World IA Day Los Angeles 2025

information Architecture Workshop Planning & Facilitation

Role: Primary Workshop Designer & Facilitator

Team: Christine Lee, Joseph Reyes, Priscilla Vu, Sara Kuchimpos, Julie Huynh, & Grace G. Lau

Timeline: 3 weeks

Scope

  • Workshop Planning & Structuring

  • Highlighting Information Architecture

  • Script Writing

  • Preparing Materials

  • Guiding Participants & Workshop Facilitation

  • Creating natural collaborative networking opportunities

Overview

For World Information Architecture Day Los Angeles 2025, I designed and facilitated an interactive workshop focused on tackling the theme "Challenges of Change" through the lens of information architecture (IA). With an approximate 30 minute timeframe, the goal of the session was to guide attendees in structuring complex problems and generating actionable solutions using IA principles while providing a natural networking opportunity.

The Audience

This event is geared towards UX designers and information architects. The attendees vary in skill level from students to experienced professionals and academics.

The Challenge

How might we create an Information Architecture activity that is collaborative and introduces IA as more than just information & nomenclature. How can IA be positioned as a solution to solve challenges in our everyday lives?

We did not want:

  • Structured analysis of existing websites

  • Dry information & complicated subject matter

Promoting the field of Information Architecture:

To address these concerns, I ideated 4 Information Architecture based challenges that are currently relevant topics of interest. Keeping it vague allowed us to present information architecture outside of the context of websites, and prompted the participants to come to their own conclusions about how they framed the challenge.

Physical Experience:

To create natural collaboration, the use of post-its facilitate group participation. A second group activity would be to discuss and cluster these ideas into various taxonomies.

Participants were divided into groups and given one of three predefined challenges related to change in digital experiences, service design, or organizational knowledge management. Each pair of groups received the same challenge, allowing for diverse yet comparable interpretations.

We did want:

  • Natural conversation & group participation

  • Information Architecture beyond websites

Design Process

Weekly Meetings with the Activity Team

🧔🏻‍♀️

Joseph

Responsibility: Emcee

👩🏻‍🦰

Priscilla

Responsibility: Social/Networking

👩🏻

Christine

Responsibility: IA Workshop

We organized ourselves on a Discord channel, sharing ideas and updates on our progress. We planned to meet once a week to share progress updates and get feedback.

There were multiple activities that our team was planning, such as a Networking Bingo & Selfie Scavenger Hunt. Taking into consideration the other activities our group was planning, I had to structure this networking opportunity to strike a balance between in depth thinking and creating moments for connection.

Additional team members provided their feedback and guidance throughout the design process

Preparing Facilitators & Script Writing:

Feedback from the organizing group requested a script ton introduce the activity and scripts for facilitators to use during the activity.

Presenter: 

And next, we will move on to the IA activity. We will be splitting up into groups of 10 so once you exit this room, find a spot at a table or follow one of our facilitators, Sara, Joseph, or Priscilla! 

You will see a worksheet, and a guide with IA Key Components & Considerations. Use this to help format your design solution, and refer to the IA Considerations as you design. These considerations can apply to any of the “Key Components”. 

Facilitator: 

First, Let’s designate a writer.

Intro: Frame the challenge as a How Might We Statement 

Step 1: Write down all your key elements on sticky notes, What information would your user need to know? 

Step 2: Now, sort these and organize your ideas 

Step 3: Summarize your concept in one sentence

Let’s choose a speaker to present. Who would like to share the group’s idea? 

Workshop Structure

Defining the Challenge

Each group collaborated to frame their challenge into a structured "How Might We" (HMW) statement. This step helped clarify the problem space and set the stage for ideation.

Using sticky notes, participants generated ideas on how IA principles could be leveraged to address their challenge.

Organization

They organized their ideas through clustering methods, identifying patterns and themes that emerged from their brainstorming.

Synthesis

Each group distilled their clustered ideas into a single, one sentence solution statement that encapsulated their proposed approach.

The groups with the same challenge share their solution with each other

IA Activity Breakdown, gives participants structure

Examples guide set expectations

Worksheets guide participants

Ideation

Sharing

Physical Layout

Participant Division

We anticipated 80 people and prepared to have 10 people per table, spread across 2 separate rooms.

Ultimately, participant turnout was lower that expected as we had about 8 people per table with 6 tables. Only half of what we expected!

Table Setup

We laid out the printed materials on one side of the table, leaving the other half open for organizing and whiteboarding. We provided each table with multiple colors of post-its and sharpies to write their thoughts.

Printed Materials

Post-its to gather ideas

Sharpies for writing

Sample Worksheet

Worksheets to fill out

IA Activity Guides provide inspiration & context

IA Activity Guides

Key Takeaways & observations

  • Unstructured Ideation: The process of formulating HMW statements ensured that participants tackled the challenges with a focused and clear mindset that they were passionate about. Many participants needed to jot down ideas before settling on a challenge.

  • The Power of Clustering: By visually organizing ideas, participants could identify key themes and develop coherent solutions. Some people flowed and used the table as a whiteboard, other carefully stuck their post-its on a sheet of paper.

  • Timing & Progress: Each group progresses at different rates. Some may need more time than others to arrive at the final product. Facilitators need to be keyed into these dynamics and adjust to give certain groups more wiggle room.

  • Crowd Control: People will do what they want, they will separate into their own groups based on their own agency. They may not always distribute the way that you anticipate. We had one table split into two groups and then request additional print outs. Come prepared!

Impact & reflection

The workshop not only introduced participants to the practical application of IA in problem-solving but also reinforced the value of design thinking in addressing change. Attendees left with a hands-on understanding of how IA methodologies can be used beyond digital spaces, making an impact in strategic and organizational contexts.

Feedback from the team during a post event Team Retrospective revealed that:

The activity was successful and managed to give participants an opportunity to delve deeper into the subject matter and many were very engaged in the activity.

The unexpected low turn out hinted at the need for a break as observations by the organizing team uncovered that people were not aware that there was an activity happening or the attendees had prioritized snacks and restroom breaks over joining the activity.

This could have been due to a malfunctioning a/v system that did not deliver the message clearly or due to a packed morning full of activities.

Future Improvement

  • More time for refinement: Allowing additional time for iteration could lead to even more polished solutions. We started the activity behind schedule and had to cut time during each activity, possibly affecting how deep the participants were able to ideate

  • Decreasing the amount of printed documents: During the workshop I observed that the participants delved right in, this also meant that the pages got rustled around, and it became confusing once everything moved out of place. Participants had to take extra time to decipher what page they were looking at. A simple solution would be to affix the pages with tape so that they don’t get jumbled but remain available for participants to reference.

  • Expanding discussions: Encouraging cross-group discussions could further deepen insights and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. This was dependent on time limitations.

  • Incorporating more breaks into the event itinerary: Taking these lessons learned to plan future events, incorporating more opportunities to give attendees a breather to avoid bounce.

  • Visual documentation: Capturing the clustering process with photos or digital tools would enhance post-event learning. This relies heavily on the available resources, but also may not be necessary.