It’s no secret that there are many, many intricacies behind a website or mobile app. To successfully create and maintain these digital platforms, a detailed plan is required. How do Bastion Rare designers make sure our plans offer a solid foundation to work on? With Information Architecture (IA). IA is the science behind the structuring of digital plans. IA allows for an organized workflow that is easily navigated by all team members involved in the project. These structures house many components of the design process which are organized into intuitive categories and subcategories.

A key part in kicking off IA development is content inventory, which is essentially gathering an inventory list of content elements like copy, keywords, imagery, audio and video. Web developers consult and modify the content inventory throughout the design process to help properly structure the project in its entirety.

In planning the IA of websites or apps, we utilize wireframes, a development technique that creates a simplified visual blueprint of the desired digital product. Since wireframes are simple and easy to comprehend, we’ve found them to be an important tool in sharing our abstract ideas with clients so they get a full understanding of the project’s design visually and avoid any misunderstandings. Oftentimes, we’ll include placeholders for final content to be filled in at a later stage. 

By utilizing IA and wireframes in the structural design of our digital solutions, we have plans that are organized, excel in design and arrangement, and are information-rich systems.