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Information Architecture interview questions

Information Architecture questions a UX / UI designer can be asked, from first job to senior. Open one to see the strongest answer and why it works.

1. The main navigation reads Hub, Studio and Insights. What do you check before you defend it?

   The strongest answer: Whether people can predict what sits behind each one — I test the labels against the words users already say, and rename before we brand the navigation

   Why it works: Right — a nav label’s only job is prediction, and the words people already use win.

   • Labels must predict the content.
   • Use the words users say.
   • Test with people, not the team.
   • Rename before you brand it.

2. When would you run a card sort, and what is the difference between an open and a closed one?

   The strongest answer: When I do not know how people group the content: open lets them make and name their own groups, closed tests whether my categories hold — open to learn, closed to check

   Why it works: Exactly — open generates a structure, closed validates one, and tree testing checks findability afterwards.

   • Open generates, closed validates.
   • Sort with users, not the team.
   • Open: they name the groups.
   • Closed: test your categories.

3. A catalogue has grown to nine top-level sections, several of which hold two items.

   How do you decide between fewer, deeper sections and more, shallower ones?

   The strongest answer: By how confidently people predict what is inside: shallow wins while the labels are clear, but nine vague siblings are worse than four obvious ones with a level underneath

   Why it works: Right — the cost is a wrong guess, not a click, so test the labels before you pick a shape.

   • Predictability beats click count.
   • Group by what users seek.
   • Merge the vague siblings.
   • Tree-test before you ship.

4. A product belongs under Sale, under Winter and under Jackets. Where do you put it?

   The strongest answer: In one canonical place with one address, reachable from all three through facets or tags — duplicating the item is how you end up with three versions that drift apart

   Why it works: Exactly — one canonical record, many routes in. That is what facets and tags are for.

   • One item, one home, many routes.
   • Pick the canonical place.
   • Use facets or tags for the rest.
   • Never duplicate the record.

5. Legal wants a 600-word wall on the first screen. What do you do?

   The strongest answer: Layer: what they must see now, what can be a link, and a readable type — I do not shrink it to 9px to “fit”

   Why it works: Exactly. Layer and readable. 9px, pre-tick, and refuse-all fail people or counsel.

   • Layer must-see vs link.
   • Keep it readable.
   • Do not 9px the wall.
   • Do not pre-tick consent.

6. Four products, four different main navigations, and the same customer uses three of them.

   What do you standardise, and what do you leave to each team?

   The strongest answer: A shared vocabulary, the top-level model, and where the global things live — account, search, help, switching product; each team keeps the structure inside its own area

   Why it works: Right — standardise the model and the words, not every screen; that is what makes four products feel like one.

   • Standardise vocabulary, not every menu.
   • Agree the top-level model.
   • Fix where global things live.
   • Leave inner structure to teams.