Information architecture

Article — 3 November 2026 — 704 words

Building on our incomplete Lego analogies

Anyone working in digital is bound to reach for a Lego analogy at some point. But this disguises the very thing that makes these structures actually hold together.

Article — 26 August 2026 — 1,587 words

Understanding what we mean — Ontology in information architecture

Business — Information architecture — User experience

Work: Scottish Government

Just as human-centred approaches as a whole have suffered from being flattened to a superficial layer, information architecture has suffered its own flattening. Ontology helps us deepen our practice and improve user experience by getting alignment around what we mean.

Article — 25 June 2026 — 167 words

Ethical personalisation of public services — Talk at Services Week

Digital — Information architecture — Service design

Work: Scottish Government

We have developed a set of ethical personalisation principles to guide our early work to deliver personalised public services. I will present about this work as part of Services Week 2026.

Article — 22 June 2026 — 1,837 words

Don’t make me thick

Information architecture — Society — User experience

We say “don’t make me think”, and “less is more”. But a naive application of these principles risks limiting our users when we should be helping them grow.

Article — 26 May 2026 — 3,473 words

Grounding AI the webby way — Taxonomy Boot Camp London 2026 takeaways

Business — Information architecture — Technology — Web

Work: Scottish Government

There was a heavy focus on artificial intelligence. But what really struck me was that the semantic approaches that are preparing us for our AI future are well-established web standards that have been around for decades.

Article — 21 May 2026 — 1,127 words

From answer engines to learning engines — Why fast answers are like fast food

Information architecture — Social science — Technology — User experience

People crave fast answers. But the purpose of information systems is to help people gain knowledge. So we should seek better questions.

Article — 25 March 2026 — 459 words

Making connections with connected content

Content design — Information architecture — User experience

Work: Scottish Government

For the past month, we have been running events showcasing the opportunities of connected content and information architecture. The response to these sessions has far exceeded my expectations.

Article — 2 March 2026 — 212 words

Connected content learning sessions for public sector colleagues

Information architecture

Work: Scottish Government

I am pleased to be involved in organising a series of learning sessions about connected content and information architecture. This series is available to colleagues working in the public sector. The first sessions are this week.

Article — 25 February 2026 — 100 words

Speaking about the meaning of public services at World IA Day London 2026

Information architecture

Work: Scottish Government

I will be speaking at World IA Day London 2026, an online event about information architecture. This is for anyone who works with information or cares about about how it is organised and understood.

Article — 19 January 2026 — 1,727 words

Perceiving relationships gives glue people the edge

Business — Information architecture — Social science — Web

Seeing what’s in between as well as what is — in information architecture and in the way organisations work.

Article — 9 December 2025 — 1,844 words

Resisting Conway’s law through more thoughtful mapping

Business — Digital — Information architecture — User experience

Organisational structures and information architectures are both often visualised in artefacts described as “maps”. These constrained visualisations may embed siloed ways of working, and create problems for our users.

Article — 11 August 2025 — 1,745 words

Life beyond the folder system

Digital — Information architecture — Technology — Web

The folder metaphor is so intuitive to generations of computer users that they can struggle to think of any other way of using a computer. Yet for younger generations, the idea is completely alien.