# Foundations of Information Architecture
This course is designed for beginners and anyone who wants a clear starting point in information architecture.
### Course 1: Foundations of Information Architecture
*4 weeks · September 2026*
This course introduces the fundamental concepts, principles, and practices of Information Architecture. It establishes a shared vocabulary and conceptual foundation, helping you understand how IA supports usability, findability, and meaning-making across digital systems.
**You will learn to:**
* Explain the role and value of IA in digital products
* Identify core IA components: organization, labeling, navigation, and search
* Apply basic IA principles to real-world digital contexts
* Recognize how user needs, business goals, and content intersect in IA decisions
**Weekly topics:**
* Week 1: What Is Information Architecture? — history, discipline, and relationship to UX, content, and design
* Week 2: Organizing Information — mental models, organization schemes, taxonomies, and metadata
* Week 3: Navigation, Labels, and Findability — navigation systems, labeling principles, introduction to search
* Week 4: IA in Practice — common IA deliverables, real-world case examples, IA decision-making
**Instructor:** [Shari Thurow](#shari-thurow) and [Noreen Whysel](#noreen-whysel)
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### Ready to Learn?
The Fall 2026 pilot cohort is open to anyone with an interest in information architecture — whether you're new to the field or a practitioner looking to formalize your knowledge.
Express your interest
Submitting the interest form does not enroll you. We'll follow up with registration details, course dates, and next steps.
Still have questions? Email
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### About the Instructors
#### Noreen Whysel
Noreen Whysel is a Brooklyn‑based information architect, researcher, and educator, currently teaching web design, user experience, and web analytics in the Communication Design BFA program at CUNY City Tech. She holds a BA in Psychology from Columbia University and MSLIS from Pratt Institute. She brings more than 25 years of experience designing usable, human‑centered information environments, drawing on deep practice in information architecture, user research, and ethical design. Her teaching reflects a commitment to accessible, thoughtful design, informed by applied research in areas such as information architecture in emergency response, usable science gateways, and digital privacy.
Beyond the classroom, Noreen strengthens her teaching with active professional engagement. She co‑founded the Information Architecture Gateway along with Bev Corwin and Shari Thurow, providing IA and SEO guidance to science gateway communities. She also contributes to global standards efforts with W3C, Internet Safety Labs, UXPA, and the Kantara Initiative. She was previously the operations manager at the Information Architecture Institute for ten years. These roles keep her closely connected to emerging practices in usability, accessibility, and responsible technology design.
#### Shari Thurow
Shari Thurow is an Information Scientist and Search Director at Information Architecture Gateway, where she conducts research as part of a team with Bev Corwin and Noreen Whysel. Her work focuses on human-centered artificial intelligence (HAI) and the role of information architecture, searcher behaviors, and accessible design in systems that genuinely serve people. Her doctoral work is in Information Sciences, with a specialty in Human/Computer Interfaces.
Shari brings more than 30 years of applied experience, working on information environments across websites, apps, search systems, and e-commerce platforms for clients including Microsoft, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Sony Music, Best Buy, HuffPost, and Encyclopedia Britannica. She is the author of *Search* *Engine* *Visibility* — translated into six languages — and co-author of *When Search Meets Web Usability* with Nick Musica.
She served as a contributing editor for the *ASLIB Journal of Information Management* and serves on the Programme Committee for SEASON (Search Engines and Society Network). She co-chairs the W3C Information Architecture Community Group, holds ASIS\&T certification in Artificial Intelligence, and is a co-founder of World IA Day.