About the Information Architecture Institute

The Information Architecture Institute is a 501(c)6 professional organization, operated by a dedicated, multi-national group of people. Volunteering our own resources, we aspire to build bridges to related disciplines and organizations. We invite you to join us in advancing the state of information architecture through research, education, advocacy and community service.

We live in exciting times. As the information age rolls forward, our businesses, markets and societies are being transformed into adaptive, connected networks. The Internet of today only hints at the ubiquitous communication infrastructure of tomorrow. The construction of this brave new world requires a new kind of architecture, focused on digital structures of information and software rather than physical structures of bricks and mortar. As we spend more time working and playing in these shared information spaces, people will need and demand better search, navigation and collaboration systems.

We are working hard to build an international membership that connects people with diverse languages, cultures and perspectives. So far, we have over 1400 members from 80 countries. Our Board of Directors and Board of Advisors are comprised of individuals from six continents. Our Translations Initiative and Local Group Program serves to promote and extend our services to all corners of the world.

Read our Annual Report (2006-2007) (PDF) to find out what we accomplished in our third year of operation.

Read our latest Letter from the Board of Directors for up to date news on the Institute's activity.

Spotlight on our People

Russ Unger
Events/Marketing Director

West Chicago, IL, USA

Russ Unger photo

Russ has been working on websites since 1993 when there was only Notepad to code with and Mosaic was the only browser around. That was when he found that his interest in User Experience Design and Information Architecture began to flourish.

Since then, he has worked with a number of major brands on large-scale Intranet and Extranet applications. He has also worked off-line, creating unique biometric (fingerprint reader) applications and have been responsible for creating user interfaces for mobile. He has also taught courses in Web and Interactive/Flash Design.

Russ has been active in our community as an editor for Boxes and Arrows and have recently explored the role of author. In addition, he is currently co-authoring a book on User Experience Design with Carolyn Chandler for Peachpit Press.

Russ is a mentor for the IAI and has worked with several mentees to assist them in their careers. This experience has allowed him to revisit and renew my appreciation for people who are just starting out in their careers and what we, as an organization, can do to further support them.

Russ was the Event Coordinator for the 2008 IDEA Conference. He has actively pursued and landed several sponsors for the conference through my personal contacts. He assisted in identifying various speakers and have encouraged many to become speakers. He supported the effort for many months and have learned a great deal about the Information Architecture Institute and conference planning and marketing.

For more on Russ, visit userglue.com.

Spotlight on our Partners

PARTNER

IA Wiki

The IA Wiki is a collaborative, open discussion space for the topic of information architecture. (It is currently offline and undergoing repair.)