Consulting
I help organizations of all sizes make complex content collections easy to understand and pleasant to use.
Information Architecture (IA) problems can manifest across a digital ecosystem in perplexing ways. Signs you have an issue with your IA include when:
- the intended audience of your content can't consistently find what they're looking for or doesn't consistently understand what they've found
- connecting information across tools and systems (or even pages) is a nightmare
- your search feature is basically useless
- the LLMs you connect to your content are constantly making stuff up, or rarely reference the information germane to a given response
I help organizations fix these and related problems by working with them to create meaningful, goal-oriented structures that connect digital content, user needs, technical requirements, and business goals across contexts and across tools.
Specific focus areas for this work often include:
Structure, Labeling, and Search
Content and page structure, navigation and metadata labeling, and tuning search for effective precision and recall are "classic" information architecture problems. They're also easy to get wrong when spinning up a new product and are easy to let drift out of alignment over time, especially as an organization grows and adapts to changes in market and customer needs.
I use research-driven modeling, design, and validation techniques that produce system-wide IA solutions at scale. Common activities include:
- Collaborative organizational alignment on goals, priorities, and target outcomes
- Qualitative and quantitative content and structure assessment
- Technical information architecture including schema definitions, text extraction, classification scheme design, taxonomy design, and ontology creation
- Content-driven wireframing, page design, and template development
- Planning and providing training for governance frameworks to ensure sustained value over time.
Structure, Labeling, and Search Case Studies
- Content Structure and Navigation Design for the World Health Organization
- Global Navigation and Home Page Design for Seattle Children's Hospital
Content Operations
Content operations are the coordinated ensemble of people, processes, and technology an organization uses to plan, create, publish, measure, and manage content. If your organization creates content, you already have an approach to content operations: it's either working toward your goals, or it's working against them.
I help my clients design and implement effective content operations strategies by working to align teams and tools around the purposeful creation, governance, and reuse of content. Common activities include:
- Cross-functional process discovery and mapping
- Domain modeling
- Schema and content model creation
- Taxonomy adoption and creation
- Systems integration planning and implementation support
- Cross-platform information architecture and interaction design
- Structured content authoring training & support
Content Operations Case Studies
- Content Review & Approval Workflow Integration for Elemeno Health
- Structured Content Design and Development for Elemeno Health
Purposeful AI Integration
Never before have there been so many tools, services, channels, and strategies for creating and distributing digital content. In addition to symbolic IA (Knowledge Graphs) and natural language processing (NLP), LLMs have added an exciting — and sometimes bewildering — corpus of tools and approaches to content and knowledge management. I help organizations cut through the marketing noise and work out feasible approaches for building AI enabled content ecosystems that last.
Recent AI Integration Work and Research
- AI Supported Auto-Categorization
- Content Modeling in the Age of Flying Cars
- AI Supported Taxonomy Term Generation
- Deskilling Large Language Models
Engagement Models
Project-Based Consulting
Startups, SMBs, and organizational units within larger enterprises often don't need a full time information architect. They do, however, occasionally encounter IA problems that require specialized skills, discipline knowledge, and direct experience with the challenge at hand. These kinds of problems are a perfect fit for project-based engagements. Get in touch and let's discuss if a project-scoped engagement is right for you.
Fractional Information Architecture and Content Strategy Leadership
Many modern information architecture and content strategy problems aren't limited to an isolated workflow, team, or tool. These cases can require continuity and expertise over time, but may not justify the addition of a full-time employee. Fractional IA and CS engagements allow me to provide strategic leadership and contributions across projects and initiatives over the long term. Get in touch to explore if this is the right option for your organization.
Agency Partnerships
Design and development agency partnerships are an ideal option for organizations that don't have (and often don't need) internal development and creative teams, but who are nonetheless looking for end-to-end solutions that are elegant, resilient, and structurally sound. Whether you're an agency in need of an IA specialist for an upcoming project, or an organization seeking help with work that spans IA and complementary disciplines like design and development, I’d love to hear from you.
Client & Agency Partner Feedback
Curious about what it’s like to work with me? Here is some of what previous clients and agency partners have had to say:
What makes Andy so good at what he does is not only his design thinking and know-how (which are scary good) but the way he can articulate what he does to his audience. The skill of design advocacy is priceless and Andy has it.
Andy clearly has a passion for the intersection of technology and human interaction. He has a professional and comfortable demeanor that lets you know this isn’t his first gig. He is constantly researching the field, observing and evolving his practice.
Whenever you're in a client meeting with Andy, he's the smartest guy in the room, but with none of the ego. You realize it as soon as he starts asking questions or sharing his solutions. You know right away that he gets "it" and is thinking about the problem in ways that other people aren't.