Information architecture has changed dramatically since the mid-1990s and earlier conceptions of the world and the internet being different and separate have given way to a much more complex scenario in the present day. In the post-digital world that we now inhabit the digital and the physical blend easily and our activities and usage of information takes place through multiple contexts and via multiple devices and unstable, emergent choreographies. Information architecture now is steadily growing into a channel- or medium-specific multi-disciplinary framework, with contributions coming from architecture, urban planning, design and systems thinking, cognitive science, new media, anthropology. All these have been heavily reshaping the practice: conversations about labelling, websites, and hierarchies are replaced by conversations about sense-making, place-making, design, architecture, cross media, complexity, embodied cognition and their application to the architecture of information spaces as places we live in in an increasingly large part of our lives. Via narratives, frameworks, references, approaches and case-studies this book explores these changes and offers a way to reconceptualize the shifting role and nature of information architecture where information permeates digital and physical space, users are producers and products are increasingly becoming complex cross-channel or multi-channel services.

This volume reveals the history of Information Architecture (IA), reflects on the relationship between practice and research within the discipline, and presents educators with the latest models, frameworks and theories that have emerged from the Information Architecture Academics and Practitioners Roundtable between 2014 and 2019. The most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of Information Architecture so far, this collection is a valuable tool for teachers, researchers, and practitioners interested in recent advances in information architecture in areas such as pervasive computing and embodiment, artificial intelligence, design practice, diversity and ethics in design, and critique. The information landscape has grown more complex, porous and connected–the information challenges of smart phones, sensors and IoT demand focused attention from organizations that often embrace a ‘move fast and break things’ ethos. This book not only explores the shift from Classical IA to Contemporary IA–it asks, are today’s creators prepared to solve the challenges ahead? Have industry-led disciplines abdicated their responsibility to the people who inhabit current information environments? Will this discipline persist? Advances in Information Architecture examines the maturity of the field, revisits the discipline’s efforts to transform itself in 2013 with the publication of "Reframing Information Architecture", and considers the opportunities that remain to bridge the academic and practitioner communities.

The Nasrid builders of the Alhambra âe" the best-preserved medieval Muslim palatial city âe" were so exacting that some of their work could not be fully explained until the invention of fractal geometry. Their design principles have been obscured, however, by the loss of all archival material. This book resolves that impasse by investigating the neglected, interdisciplinary contexts of medieval poetics and optics and through comparative study of Islamic court ceremonials. This reframing enables the reconstruction of the underlying, integrated aesthetic, focusing on the harmonious interrelationship between diverse artistic media âe"architecture, poetry and textiles âe" in the experience of the beholder, resulting in a new understanding of the Alhambra.

To make sense of the world, we’re always trying to place things in context, whether our environment is physical, cultural, or something else altogether. Now that we live among digital, always-networked products, apps, and places, context is more complicated than ever—starting with "where" and "who" we are. This practical, insightful book provides a powerful toolset to help information architects, UX professionals, and web and app designers understand and solve the many challenges of contextual ambiguity in the products and services they create. You’ll discover not only how to design for a given context, but also how design participates in making context. Learn how people perceive context when touching and navigating digital environments See how labels, relationships, and rules work as building blocks for context Find out how to make better sense of cross-channel, multi-device products or services Discover how language creates infrastructure in organizations, software, and the Internet of Things Learn models for figuring out the contextual angles of any user experience

This book provides a platform for addressing human factors in software and systems engineering, both pushing the boundaries of current research and responding to new challenges, fostering new research ideas in the process. Topics include evolutionary and complex systems, human systems integration, smart grids and infrastructure, workforce training requirements, systems engineering education, and defense and aerospace. Based on the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Human Factors, Software, and Systems Engineering, held on July 17–21, 2017, Los Angeles, USA, this book is an inspiring guide for all researchers and professionals in the field of human factors, software and systems engineering.

This book offers insights into how the Theory of Change framework can be effectively employed in a wide range of social interventions. Presenting its potential to support strategy and strategic thinking, this book offers an entry point to understanding how Theory of Change can be applied beyond the typical domain of aid projects.

In an accessible yet complex way, Rebekah Modrak and Bill Anthes explore photographic theory, history, and technique to bring photographic education up to date with contemporary photographic practice. --

Fifty years after its first publication, Robin Boyd's bestselling The Australian Ugliness remains the definitive statement on how we live and think in the environments we create for ourselves. In it Boyd rallied against Australia's promotion of ornament, decorative approach to design and slavish imitation of all things American. 'The basis of the Australian ugliness,' he wrote, 'is an unwillingness to be committed on the level of ideas. In all the arts of living, in the shaping of all her artefacts, as in politics, Australia shuffles about vigorously in the middle - as she estimates the middle - of the road, picking up disconnected ideas wherever she finds them.' Boyd was a fierce critic, and an advocate of good design. He understood the significance of the connection between people and their dwellings, and argued passionately for a national architecture forged from a genuine Australian identity. His concerns are as important now, in an era of suburban sprawl and inner-city redevelopment, as they were half a century ago. Caustic and brilliant, The Australian Ugliness is a masterpiece that enables us to see our surroundings with fresh eyes. This handsome anniversary edition is complemented by Robin Boyd's original sketches for the book and a new afterword by major contemporary architects.

The LNCS journal Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems focuses on data management, knowledge discovery, and knowledge processing, which are core and hot topics in computer science. Since the 1990s, the Internet has become the main driving force behind application development in all domains. An increase in the demand for resource sharing across different sites connected through networks has led to an evolution of data- and knowledge-management systems from centralized systems to decentralized systems enabling large-scale distributed applications providing high scalability. This, the 47th issue of Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems, constitutes a special issue focusing on Digital Ecosystems and Social Networks. The 9 revised selected papers cover topics that include Social Big Data, Data Analysis, Cloud-Based Feedback, Experience Ecosystems, Pervasive Environments, and Smart Systems.