IA + Comms

Start here

Start with the key considerations: who needs the information, how they find it and who maintains it. Use the design and writing references when turning that structure into pages people can understand.

Information Architecture is how we know how to find things, place, and secure data. IA design needs to combine intuition and explicit enforcement for a successful SharePoint/Microsoft 365 deployment. This page also collects design and writing references for the comms side of intranet work; for lifecycle and compliance, see Governance.

Official resources

• Microsoft Adoption Centre comms resources to help communicate change.
• Adoption Centre assets for SharePoint (Web Archive) Super useful stuff.
• SharePoint Look Book - ready-made site design examples
• SharePoint: IA guidance (examples)
• SharePoint: IA examples
• SharePoint: AIIM guide for IM

Key considerations

• SP: Hub sites, site topology
• SP: Brand center
• SP: Taxonomy / term store

Tools

• Microsoft Clarity + Clarity for SharePoint
• UX tweak card sorting tool

Design + writing references

• Design Systems Repo
• Strategyzer: High impact tools for teams
• Laws of UX
• UI Patterns
• A List Apart - Everyday information architecture
• Smashing Magazine
• Refactoring UI
• GoodUI
• Abby Covert
• The Manual (old but timeless)
• Generic guidance for comms teams: Web Style Guide, Microsoft Writing Style Guide
• Gov’t style guides: AU (+ ATSI), CA, UK (+ Home office), US, NZ, OECD, EU, global list – check local!

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See Governance for lifecycle and compliance, and communities for blogs and feeds.