. We still have so much to learn! And as a community, we must strive to advance the practice of information architecture by educating those around us who create or influence information architectures while they're focused on doing something else. We still have so much to teach!

In any case, we hope we've done a good job of setting the stage. Now it's time to delve into the guts of information architecture, so roll up your sleeves and dig in.