Jorge Arango is an information architect and author whose work examines how information environments shape human understanding and behavior.
Core ideas
- Information environments: Arango argues that digital information systems are environments we inhabit, not tools we use. Like physical architecture, information architecture shapes what we can perceive, find, and do — with ethical implications for designers [@arango2018].
- Language as information architecture: the categories, labels, and navigation structures that organize information systems are fundamentally linguistic acts — they define what concepts exist, how they relate, and what paths are available. This connects information architecture directly to rhetoric and writing.
- Ethical responsibility of IA: because information environments shape understanding, information architects bear responsibility for the worlds they create — including who is included, what is findable, and what is hidden.
Notable works
- Living in Information: Responsible Design for Digital Places (2018)
Related
- document design — information architecture extends document design principles to interactive environments
- genre — information architecture creates the structures within which genres operate
- technical writing — information architecture is a core method of technical writing