Boxes And Arrows : The Design Behind the Design

Article Idea:

IA and the many-headed beast

suggested by Murray Thompson on 2007/09/12

Governments have multiple departments often operating as their own entities. A conglomerate owns distinct brands where the parent company may or may not be widely known. There are many examples of diverse services and products offered by an entity that has an even more diverse user base.

In some cases, there may be clear-cut lines of separation between sites, searches, and navigation from the users point of view. But when it’s not so clear, how can the needs of the department or brand-specific user be met along with the needs of users coming from the context of the parent company?

When should a separate site be made or avoided? How far do you take common navigation between sites? How about graphical elements? When should a search be limited to local context vs. the entire organization?

How can marketing efforts be aligned with IA and design efforts to help bring user expectations closer to how the organization wants the main body it and its parts to be perceived (and vice versa)?

I’ve tried looking for resources that discuss IA and design strategies across multiple sites and brands, when to consider separate sites and when to keep it all together, but I’m having trouble finding it discussed. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places, but it would be nice to see more that addresses this topic specifically.