Knowledge graphs can provide significant support in content findability and discoverability for large content ecosystems. After introducing the Microsoft Learn Knowledge Graph program, she'll discuss the information architecture work needed to support such a knowledge graph and how to gain buy-in from business stakeholders.

Dana Bublitz has been helping businesses of all sizes tackle their content and information problems for over a decade. She has focused primarily on developing structures and systems for large-scale content organization and retrieval that meet both business needs and user goals. As a Senior Information Architect at Microsoft, she heads up the Microsoft Learn Knowledge Graph program focused on enabling better user experiences through well-connected and structured content.

You are invited to the World IA Cafe to hear about the 

World Information Architecture Association

Rutgers Master of Business and Science (MBS) Program

(The event will be recorded so you can relive the experience or catch up if you miss it!)

Microsoft Learn’s Knowledge Graph

The concept of Information Architecture (IA) is often associated with spatial organization and structure. However, in modern digital products like e-commerce, social networks, and professional business tools, content is presented dynamically and can change over time. While structure is important, we may miss opportunities to enhance the user experience when we fail to take time-based IA into account. In this talk, Diana will explain this perspective, share some ideas, and provide examples of how digital products can prioritize "relevance at the right moment.”

The speaker for this interactive event is 

. Diana works as a Product Design Manager, design mentor, and instructor in Barcelona, Spain. She has 12 years of experience in UI and UX, with a focus on user experience design for Enterprise, B2B, and SaaS applications. She collaborates with several tech schools, teaching classes, designing courses, and mentoring students and designers.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianamilitano/

impact of time on Information Architecture

(We'll be recording the event so that you won't miss out on the exciting content even if you can't make it!)

The Role of Time in Information Architecture

Whether we’re talking about design, content, search, or engineering, we all need an information model that captures what the user needs and cares about. But we don’t all need the same parts or even start in the same place. Michael will look at information modeling approaches that he has encountered across programming, design, content architecture, and SEO teams and the priorities they serve. Then he’ll share how we can integrate these approaches to align cross-discipline work, reduce conflicts, and ensure a consistent end-to-end customer experience.

. Michael is the Principal Information Architect and Taxonomist for 

, focused on the intersection of semantic content, user experience, and SEO at the enterprise scale. Michael has experience working with and across marketing, sales, training, documentation, and support content, coordinating requirements, and delivering common processes and standards. He was named an OASIS Distinguished Contributor for his development of the DITA content standard.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-priestley-ca/

Integrating Information models across disciplines and domains

Let's hear from Miranda Sawyer from BAMF Health about her approach to mental models!!

There are complex industries that are behind the times with UX best practices, in particular healthcare and education. Learn strategies using traditional design thinking to overcome years of bad experiences in those neglected industries. Break down complex problems into manageable pieces. Practical advice and guidance to encourage adoption and roll out change.

 is the Lead UX Architect at BAMF Health, where she is creating custom software. BAMF Health is a molecular imaging and therapy clinic with an in-house radiopharmacy. She also has experience consulting for clients in consumer product goods and business-to-business. Her past clients include Kellogg's, Dell, Heinz, Tazo, Kimberly Clark, Stryker, and Watts Plumbing. On the weekends, she is a small business owner of a microbrewery. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirandajsawyer/

The World IA Café is a speaker series hosted by the 

(Interested in the presentation but cannot make it to the event live? No worries! 

Designing Against Bad Mental Models

With evolving product features, designers and researchers find it difficult to follow the design process in every design sprint. This sometimes leads to designs delivered in haste or sub-par design artifacts, which result in UX debt. UX debt is accumulated when design teams take actions or shortcuts to expedite the delivery of a piece of functionality or a project that later needs to be refactored. It is the result of prioritizing speedy delivery of design to the development team over a perfect experience journey. Experience Maps are a great tool to practice UX in Agile as well as manage UX Debt.

. Mohit is a servant design leader who is an avid advocate of problem-solving by uncovering user insights. He has several awards and accolades to his name, like Best Regional Tech Manager at the Timmy Awards 2021 and Amplify 2022 Product 50 finalist. He is a published author and accomplished speaker who has delivered talks and spoken at various technology and design conferences and events. He believes research, empathy, and intention are critical to creating a human-centered experience. He currently works as a UX Manager with CDK Global, a data and technology provider to the automotive, recreation, and heavy equipment industries. In his free time, he pursues hiking, traveling, theater, and reading.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohitguptaux/

Experience Maps – A Designer’s Framework for working in Agile teams and managing UX Debt

Accessibility needs to be included in every aspect of the product-making process, from research & design all the way into development. What are some tangible ways in which we might integrate accessibility into the product process?

 is an Accessibility Product Manager at Microsoft, where she works on a product that empowers users to create an inclusive and accessible experience for all users. She has been named Influential Women of Manufacturing 2019 by Putman Media. She is a Board member on different boards within the community, including Lime Connect, an organization with a mission to rebrand disability through achievement, where she serves on the Community Engagement Committee. She also serves on the Accessibility Leadership Council for Disability: IN. As a Board Member for a non-profit organization, Caroline Calouche & Co., she leads the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as Chair, where she is working on creating inclusive spaces within the dancing communities. She has been actively involved in various mentoring organizations over the past few years and was inducted into the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame. She has been a speaker at numerous conferences, including the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing, the Assistive Technology Industry Association 2020, and World Information Architecture Day.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandita-gupta/

You are invited to the last World IA Cafe of summer 2023, where we will learn about accessibility in the product-making process from Nandita.

**The event will be recorded. The recording will be shared with registered participants.**

Integrating Accessibility into Product Making for More Inclusive Products

How can adopting a “less-than-perfect” mindset help us build better architecture? As practitioners in a field that requires designing precise solutions for complex problems, we spend a lot of time searching for the right answer. Let’s discuss how we can be more effective, persuasive, and unhampered by abandoning the right answer.

The speaker for this interactive event is 

. Jael has been working in digital strategy for over a decade, specializing in content strategy and information architecture. She’s currently in-role as a Content Architect at American Express. Her education is in design, which gives her a unique lens on visual problem solving, and she enjoys messy information problems, mapping concepts as visuals, and creating order from chaos.

Let's discover the power of embracing a 'less-than-perfect' mindset in architecture with Jael in this World IA Cafe.

Functional Instead of Flawless

After shifting into a design manager role, Beau will share some of the main things he has learned and what it means to manage designers instead of doing design on a daily basis. It's a big shift that a lot of designers consider and grapple with, so his hope is that his experience can be helpful in designing personal careers.

. After an education in graphic design and photography, Beau quickly fell in love with interaction design as a way to positively impact large groups of people and connect them with brands in richer ways. Over the last 2 years, he shifted from defining pixels to managing several teams creating the enterprise design system at a U.S. Bank. He uses empathy and good design to help teammates be successful and reach their goals. Beau writes from time to time about interaction design, managing teams, and collaborating with other disciplines. Away from the screen, you’ll find him hiking, keeping plants partially alive, and exploring new places with his family and camera.

Join World IA Cafe with Beau as he shares his experience of transitioning from a designer to a design manager role.

From Maker to Connector

Taxonomies help connect users to content and improve findability over keyword searches alone. As such, taxonomies should be created so that they are customized to the content and to the users. How to go about this will be addressed in this presentation. Content analysis and term extraction are methods to make a taxonomy match its content, and user interviews and brainstorming sessions are methods to make a taxonomy suit its users.

 has been a taxonomist for over 26 years in various organizations and as an independent consultant. She works for Semantic Web Company (vendor of PoolParty Semantic Suite software), doing a combination of training, consulting, marketing support, and working on the internal knowledge hub taxonomy. Heather previously worked as a taxonomist at Cengage Learning, Viziant, First Wind, and Project Performance Corp. She has given workshops on taxonomy creation at numerous conferences and as corporate training. She also teaches an online course in taxonomy creation. Heather is the author of 

Please join our World IA Café for a wonderful session on creating custom taxonomies with Heather Hedden.

Rupananda Misra