[Sigia-l] IA and Traditional Software

[Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com]

I'm doing some work on a (non-web) software product.  Just wondering 
how folks think IA relates to software applications.  Clearly 
usability, design, search, user assistance and navigation (e.g. menus 
or wizards) are aspects of software, yet I've never thought 
applications have as obvious a tie to IA as things like web sites or 
even books where the core tasks are related to 
navigating/searching/presenting information (content).  

Where within MS-Word, Outlook, Visio or Notepad would you see evidence 
of an Information Architecture?  

Just to clarify, I'm not asserting that Information Architects 
can't/shouldn't play a role in software design/development.  Clearly 
IA's have skills that would be valuable in many areas.  I'm more 
interested in finding out what you would identify as the information 
architecture parts of a software application.  People's skills and 
knowledge should always be used wherever they add value.

In looking around a bit I find that there are few definitions of 
Information Architecture as a noun/thing - we tend to talk of IA as a 
field or role in definitions, but not something that's deliverable.  
Don't we in the end build information architectures?  One alternative 
is that we just build labeling systems, navigation systems, search, 
etc. and that saying we build an IA is like saying we design a user 
experience -- it's not really a concrete *thing*.  Lou and Peter seem 
to get closest to the *thing* in their second edition (read on).

IA Definition from the (no longer available) Argus site focuses on 
finding info:
"An information architecture is composed of organization, navigation, 
indexing and searching systems. These systems play a central role in 
determining whether users can easily find the information they need."

Keith Instone's IA Definition which includes interaction:
"An information architecture is the underlying organizational structure 
for a system of content and interactions (e.g., Web, broadband, 
wireless, and speech)."
http://keith.instone.org/practiceia/sapient-handout.html