The
Role of the Information Architect
Often
when I am working with organizations to implement a Knowledge Management (KM)
Solution the role of the business and more specifically the users of the
application are discussed. The users of the proposed KM application will
determine its worth to the organization. If the system is not used and/or is
poorly received the organization would have wasted time and valuable resources
in developing the KM solution. When this occurs KM in many instances receives a
negative view in the minds of the people at the organization and this leads to
the abandonment of KM entirely. To prevent this unseemly situation and to get
your organization started in the right direction I would recommend bringing in
an Information Architect. In this role the information Architect will be the
catalyst to bring the users together, along with specific business objectives
to enable the KM solution to be adopted by the users and embraced by the
organization.
One
thing you may be asking is “How does the Information Architect accomplish
this?” The information Architect Instead of focusing on typical IT problems, comes
to the project with a threefold focus: Users of the Information, the
Information Itself and the Business/Organization. With this focus the
Information Architect will perform the following tasks:
· Gather Requirements pertaining to the content and
structure of the KM solution (SME’s and Users are heavily involved here)
· Construct the Information Model (SME’s and Users
are heavily involved here to further define and validate Content)
· Instantiate Business Rules (depicted as
relationships) onto the model (SME’s and Users are heavily involved here to
further define and validate Content Relationships)
· Develop the Taxonomy (categorizations of content
(information & knowledge) for the KM Solution
o SME’s and Users are
heavily involved here
o Card Sort exercise is
often used to solidify the Content Categories and Taxonomy
·
Develops Standards for Content Assembly
·
Contributes to the development of the Style Guide
for Content Delivery
·
Contributes to creating an authoring Environment
that would leverage the Standards and Style Guide for Content
When
developing your KM solution having an Information Architect (or team of
Information Architects) will ensure user and business involvement as well as
the adoption and use of the KM solution. This is a step in the right direction
to contribute to KM being viewed as a positive influence and having value
within the culture of your organization.
If your organization is considering developing or enhancing a KM Solution and are using or considering using an Information Architect I would like to especially hear from you!
Labels: Card Sort, Information Architect, Information Model, Metadata, Taxonomy, User Experience