Information Architecture

Information Architecture

Information architecture is the skeleton of understanding — if users cannot locate a capability within 3 interactions or mental jumps, it does not exist.

Pipeline Integration

• Upstream: Pulls from product-discovery (user mental models) and business-model-reading (feature domains).
• Downstream: Consumed by route-integrity-checker (validating link destinations), dashboard-scaffolding-contract (nav groups), dashboard-layout-patterns (shell selection), and module-registry-sync (navGroup annotations).

1. Inventory & domain entity clustering

Extract all key domain nouns (e.g. Invoices, Clients, Transactions) and user verbs (Create, Reconcile, Export). Cluster them into distinct functional hubs based on the user's mental model, not database schema tables.

2. Establish hierarchy & grouping rules

Organize the product into a shallow, predictable tree (Maximum 7 top-level categories, Maximum 3 levels deep):

graph TD
    Home[Dashboard Overview] --> Ops(Operations)
    Home --> Fin(Finance)
    Home --> Settings(Workspace Settings)
    Ops --> Ops1[Inventory]
    Ops --> Ops2[Suppliers]
    Fin --> Fin1[Invoices]
    Fin --> Fin2[Bank Feeds]
    Settings --> Set1[Team & Permissions]
    Settings --> Set2[Billing & Plan]

3. Precision labeling

• Use consistent grammar: Category hubs use plural nouns ("Customers", "Invoices"); discrete actions use active verbs ("New Order", "Export").
• Avoid internal company acronyms or generic labels ("Other", "Tools", "Data Hub").

4. Apply Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) navigation overlay

For products with multi-role permissions (Admin, Manager, Member, Guest):

• Annotate each navigation item with minimum required permissions.
• Rule of thumb: Hide navigation items entirely if a user has zero access; do not tease them with dead-end "403 Forbidden" screens.
• Provide a clear annotation matrix:

  Nav Item	Route	Required Role / Scope	Behavior for Unauthorized Roles
  Invoices	/finance/invoices	read:finance	Hidden if unauthorized
  Billing Settings	/settings/billing	admin:workspace	Hidden for non-admins

5. Architect discovery alternatives (Search & ⌘K Command Palette)

When a system scales beyond 15–20 views:

• Design a global Command Palette (⌘K / Ctrl+K) supporting instant fuzzy search across navigation routes, recent entities, and common quick actions.
• Define search indexing scopes (Navigation items vs. Data entities vs. Help documentation).

Navigation Anti-patterns

• More than 7 items in any navigation group (causes cognitive overload).
• Nesting navigation 4+ levels deep (users get lost).
• Mixing nouns and verbs haphazardly in the same menu tier.
• Displaying disabled/locked navigation links with no explanatory context.

Completion Criteria

• Hierarchy structured within 7 top-level groups and ≤ 3 levels deep
• Labels follow strict grammatical consistency (nouns for hubs, verbs for actions)
• Multi-role navigation visibility matrix documented with permission scopes
• Global search / Command Palette indexing rules established for complex apps
• Sitemap Mermaid diagram matches dashboard-scaffolding-contract and route-intents.json

Output Format

A sitemap.md artifact containing the hierarchical tree, Mermaid navigation diagram, RBAC role-visibility matrix, and Command Palette shortcut schema.