What sticks: Reflections from 15 years as an IA instructor

Editor's Summary In his 15 years of teaching information architecture classes, Thom Haller's aim for students was to identify their goals and help them work toward them. His 10‐week courses focused on useful knowledge about how humans think and use information and how good information architecture can facilitate the process. The courses covered visual thinking, user actions, interconnections between information items and navigating mental models. From the theories and techniques introduced in the course, the most important points would continually surface when the class considered the question, “What sticks?” Weekly and at the end of a course, the students reflected on lessons with lasting value about the field, user experience and the practice of information architecture. In recent discussions with Haller, former students reported on enduring principles that stuck, resonating through their daily work. They agreed that the core tenet of information architecture — that making things simple and understandable creates the best user experience — is equally true in other domains. The concept is graphically represented by a triangle of connected fingers, symbolizing audience, goals and success metrics around a communication product.