Back in the days when we were all still getting used to the web and google was just another search engine, I used to run free web clubs on Sunday afternoons for my work colleagues. At these clubs, I’d share my emerging knowledge about the web.

And to give the sessions some structure, I’d break them into 4 parts based around what I defined as the 4 principles of web site creation: Purpose, Production, Publication and Promotion.

I had arrived at these principles and hence, this loose methodology for site creation, simply based on what I figured you needed to do when creating and launching any web site – fairly obvious, I thought.

Under the topic of Purpose, I would talk about the need for understanding what you are trying to achieve with the site and who the site is being aimed at. Its goals and audience as it were.

Under Production, we’d cover things like the need to ensure the site’s navigation structure and indeed the nature, style and format of its content both reflected the site’s purpose and also suited the site’s audience. (And this included not only their aims when visiting the site but also their needs e.g. based on their speed of access, types of browsers used and so on.)

And I’ve followed these principles myself ever since, creating sites such as:

• www.australiashop.co.uk (an e-commerce site for homesick Aussies I built back in 1999)
• www.pivotpowerproducts.com (a brand-building and leads generating site for an Australian engineering company)
• www.perryfamilyhistory.net (an information sharing site about my family history for other descendants)
• and of course, www.londonforfree.net (a site with information about free things to see and do in London for visitors to London)

Now I wouldn’t call myself an expert in this area by any means but lately I have been pleased to discover that this is basically what Information Architecture seems to be all about – well, according to webmonkey anyway. I have more or less been following its principles without realising it.

Since the days of the web clubs, an entire industry seems to have grown around the area of web Information Architecture. I know there’s loads more to it than what I do : it not only includes navigation structure, tone of content, accessibility etc but also includes things like conducting competitor analysis, defining user scenarios, creating wireframes, using metaphors and so on.

But I’m pleased to know that I’ve been more or less covering the basics as a matter of habit when building new sites without even knowing it!