Liz Danzico: The Seven Lies of Information Architecture

1. Navigation must always be consistent

• Must Google maps have the same Google header as the homepage?
• Need->Interpret->Navigate->React
• Apple.com: Excellent example of inconsistency (Good thing)

2. There is a magic number seven (plus or minus two).

• There is a magic number (omit plus or minus two).
  

3. Users must get to all parts of the site all the time.

• Mistake: thinking about individual sites as solo experiences.

4. Users must know where they are at all times.

• Youtube allows you to move throughout the site randomly, loosely connecting the video content.
• Amazon:People also bought
• Users must know what's next.
  

5. The user experience must be seamless.

• The designer must design beautiful seams.

6. Shorter is better.

• Telling a story
• Shorter is not always better.

7. Information architects do information architecture.

• ..and so should developers, designers, writers, clients, and users.

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