IAC - Information Architecture Conference

The Process of Least Resistance talk at IAC26 by Pavel Samsonov. Presentation on how tooling and methods shape design decisions, undermining research-based UX strategy through post-hoc reasoning. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

The Process of Least Resistance talk at IAC26 by Pavel Samsonov. Presentation on how tooling and methods shape design decisions, undermining research-based UX strategy through post-hoc reasoning. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Tools shape decisions. We do what's easy in Figma or Agile instead of what accomplishes goals.

Pavel Samsonov's IAC26 talk will share how post-hoc reasoning undermines UX strategy, and why we must revise our relationship with tools.

Learn more: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/the...

Wrangling Medicare's Complexity: How IA Brought Clarity to AARP's Medicare Experience talk at IAC26 by Michelle Polyak. Presentation on unifying fragmented Medicare resources through content inventory, taxonomy design, and tree testing. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Wrangling Medicare's Complexity: How IA Brought Clarity to AARP's Medicare Experience talk at IAC26 by Michelle Polyak. Presentation on unifying fragmented Medicare resources through content inventory, taxonomy design, and tree testing. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

10,000 Americans turn 65 daily and face confusing Medicare choices. AARP had 5 fragmented resources.

Michelle Polyak shows how IA unified them through inventory, taxonomy, and tree testing in her IAC26 talk.

April 16, Philadelphia: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/wra...

Stress-Aware Form Design talk at IAC26 by Robin Camille Davis. Presentation on reducing cognitive load in web forms through information architecture, UX design principles, and inclusive practices for anxious users. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Stress-Aware Form Design talk at IAC26 by Robin Camille Davis. Presentation on reducing cognitive load in web forms through information architecture, UX design principles, and inclusive practices for anxious users. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Web forms are stressful. We design them for calm users, not anxious ones.

Robin Camille Davis shows how IA and UX choices reduce cognitive load and respect stressed users in her IAC26 talk.

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/str...

Sea Change: Charting a Course Through Murky Work talk at IAC26 by Rachel Price. Presentation on navigating ambiguous information architecture projects across organizational boundaries with stakeholder confidence and collaborative clarity. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Sea Change: Charting a Course Through Murky Work talk at IAC26 by Rachel Price. Presentation on navigating ambiguous information architecture projects across organizational boundaries with stakeholder confidence and collaborative clarity. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Messy IA projects stall due to discomfort, uncertainty, and fear. Not just politics.

@rachelprice.bsky.social shares tactical methods to chart a course through murky work with stakeholder confidence and clarity in this IAC26 talk.

Learn more: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/sea...

How AI Can Amplify Your Impact (Without Replacing You) talk at IAC26 by Lisa Ellis and Mia Donnell. Presentation comparing AI-assisted versus human-led research for information architecture navigation projects. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

How AI Can Amplify Your Impact (Without Replacing You) talk at IAC26 by Lisa Ellis and Mia Donnell. Presentation comparing AI-assisted versus human-led research for information architecture navigation projects. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

How AI Can Amplify Your Impact (Without Replacing You) talk at IAC26 by Lisa Ellis and Mia Donnell. Presentation comparing AI-assisted versus human-led research for information architecture navigation projects. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Is AI a game-changer for IA or just hype?

Lisa Ellis and Mia Donnell tested AI vs. human-led research on navigation. They share unvarnished results and their verdict in How AI Can Amplify Your Impact (Without Replacing You).

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/how...

Navigating Complexity: Practical Tools for Collaborative Clarity talk at IAC26 by Matt Arnold. Presentation on organizational sensemaking tools including EOA, Narrative Prototyping, Wayfinding Principles, and Fuzzy to Feasible Diagnostic. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Navigating Complexity: Practical Tools for Collaborative Clarity talk at IAC26 by Matt Arnold. Presentation on organizational sensemaking tools including EOA, Narrative Prototyping, Wayfinding Principles, and Fuzzy to Feasible Diagnostic. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Complexity creeps in through misaligned priorities until strategies stall.

Learn more about Matt Arnold's IAC26 talk here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/nav...

Crash Course or Crash Out: A First Timer's Taxonomy Tale talk at IAC26 by Jessica DuVerneay and Taylor Loredo-Payberah. Presentation on redesigning Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website information architecture for civic clarity and accessibility. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Crash Course or Crash Out: A First Timer's Taxonomy Tale talk at IAC26 by Jessica DuVerneay and Taylor Loredo-Payberah. Presentation on redesigning Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website information architecture for civic clarity and accessibility. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Crash Course or Crash Out: A First Timer's Taxonomy Tale talk at IAC26 by Jessica DuVerneay and Taylor Loredo-Payberah. Presentation on redesigning Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website information architecture for civic clarity and accessibility. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Strategic taxonomy is a tool for civic clarity and public trust.

This first-timer's tale shows how deep listening and user journeys transformed TCEQ's jargon-heavy website into accessible, task-based IA.

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/cra...

Making Taxes Less Taxing: Lessons Learned from IRS Direct File talk at IAC26 by Theresa and Johanna. Presentation on information architecture and design principles for simplifying complex government processes through the IRS Direct File tool. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Making Taxes Less Taxing: Lessons Learned from IRS Direct File talk at IAC26 by Theresa and Johanna. Presentation on information architecture and design principles for simplifying complex government processes through the IRS Direct File tool. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Making Taxes Less Taxing: Lessons Learned from IRS Direct File talk at IAC26 by Theresa and Johanna. Presentation on information architecture and design principles for simplifying complex government processes through the IRS Direct File tool. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Billions in tax benefits go unclaimed because filing is too daunting.

This IAC26 talk shows how IRS Direct File used research and design to find "just the right amount of information" to guide people through complexity.

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/mak...

Escape Room Rules: Physical Design Principles for Digital Facilitation talk at IAC26 by Laura Nash. Presentation on applying escape room design principles to improve digital workshop facilitation and group learning experiences. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Escape Room Rules: Physical Design Principles for Digital Facilitation talk at IAC26 by Laura Nash. Presentation on applying escape room design principles to improve digital workshop facilitation and group learning experiences. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Escape rooms teach us how to guide groups through complexity fast.

Laura Nash applies escape room design principles to digital facilitation: bookends, bottlenecks, reveals, and more.

April 18, Philadelphia: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/esc...

Scaffolds, Not Skyscrapers: Information Architecture in Complex Systems talk at IAC26 by Jennifer Briselli. Presentation on reimagining information architecture for dynamic, adaptive environments using complexity science principles. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Scaffolds, Not Skyscrapers: Information Architecture in Complex Systems talk at IAC26 by Jennifer Briselli. Presentation on reimagining information architecture for dynamic, adaptive environments using complexity science principles. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

IA is often about bringing order to the mess but what if the environments we design are too complex for static structure?

Scaffolds, Not Skyscrapers by Jen Briselli at IAC26 explores complexity science for IA in dynamic, AI-shaped worlds.

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/sca...

Product Blueprints: Documenting the IA of Products talk at IAC26 by Dan Brown. Presentation on creating documentation standards for product information architecture and enabling constructive team conversations about product structure. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Product Blueprints: Documenting the IA of Products talk at IAC26 by Dan Brown. Presentation on creating documentation standards for product information architecture and enabling constructive team conversations about product structure. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

We have site maps and flow charts but no standard for documenting product IA.

@brownorama.bsky.social's IAC26 talk identifies a recipe for product blueprints that enable better team conversations about product structure.

April 16, Philadelphia: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/pro...

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/arc...

Architecting Access: Designing a Clear, Scalable, and Secure Access System for Netflix Studio talk at IAC26 by Jordan Kolasinski. Presentation on using information architecture to redesign global access management systems for clarity and security. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Architecting Access: Designing a Clear, Scalable, and Secure Access System for Netflix Studio talk at IAC26 by Jordan Kolasinski. Presentation on using information architecture to redesign global access management systems for clarity and security. April 16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Access management sounds straightforward until you try to make it secure, compliant, and usable at global scale.

In this talk, Jordan Kolasinski shows how terminology, concept models, naming guidelines transformed Netflix's access system from confusing to comprehensible.

Ethics as Information Architecture: Why AI Safety Requires IA Thinking talk at IAC26. Presentation on building ethical AI systems through information architecture principles and structural constraints on information flow. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Ethics as Information Architecture: Why AI Safety Requires IA Thinking talk at IAC26. Presentation on building ethical AI systems through information architecture principles and structural constraints on information flow. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

AI ethics as afterthought = fragile. Ethical AI is an IA problem.

Ethics as Information Architecture: Why AI Safety Requires IA Thinking shows how structural constraints on information flow create AI that can't be tricked into harm.

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/eth...

Architecture Walk: Architecture Is A Way of Seeing walkshop at IAC26 led by Dan Klyn. Educational walking tour exploring Louis Kahn, Richard Saul Wurman, and Philadelphia architecture through information architecture frameworks. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Architects learn to see before they build. IAs should too.

Dan Klyn's @danklyn.bsky.social IAC26 "walkshop" explores Philly architecture through IA frameworks and how space shapes experience.

Learn all about it here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/arc...

Shitty Maps: The Trojan Horse for Real-Time Sensemaking talk at IAC26 by Joe Elmendorf. Presentation on using simple visual tools to build shared understanding and surface misalignment during team conversations. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Shitty Maps: The Trojan Horse for Real-Time Sensemaking talk at IAC26 by Joe Elmendorf. Presentation on using simple visual tools to build shared understanding and surface misalignment during team conversations. April 18, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Talk stays invisible. Shitty maps make it visible in real-time.

@joeelmendorf.bsky.social's IAC talk aims to close the gap between the conversation happening and the shared understanding emerging.

Learn more: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/shitty-maps-the-trojan-horse-for-real-time-sensemaking/

Beyond Resilience: Cultivating Emotional Endurance in the Age of Overwhelm workshop at IAC26 led by Alba Villamil. Educational session for design professionals covering self-awareness, empathetic boundaries, emotional regulation, self-care, and self-compassion skills. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

What if instead of just pushing through overwhelm, you cultivated emotional endurance?

Alba Villamil's IAC26 workshop explores foundational skills needed for this with practical experiments and personalized care planning.

April 17, Philadelphia: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/bey...

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/int...

Intro to Artificial Intelligence workshop at IAC26 led by Duane Degler. Educational session for IA and UX practitioners covering AI fundamentals, applications, ethics, and roles for information architects in human-centered AI systems. April 14, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

AI is changing fast. Where do IAs fit?

This IAC26 workshop gives you practical knowledge about AI systems and how to apply your IA skills to human-centered, responsible AI.

No need to be a prompting expert to participate!
April 14th, Philadelphia (IAC26)

Register using code valentine here: www.theiaconference.com/registration/

Valentine's Day promotional offer for IAC26 conference registration. Special discount code available for main conference tickets.Valid April 12-16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

We've felt the love from the community all these years and so we're giving it right back this Valentine's Day.

From now until February 16th use code valentine to get $75 off your main conference ticket!

Join a conference for the IA community, by the IA community April 16th – 18th in Philadelphia

Register today with code valentine: www.theiaconference.com/registration/

Valentine's Day promotional offer for IAC26 conference registration. Special discount code valentine available for main conference tickets. April 14-16, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Cupid has officially struck IAC26 with his arrow.

From now until February 16th use code valentine to get $75 off your main conference ticket!

Workshops, talks, and good times from people who have plenty of love to share with the IA community. April 16th – 18th in Philadelphia.

Stop Making Journey Maps and Personas, Complete a SAC (Scenario Alignment Canvas) Instead workshop led by Jen Blatz. Virtual educational session on using scenario-based alignment for faster UX research planning and team collaboration. March 19, 2026.

Personas and journey maps take weeks but rarely drive decisions.

Jen Blatz's Scenario Alignment Canvas gets teams aligned, exposes assumptions, and builds research plans in 1-2 hours.

Virtual workshop, March 19: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/sto...

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/iac...

IA Roundtable: Polycrisis, Positionality, Hyperlocality, and Information Architecture at IAC26. Discussion session for IA thought leaders, educators, and practitioners exploring how to advance information architecture as a discipline to address global social and environmental challenges. April 14, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

How do we adapt IA for an evolving world?

The IA Roundtable at IAC26 explores advancing the discipline, addressing wicked problems, and making IA locally relevant. Co-create artifacts with thought leaders and practitioners.
@resmini.bsky.social @stsurla.bsky.social

Your taxonomy should work for users and the business. Getting both to align is the hard part.

April 15, Philadelphia: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/ali...

Content Management Observability workshop at IAC26 focused on measuring content ROI through composition, health, quality, and effectiveness frameworks. Educational session on developing actionable data feedback loops for strategic content decision-making. April 15, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Content is a strategic investment, but most organizations can't see what's working.

Learn more about this IAC26 workshop here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/con...

Learn more here: www.theiaconference.com/sessions/tim...

Timeless Sensemaking Skills for the Modern Sensemaker workshop at IAC26 led by Abby Covert. Educational session for designers, strategists, and leaders focused on stakeholder management, incentive mapping, structural argumentation, and demonstrating ROI. April 17, 2026, Philadelphia, PA.

Sensemaking is timeless, but our messes are modern.

Abby Covert's IAC26 workshop invites you to slow down, zoom out, and strengthen the foundational skills that make clarity possible in complex contexts.

April 17, Philadelphia at IAC26!