The Role of an Information Architect in a DITA Implementation
Every successful Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) implementation has involved an information architect.
Depending on context, the information architect may have worn a different title—maybe they were a tech writer, maybe a content strategist. Regardless, if they created content, organized information, or designed the table of contents for a guide or other book-like deliverable, they were performing information architecture (IA). When you provide wayfinding so the user can navigate information in the most efficient and intuitive way possible, you are performing IA.
In your own DITA implementation, it’s important to identify at least one person – ideally, more than one – at the start of the project to lead the IA effort. The information architect is a permanent role whose contribution will continue as your content and business needs change. Although you can leverage expertise by engaging an external expert, it’s important that you have an internal resource to collaborate with them. Not only will they design better support, but once you’ve made the transition and the outside experts you contracted have wrapped up their work, you’ll be able to rely on your own resources to ensure that your IA runs smoothly and evolves with your changing content needs.
Understanding Information Architecture
Information architecture, at its core, “is the art and science of organizing information so that it is findable, manageable and useful” (Stiglich).
There are many definitions of IA, but this is my favorite because I like thinking of IA as both an art and a science. You can put the same challenge in front five different information architects, and you’d get five slightly different solutions. If the information architects know what they are doing, each solution will be about 80% similar to their peers. That’s the science—it’s the part of IA that is logical, methodical, and repeatable. But the differences, the remaining 20% of the IA, will reflect each architect’s unique experience, understanding of the other requirements, and their context. That’s the art.
Two Different Flavors of IA
Information Architecture can be broadly classified into two categories: management IA and delivery IA.
Management IA
Management IA focuses on the content source. In a DITA implementation, this means the XML markup that is either in a source control system like Git or in a Component Content Management System (CCMS).
Management IA is all about creating a unified content model that serves all delivery platforms, accounting for the distinct requirements of each platform. These requirements can include specific metadata or content types. The goal is to provide a solution that is as universal as possible, while acknowledging that each platform may have unique requirements.
Delivery IA
Delivery IA is focused on individual platforms and is what comes to mind when most folks consider IA. Each delivery IA involves optimizing the user experience on a single platform and working with SEO, navigation, and AI integrations to provide a frictionless experience for the user.
Delivery information architects are experts in the context of their assigned platform, which might be anything from a website to a mobile app or a print layout in InDesign. They are responsible for exporting the content into a consumable format and ensuring that their end source is optimized for efficient navigability.
DITA Implementations and Management IA
In essence, management information architects manage and structure the content at its source, while delivery information architects focus on how content is presented and consumed on a specific platform. Both roles need to work together to ensure a harmonized and effective content strategy.
However, in the intro, when I mentioned that every successful DITA implementation involves an information architect, I was specifically talking about management information architects. DITA starts with management; it starts with the source. So that’s what we’re focusing on in this article.
The DITA Maturity Model
The DITA Maturity Model (DMM), co-authored by me and Michael Priestley in 2007, provides a framework for understanding the investment needed to achieve desired returns in a DITA implementation. The DMM emphasizes the importance of valid XML architecture as the first level of maturity, so that content can be brought into the system, providing a single source of truth. When you establish the first level, you’ll need an information architect to develop an XML base that can grow as you move up the tiers of the DMM.
DITA Maturity Model
The flexibility and benefits of DITA are truly realized as the content becomes more modular. As the maturity level increases, organizations can leverage the power of XML to separate content from its presentation, implement DITA reuse methods, and formalize the IA with topics and metadata, leading to higher quality and more consistency.
These activities necessitate the involvement of an information architect (as long as you want to manage and deliver content effectively). In fact, as you progress through the DMM, your information architect’s role will evolve and grow in accordance with your newly adopted DITA capabilities.
The Role of IA in a DITA Implementation
IA plays a pivotal role in any DITA implementation. It serves as the blueprint for organizing, structuring, and labeling content in ways that make it most accessible and useful to users. In a DITA implementation, IA is crucial for creating a coherent structure that allows for efficient topic-based authoring, content reuse, and multichannel publishing.
The foundation of IA in DITA lies in its topic-based approach. Topics are the core units of DITA content and are categorized into types by content purpose and structure. IA helps define the relationships between these topics, ensuring that users can easily navigate through the content and find the information they need.
DITA maps provide a way to organize topics and define their hierarchy and relationships. They act as a table of contents (TOC) for your content collection, allowing for flexible assembly and reassembly of topics for different outputs or audiences. TOCs are the bread and butter of information architects everywhere. The key to developing successful DITA maps is to engage an information architect.
To get the most out of your DITA maps and topics, you need an information architect to develop a metadata strategy that aligns with your organization's requirements. Metadata enables content to be categorized, organized, and delivered effectively across different platforms and use cases. Metadata can be applied at various levels, such as topics, maps, and individual elements, to provide semantic information about the content. By leveraging metadata, the IA ensures that the content is properly identified, contextualized, and can be efficiently processed and reused in various delivery channels.
Content reuse is another area where IA is essential. By defining content units and establishing rules for their reuse, IA enables writers to maintain consistency across documents while reducing redundant work. This is achieved through DITA's conditional processing, content referencing, and other reuse features.
Finally, information architecture supports multichannel publishing by ensuring that content is structured in a way that can be easily adapted to various formats and platforms. Whether it's print documents, online help systems, or mobile apps, a well-designed IA ensures that DITA content can be published across all channels without requiring significant rework.
Conclusion
Information architecture is not just a preliminary step but an ongoing process that shapes the effectiveness of a DITA implementation. It requires careful planning and consideration of how users interact with content to create an intuitive and user-friendly documentation system.
Having an information architect on your team, both when you start implementing and as an ongoing resource, is crucial. They not only structure the XML content but also ensure its optimal delivery across various platforms. By doing so, they help maintain a single source of truth, thereby reducing redundancy, improving efficiency, and enabling future growth.
Interested in adopting or improving DITA for your company? Book an information architecture consulting package with DITA expert, Amber Swope.
Stiglich, P. (2007) Data architecture vs. information architecture. Ask the Data Management Expert: Questions & Answers.
Cover image generated using AI.