PUBLICATIONS
The IAD Framework publishes the core texts of the theory of Information Architecture Design. As the theory continues to develop publications will following spanning topics such as research and design practice in IAD, and IAD praxis and pedagogy.
The publications below present and extend the theory of Information Architecture Design (IAD). The IAD Canon provides its principal organised body of theory. Theoretical Extensions develop positions beyond the scope of the Canon’s Modules and Auxiliary Notes under Canon Governance.
THE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE DESIGN CANON
EDITION 1 · VERSION 1.0 · AUGUST 2026
The Information Architecture Design Canon consolidates the principal concepts, terminology and propositions of Information Architecture Design into a coherent body of theory. It provides a stable reference point for understanding information architectures, studying them in the world and intentionally working with them through design.
VOLUME I
Part 1–Modules
Part 2 –Glossary
Nine Modules, spread over fifteen notes, constitute the principal design-theoretic articulation of IAD presented through the Canon. The Glossary’s twenty terms define the principal concepts and technical language found in the Modules and broader IAD literature.
VOLUME II
Part 3–Auxiliary Notes
Eighteen Auxiliary Notes extend, contextualise and qualify the Canon’s principal theoretical account. Historical, Philosophical and Supplementary Notes develop the lineages, questions and implications surrounding the Modules without interrupting their central progression.
THEORETICAL EXTENSIONS
Theoretical Extensions are companion texts that develop theoretical positions beyond the scope of the Canon’s Modules and Auxiliary Notes. They do not alter the Canon. Each Theoretical Extension is independently identified and versioned under Canon Governance within the IAD Framework.
TE–001
A BOUNDED EPISTEMOLOGY OF ARTIFICIAL RELATIONAL CONFIGURATION
TE-001 asks whether information architectures are real, whether knowledge of them is possible and what such knowledge reveals. It bounds the epistemic scope of IA at artificial relational configuration and develops this position as a bounded realism of the artificial.
VERSION 1.0 · AUGUST 2026
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TE–002
A META-ARCHITECTURAL VIEW OF CONTRIVED ONTOLOGY: MEANING-MAKING IN THE WILD
TE-002 asks how structured meaning becomes real enough to constrain action and exert consequence in the world. It consolidates complementary accounts from various social theories, each illuminating different aspects of how meaning is structured, stabilised and sustained across frame-scales.
The resulting meta-framework table is offered as an analytic aid for studying information architectures operating in the wild. It is neither a unified theory of Contrived Ontology nor a set of best practices.