How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody 1.0 Edition

by Abby Covert (Author)

68 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-1500615994

ISBN-10: 1500615994

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Everything is getting more complex. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of information we encounter each day. Whether at work, at school, or in our personal endeavors, there’s a deepening (and inescapable) need for people to work with and understand information. Information architecture is the way that we arrange the parts of something to make it understandable as a whole. When we make things for others to use, the architecture of information that we choose greatly affects our ability to deliver our intended message to our users. We all face messes made of information and people. I define the word “mess” the same way that most dictionaries do: “A situation where the interactions between people and information are confusing or full of difficulties.” — Who doesn’t bump up against messes made of information and people every day? This book provides a seven step process for making sense of any mess. Each chapter contains a set of lessons as well as workbook exercises architected to help you to work through your own mess.

How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody

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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Who is the book for?

I wrote this book for anyone making anything. And vague as I admit that to be, I believe it to be most useful framed that way.

Because in my opinion, the same advice could be given to someone organizing a bake sale as someone organizing a global cross-channel campaign. I also think the same high-level process and consideration set could apply to a student making their first website as a major corporation redesigning their digital ecosystem.

We have spent the last thousand years inventing ever-stronger ways to transport messages from one point to another. But along the way, we haven't spent as much time considering how our messages will be interpreted and how that might impact the way people understand and use the information that our messages contain.

We spend most of the time talking about the practical and predictable parts of our world. The steps we will take, the deliverables we will produce, the thing we are making, even the value we will be creating by doing so, the organization of teams and projects to get us there -- but we spend much less time (if any at all) talking about the perceived meaning of choices we make, the impact language has on our communication's effectiveness, or playing with structures that would best serve our intent before we start to layer on the details of design and execution. I wanted to write a book that taught those lessons.

About the Author

Abby Covert specializes in delivering a highly collaborative information architecture process and teaching those that she works with along the way. Abby speaks and writes under the pseudonym Abby the IA, focusing on sharing information architecture content with those working within the design and technology communities. She teaches information architecture at The School of Visual Arts, Parsons: the New School and General Assembly NYC. Abby prides herself on being an active organizer and mentor within the IA community. She currently serves as the president of the Information Architecture Institute and as an advisor for the Information Architecture Summit. She holds credit for inventing World Information Architecture Day, a free annual conference held simultaneously in dozens of locations across the globe. Now in its fourth year, World IA Day has been held in 50+ cites. Thirty eight more locations have been added for 2015. After ten years of practicing information architecture for clients and writing about it on the web, Abby saw that too few people knew how to practice it for themselves. She decided that the best way to help would be to teach this important practice. And, after two years of teaching without a textbook, Abby told her students that she intended to write the book that was missing: a book about information architecture for everybody. This is that book. In developing this book, Abby wrote more than 75,000 words, clarified the contextual meaning of more than 100 terms, and tested three distinctively different prototypes with readers.

Paperback: 174 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1.0 edition (November 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500615994
ISBN-13: 978-1500615994
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 68 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #44 in Books > Computers & Technology > Networking & Cloud Computing > Network Administration > Storage & Retrieval
- #116 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Logic & Language
- #232 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Information Management

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Very thoughtful in detail book on how to handle a mess

ByJohn B. Spenceon January 21, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

If you are faced with a complex problem or challenge, you need to read this book. It is a very thoughtful, detailed and exhaustive collection of ways to deal with a mess. Checklists, questions, flowcharts… It is full of different tools that allow you to attack a mess from multiple angles. I have already recommended this book to several of my clients and will be using the ideas in it to help them attack nasty messes.

0Comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Meh.

ByChristopher Watsonon February 4, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Not sure what I expected, but felt like Cliff Notes for the real book.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A good start

ByK. Apgaron April 27, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

While I enjoyed and appreciated this book for what it was, a high altitude overview of IA, I really hoped the author would get a bit more into the details as they pertain to specific industries such as website design. Maybe a follow-up?

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Worth it!

ByTiago Allenon August 28, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Still reading but so far so now i very excited with evert next page. Also i'm using the concept inside this book in a real project.

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Another great thing about the book is

ByOscar Koon December 2, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Concise, clear, and makes sense! Another great thing about the book is, even though it says it's for IA, but it applies to general areas of life.

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Universally applicable

BySteepleClockon October 23, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The concepts in this book can be applied to any subject that needs organization. I liked the format of both the kindle and print versions. Makes sense.

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Overpriced, badly packaged common sense.

Bylo_dashon July 24, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I really wanted to love this book. I bought it after hearing Abby as a guest on a podcast and being incredibly impressed with her. Unfortunately I got much more information out of that free podcast than this overpriced book. The only thing you'll find in here are vague, pretentiously worded questions and basic common sense. If you're lacking in common sense I'd give it a try, but otherwise skip this and go listen to her guest spot on the Boag World podcast -- you'll get more out of it!

11 comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A must read

ByAndrew Fenlasonon December 19, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Quick read. Informative overview of the topic with helpful worksheets, questions, exercises and examples. It helped clarify many pieces that I have been thinking about. I found myself stopping throughout to work through the exercises.

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Most recent customer reviews

A great summary of a book that could have been

The author claims that this book is for "anyone looking to make anything of any type" (or something along those lines).Read more

Published 7 months ago by Amazon Customer

No substance

A very disappointing book. Apart from the first few pages, it has no substance. Common sense is too flattering to subscribe it. I should have heeded the critical reviews here.

Published 8 months ago by K. Kilian

Too shallow to be of any practical use

There are people that write an entire book abort card sorting. And then there is this book that aspires to explain everything abort everything.Read more

Published 9 months ago by Ryber Torbjörn

Five Stars

This book fundamentally changed the way think about problem solving.

Published 1 year ago by Nitin

I enjoyed the broad direction she took so the thinking could ...

I enjoyed the broad direction she took so the thinking could be applied to many applications. There were a few helpful tools and a glossary. It's more theoretical than practical.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Amazon Customer

Interesting as a primer

Reinforces the basics of language and how to break down confusion into tangible and approachable diagrams and language. Easy quick read.

Published 1 year ago by Susan Knause

If you're new to sense-making this book will give you a head-start on being an excellent sense-maker; an advantage that

If there was one book I could give to anyone who makes things with words or ideas it would be this book.
It is short.
It is clear.
It is practical.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Joe Elmendorf

Buy two, one for you one for a friend.

Terrific book. Smart enough to be a text book (used in the systems class at CCA) simple enough to read after a hard day's work, and fun enough you'll do so enjoyably.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Christina Wodtke

Two Stars

There are so minimal amount of useful information, and it is so basic...

Published 1 year ago by Kindle Customer

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