Introduction: Usability and Information Architecture

Usability and information architecture have become pretty hot topics in the tech world (mostly because of recent reports of massive salary increases for people with the requisite skills). Though many of you are already familiar with these fields, lots of very qualified tech people have little understanding of what a usability expert or information architect does day-to-day.

I’d be silly to try to explain it all myself, as both fields are quite broad. Each is a branch of a larger discipline known as technical communication, which also encompasses human factors and human-computer interface design. While only a handful of colleges currently offer degree plans in technical communication, quite a few are beginning to offer master’s programs in information architecture.

Rather than try to describe these disciplines, I’ve assembled a list of five books that will give you a very solid introduction to usability and information architecture. These books are not casual reading; most of them are considered academic tomes. I acquired almost all of these while in college, and they’ve proven very useful in my career thus far. Without further ado, here’s your homework, should you choose to accept it:

Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition
by Steve Krug
Get your feet wet with this one. It’s a quick read that’s light-hearted with lots of illustrations, and Mr. Krug does an excellent job of making the work of a usability expert transparent. If you read this and decide you don’t like the field, at least you didn’t waste much time or energy, and you will have likely laughed once or twice along the way.

Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity
by Jakob Nielsen
This is a great read for web designers even if they could give a damn about usability. Although some of the concepts are woefully out of date, Nielsen uses easy-to-understand concepts to describe what makes a website usable (and useful). His suggestions can be a bit iron-fisted (and ridiculous) at times; take the wilder ideas with a grain of salt. If you finish this one and are interested in digging deeper, pick up Nielsen’s Prioritizing Web Usability.

Human Factors for Technical Communicators
by Marlana Coe
Painfully technical, this book covers the psychology of why users do what they do. I was reticent about adding it to this list because of how dense it is, but if you’re genuinely interested in these fields, it wouldn’t hurt to give this one a once-over.

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites
by Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld
This is it, folks. Considered the bible of information architecture, this book–published by the venerable O’Reilly–orients you to “users, content, and context.” Best of all: the authors have continually updated this book so that its concepts are pertinent.

The Design of Everyday Things
by Donald Norman
Even though this book doesn’t specifically cover technology, it deserves a mention simply because of how often it comes up in discussions with other usability nerds. Fascinating stuff.

And, of course, if books aren’t your bag or you don’t want to shell out the dough for any of the above, there are numerous sites on the web that can give you a good introduction. Jakob Nielsen’s UseIt.com is a good starting point, as is the usability section of A List Apart.

Good luck, and happy reading.