According to Abby Covert, author, teacher and community leader in the field of information architecture (IA) : ‘IA is the way we arrange pieces of content to make sense when experienced as a whole. By this definition: there is information architecture in everything. Mindblown?’

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😮 (That’s a resounding yes from an IA rookie like me.)

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In this issue of CRUX we go in search of information architecture and have some surprising encounters in the worlds of emoji, elevators, walking tracks, games and more. We meet UX designers, developers, researchers and even a Senior Park Ranger. It seems you can have your ‘IA hat’ on without even realising it. That’s the power of information architecture.

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Some highlights from this issue:

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• UX research and strategy specialist, Q Walker explores the world of emoji from an information architecture perspective and sparks curiosity along the way. Have you ever wondered why clock emojis are organized under travel and places? 🤔

• We talk to Senior Park Ranger David Rogers about the thinking behind creating and building New Zealand’s national walking track network and reveal how information architecture can also live ‘in the wild’.

• UX developer Ben Chapman delves into the classification systems of libraries over time and ponders the pros and cons for users of moving information online.

• We talk to Sam Cope, Lead UX Designer at Wētā Workshop’s Interactive division about what it takes to drive design decisions with the end user in mind - something crucial for any video game’s success, whether it’s a blockbuster or something more niche.

• And much more about information architecture in unexpected places….

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The stories and people in this issue of CRUX certainly captured our imagination and attention - we hope they inspire and even surprise you too.

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Get comfortable and settle in for a great read. Welcome to CRUX #6.

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A plug for the next issue

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Do you have a burning idea to share or a conversation you’re dying to kickstart that’s of interest to the world of UX?  Now’s your chance.  We’re already on the lookout for contributors for our next edition of CRUX for 2022.  To find out more please drop us a line.

In the crowded and complex world we live in, great user experiences can make all the difference to the way we navigate day-to-day life.

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CRUX#5 reveals the many faces of information architecture at work and its positive impact in the fields of business, entertainment, education, and more. Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable contributors generously paint a picture of the challenges, opportunities and benefits of harnessing the power of IA in their world.

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In this issue

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• Author/teacher and games user research expert Steve Bromley reveals some fascinating, even surprising insights from the niche world of UX for video games.

• Product Designer Katie Del Angel from Shopify shares some of her favorite ways to adopt an IA mindset when designing digital products.

• Digital interactive designer Kate Berry talks information architecture according to the world of visitor experience

• Chantal Schweizer from Earley Information Science dives into the all important area of taxonomies and the merits of following best practice to help drive success in the world of eCommerce

• And UX Researcher Rebecca Klee shares five approaches to increase the alignment and impact of your IA research.

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As always we're grateful to all our contributors for helping shine a light on the fascinating, even addictive world of UX.  They certainly captured our imagination and attention - we hope they inspire and even surprise you too. 

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Welcome to CRUX#5

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P.S.  We’re already on the lookout for contributors for our next edition of CRUX for 2022.  To find out more please drop us a line.

As the fourth issue of CRUX goes to press the demand for usability continues to grow, along with the rise of the digital experience economy.  Sharing a sense of community among UXers is more important than ever.  That’s why we’re so proud to bring you our latest issue of CRUX, celebrating people and perspectives from the UX community.

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CRUX #4 has a great line-up of contributors, all experts in their fields who jumped at the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas with us - and of course more importantly - you.  

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This issue we’ve focussed on collaboration and invited our contributors to bring their thoughts and ideas on communication and teamwork to the table.  They’ve come up with some compelling reading that inspires, surprises and at times challenges current thinking and offers fresh perspectives. 

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Some highlights from this issue

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• Seasoned researcher Josh Morales from Hotjar tackles the challenge of presenting research effectively with a smart yet simple framework.

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"In a word: your findings virtually do not exist if you don’t communicate them well."

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• Designer Jordan Bowman of UX Tools ponders the problem of cognitive bias and highlights the key things to look out for.

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“Designers are just as vulnerable to the blindspots and errors of cognitive bias as the people who use our products. After all, we're humans,too.”

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• UX consultant Eugenia Jongewaard from UX Tips talks about inclusive research and challenges UX researchers and designers to up their game.

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“As we live in a world of rapid digital transformation we can't continue to design in the same way we designed before. We should start designing for inclusion. For that to happen we need to shift our mindset towards inclusive research.”

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• And much, much more….

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A plug for the next issue

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Do you have a burning idea to share or a conversation you’re dying to kickstart that’s of interest to the world of UX?  Now’s your chance.  We’re already on the lookout for contributors for our first edition of CRUX for 2022.  To find out more please drop us a line

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But for now, get comfortable and settle in for a good read.  Welcome to CRUX #4.

If the title hasn’t already given it away, we’ve just launched the third issue of our UX magazine, CRUX. I say this every time, but it really only feels like yesterday that I was announcing the first and second issues. Soon we’ll be announcing issue 4!

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Looking back on CRUX #2 🪞👀🎀🦋

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Crafting a magazine is certainly fun, but that’s only half of it. Part of the enjoyment for us is tracking the readership growth over time. Yes, we’re nerds.

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Using the first issue as a baseline, we saw a definite improvement in the numbers of CRUX #2. The second issue also drove up readership of the first issue, which was pretty neat to see!

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As for readership time, the first issue saw an average time spent reading of 10 minutes, but we managed to blow past that with a read time of 15 minutes for issue #2! Numbers are obviously always important, our other important metrics include the number of shares, positive sentiment in qualitative feedback and future contributor engagement. These all increased with the second issue.

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What we’re trying to say is that as long as there's an appetite for CRUX, we’ll keep making it.

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Mirror image 🪞🕊️🤍✨

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CRUX is starting to become a bit of a reflection of the worlds of research and design at the time of publication. Specifically, a reflection of the unique problems that researchers and designers are trying to solve. That means people like you.

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It’s important to note that whenever we use labels like ‘researcher’ or ‘designer’, we really just mean ‘people who do the thing’. At least at Optimal Workshop, we all do research. It’s just part of our DNA.

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What you’ll find in CRUX #3 🪬🫧🫶🏻🤍

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With that in mind, we’ve got a number of interesting topics in this edition of CRUX:

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• Looking at the pyramid of trust and why you need to start thinking about the basic trust needs of users.
• Alia Fite from Figma talks about the best ways to evaluate design tools, including a number of actionable steps.
• Jennie Leng from Digital Arts Network (now Bendon, Australia and New Zealand) talks about design maturity and what this means in a business context.

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Want to contribute to CRUX?

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We want to create the best UX magazine – as long as people like you want to keep reading it. But we need your help! We’ve had a whole lot of great people contribute to CRUX #1, #2 and #3, but we know there are countless more people out there who don’t have a platform to share their voice.

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If you or someone you know wants to share their ideas with the UX and design communities, drop us a line here.

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But for now, please go and enjoy the third issue of CRUX! We work hard on it, and it’s all for you.

Time really does fly when you’re having fun. Rewind to November of last year (2020) and we’d just launched the first issue of our UX magazine, CRUX. If you haven’t read that inaugural edition, you can still find it right here. It’s digital, so there’s little chance of it disappearing. Anyway, I digress.

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I’m here (and very eager) to tell you that, as of today, we’ve just launched the second edition of CRUX! It’s an exciting day for all of us here at Optimal Workshop, as well as the fabulous bunch of intelligent, creative and amazing people from the research and design communities who helped us to put this issue together.

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Before we delve into what you can expect to see in this next issue, let’s recap on CRUX #1.

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Creating a UX magazine: A brief retrospective

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As you can probably guess, publishing a magazine is a bit of a labor of love. This is especially the case at Optimal Workshop where creating a magazine isn’t the only project we’ve got going on (we’re pretty busy down here in Wellington, New Zealand).

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But, we managed to get the first issue of CRUX out the door and by all accounts, it was a tremendous success. In the 30 days following the launch we had just over 1500 readers, with an average page per reader count of 27 (out of 34), and an average time spent reading of over 9mins. It has been viewed in over 62 countries worldwide. So, a success!

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Four people also spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day tucking into CRUX, with one reader based in Ireland managing to flick through 109 pages.

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With these results, your feedback (we appreciate it) and an appetite to create an even better second issue, we stuck our heads down and got to work. Now, CRUX #2 is here!

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What you’ll find in CRUX #2

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It’s important to keep pushing yourself. While the first issue of CRUX got a great reception, we knew that we could do even more if given the opportunity to publish a second issue. While we talked about the idea of each future issue focusing a different theme, we instead decided to keep the brief broad – we wanted diverse opinions from a range of contributors. We think that the end selection reflects this goal.

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Here are just a few of the topics that you can expect to find in this issue:

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• How user research helps product teams to move faster and work more effectively
• Tips for making your participant recruitment process more efficient
• The case for a new role in the world of UX
• Building great content design teams
• How to start your own UX practice
• What the future holds for conversational user experiences

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There’s all of the above and so much more to discover in CRUX #2, so go ahead and read. We’ll be waiting and we can’t wait to hear what you think.

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Put the word out: We want you!

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Finally, let’s talk about the future of CRUX. We want to keep creating the best UX magazine as long as people like you want to keep reading it. But we need your help. We’ve had a great bunch of people contribute to CRUX #1 and #2, but we know there are more people out there who don’t have a platform. If you, or someone you know, wants to share their ideas with the world, drop us a line directly here.

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But for now, go and have a read of CRUX #2. We worked hard on it – and it’s all for you.