Summary: IA is the information backbone of the site;

navigation refers to those elements in the UI that allow users

to reach specific information on the site

What Is Website Information Architecture?

A website’s (or intranet’s) information architecture has two main

components:

 identification and definition of site content and functionality

 the underlying organization, structure and nomenclature that
define the relationships between a site’s content/functionality

The information architecture (IA) is not part of the on-screen user

interface (UI) — rather, IA informs UI. The IA is documented in
spreadsheets and diagrams, not in wireframes, comprehensive
layouts (known as comps), or prototypes

Even though the IA itself isn’t visible in the UI, it most definitely
impacts the User Experience (UX). As we know from the definition of
user experience, the total user experience is built up from everything
the user encounters. And while users don’t see the structure of the
website, they will hopefully get the feeling that content is divided up
and connected in ways that match their needs and expectations.
Sadly, of course, users leave many sites feeling that the
content/functionality was not what they wanted and they experience
friction because of poor organization, structure and/or nomenclature.

As an analogy, unless you’re Superman or a radiologist, you won’t

see the skeletons when looking at a horse or a chicken, but those
skeletons nevertheless make these animals very different creatures.
Don’t try to ride the chicken, because the skeleton won’t support you.

The activities undertaken in defining an information architecture

involve:

 Content inventory: Examination of a website to locate and

identify existing site content
 Content audit: Evaluation of content usefulness, accuracy,
tone of voice, and overall effectiveness
 Information grouping: Definition of user-centered
relationships between content
 Taxonomy development: Definition of a standardized naming
convention (controlled vocabulary) to apply to all site content
 Descriptive information creation: Definition of useful
metadata that can be utilized to generate “Related Link” lists or
other navigation components that aid discovery

What Is Website Navigation?

A website’s navigation is a collection of user interface components.

The primary goal of navigation is to help users find information and
functionality, and encourage them to take desirable actions.
Navigation components include global navigation, local navigation,
utility navigation, breadcrumbs, filters, facets, related links, footers,
fat footers, and so on.

For each navigation component, a series of decisions must be made:

 Usage Priority: How much will users rely on this navigation

component? For example, will users primarily navigate the site
using local navigation? Or are they likely to more heavily rely
on related links?
  Placement: On which pages should it be present? Where
should it be placed within the page layout grid (e.g., top, left,
right, bottom)?
 Pattern: Which navigation design patterns best support
findability and discoverability —
tabs, megamenus, carousels, accordions, and so on?

Relationship Between IA and Navigation

When designing a new site, can designers ignore the IA and focus
only on the navigation? The answer is no: it’s inefficient and even
dangerous to do so. Navigation that does not adequately
accommodate the full scope of content and functionality of a site can
be very costly. For example, let’s assume that a design team decides
to use a typical inverted-L style navigation (one top navigation bar
and a left rail) because they like the way it looks. An inverted-L can
accommodate sites that are no more than 4 tiers deep. Unfortunately,
later in the project they conduct a site inventory and discover that
many sections of the site will be more than 4 tiers deep. Now they
must either go back and design a new navigation structure or try to
cram all the content into 4 tiers.

Define the IA Before Designing Navigation

When approaching a design or redesign project, it is important to

take a look under the hood and start by defining or redefining the IA.
The IA doesn’t need to be final before beginning to wireframe and
prototype, but a first pass is necessary to get a handle on the volume
and complexity of the content. Making navigation component choices
based on looks alone can force you to change an ideal IA to
something that doesn’t best serve the needs of users or
accommodate your content.
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/12/efficiently-simplifying-
navigation-information-architecture/

https://medium.com/@amherd/the-difference-between-information-
architecture-ia-sitemap-and-navigation-64eba19296c