Have you ever worked on a "navigation redesign" that turned out to be a taxonomy problem? I've seen it happen more than once. The team rebuilds the menu, ships it, and six months later people still can't find anything — because the content underneath was never organized or labeled consistently in the first place. I wrote up how to tell the two apart, and what to fix first: Taxonomy vs. Navigation The short version: taxonomy decides what things are. Navigation decides how people get to them. One is the structure; the other is a view of that structure. Curious what you've run into. What gave it away for you that the real problem was deeper than the menu?

Ever tried to explain "taxonomy" to someone and watched their eyes instantly glaze over? Usually, people think it’s just a boring biology term for naming animals. But if you are building an app, organizing a website, or managing data, taxonomy is your secret weapon. The easiest way to understand it? Look at a standard food menu. A menu is literally a real-world taxonomy system designed to stop hungry people from getting frustrated. It breaks down information from broad levels to highly specific choices: - Top Level (Broad): The stage of the meal (Appetizers, Entrées, Desserts, Drinks). - Middle Level (Sub-categories): The type of food (Burgers, Pastas, Salads). - Bottom Level (Specific Species): The exact item you order (Classic Cheeseburger). Why this matters for tech and content creation: A good menu uses a "controlled vocabulary." It doesn't mix milkshakes into the steak section, and it uses tags (like a little 🌱 icon for vegetarian) to help users filter exactly what they need in seconds. Whether you are organizing your Skool classroom modules, setting up a Google Drive, or tags for a database—you are just building a menu for your users. Make it easy to read, or they'll leave the restaurant! 👇 Let's test it out: If you had to add "Loaded Chili Cheese Fries" to a menu taxonomy, would you group it under Appetizers, Entrées, or create a whole new "Sides" category? Let me know below!

People shouldn’t have to read an entire paragraph to discover why you’re writing. Instead of: “Due to scheduled system maintenance intended to improve platform performance, users may experience a temporary interruption in service this Saturday between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.” Try: “The platform will be unavailable Saturday from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. while we perform scheduled maintenance.” The second version gives readers the information that affects them first. The explanation comes afterward. Plain language isn’t only about using simpler words. It’s also about presenting information in the order people need it.

Hey everyone, new here. I'm also working on launching my own Skool community, so I've been exploring other communities and learning how different owners are approaching their launches. I'm especially interested in connecting with other community owners who are still in the early stages. If you're the owner of this community and you're currently building or launching, feel free to comment or DM me. I'd genuinely like to hear how your journey is going so far.

Welcome! Start here, If you're a content designer, you're already making IA decisions — nav labels, taxonomy, search results, empty states — nobody actually trained you for. That's why this exists. I spent 10 years as an IA inside DocuSign, GoPro, and Owl Cameras. This classroom is where you work through Think Like An Information Architect module by module. First steps: 1. Start Module 1 in the Classroom tab 2. Introduce yourself below — what IA problem are you stuck on right now? No fluff, no funnel. Let's get into it.