Rating: 
Summary: I want my boss to read this book, too!
Review: As a professional information architect, I was weened on the classic Rosenfeld and Morville book and on first glance, there would seem to be a lot of repitition. However, Eric Reiss has recognized the broader business concerns and helped place information architecture in its proper perspective within the overall project framework. This makes it a VERY valuable book (it certainly got me thinking about a lot of issues I had previously ignored). His examples are well-chosen, his explanations are precise, and his observations are timely. Most important of all, he makes the entire subject MUCH more understandable, particularly for uninformed clients and employers. I hope my boss reads this before the next round of layoffs!
Rating:
Summary: Best introduction to an important subject
Review: Excellent guide for newcomers to the field. Actually I would recommend this book to anyone working in web development, particularly people who sit on web teams in a supervisory role. It is easy to read and has a lot of good ideas that you can put to use immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Very informative book!
Review: I found this book to be a great first read and an excellent resource to go back to. I'm a producer at a web firm and information design is a part of my job. This book helped me move to the next level of knowledge and helped confirm, what the author calls "common sense", issues for me. More than worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it, hate it, then LOVE it!
Review: I started off feeling kind of so-what about this book. There's lots of useful stuff in it, but most seemed pretty obvious. Not so! I found myself making lots of notes and underlining whole pages. By the time I was finished reading, I had figured out how to fix a usability problem I've been wrestling with for a long time and had lots of other great ideas! The usability solution wasn't in the book, but the inspiration WAS! This book got me to THINKING BETTER. It's been a long time since a computer book did that for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Even for Beginners
Review: I was disappointed with Practical Information Architecture. Part of it stems from the fact that I had just finished reading "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug, which was a magnificent treatment of web usability. Tough act to follow.Still, I found the content didn't match my needs at any level. For example, there was little in terms of "wisdom mcnuggets" or information architecture theory that I could apply broadly in my work. Also, Reiss relied too often on the "I know it's obvious but it's still worth mentioning" approach. As a result, I was skimming the later chapters having lost faith that the book had anything new to offer. My biggest frustration, however, is that the book doesn't seem to cover anything completely. (This is a fault I find with many books.) I need an author to say "I know my topic, and in my opinion, you need to master these six things". Or perhaps "I know my topic, and it's too big to cover in a single book, so I'll focus on what is (in my opinion) the most common and devastating error people make". Instead, I got what seemed to be stream of consciousness writing - whatever appeared in the book was whatever Reiss could think of at the moment. Therefore, the book comes off as a collection of "should do's", most of which are obvious, even for people who are new to building and managing websites. As for my rating, one star would suggest the book is completely worthless. I'm not prepared to go that far, but I'll give the next worst rating. I suspect that Reiss has valuable things to say, but this book didn't get them across.
Rating:
Summary: Not Even for Beginners
Review: I was disappointed with Practical Information Architecture. Part of it stems from the fact that I had just finished reading "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug, which was a magnificent treatment of web usability. Tough act to follow. Still, I found the content didn't match my needs at any level. For example, there was little in terms of "wisdom mcnuggets" or information architecture theory that I could apply broadly in my work. Also, Reiss relied too often on the "I know it's obvious but it's still worth mentioning" approach. As a result, I was skimming the later chapters having lost faith that the book had anything new to offer. My biggest frustration, however, is that the book doesn't seem to cover anything completely. (This is a fault I find with many books.) I need an author to say "I know my topic, and in my opinion, you need to master these six things". Or perhaps "I know my topic, and it's too big to cover in a single book, so I'll focus on what is (in my opinion) the most common and devastating error people make". Instead, I got what seemed to be stream of consciousness writing - whatever appeared in the book was whatever Reiss could think of at the moment. Therefore, the book comes off as a collection of "should do's", most of which are obvious, even for people who are new to building and managing websites. As for my rating, one star would suggest the book is completely worthless. I'm not prepared to go that far, but I'll give the next worst rating. I suspect that Reiss has valuable things to say, but this book didn't get them across.
Rating: 
Summary: There's no there there
Review: I've never given below three stars in a review. This book was worthless to me. There is no useful framework or process described. There are no helpful implementation tips. There is no help on tools to use. There are no checklists. It's all just generic information with no real context, flow, or underlying structure tying it together. About me: I'm neither an expert nor a total novice in this area. I have basic business, technical, and project management skills. If someone has *none* of these skills, maybe they'll think this book is worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: There's no there there
Review: I've never given below three stars in a review. This book was worthless to me. There is no useful framework or process described. There are no helpful implementation tips. There is no help on tools to use. There are no checklists. It's all just generic information with no real context, flow, or underlying structure tying it together. About me: I'm neither an expert nor a total novice in this area. I have basic business, technical, and project management skills. If someone has *none* of these skills, maybe they'll think this book is worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: A "must have" for beginners and pros alike
Review: I've worked with web development for some time now, and having read the previous review, I hesitated to buy this book. Now I'm glad I did! Reiss writes like a dream and makes this important subject accessable to everyone - not just a few seasoned pros. Yes, we've heard most of this before, but never so clearly, and Reiss' shares his experience on several subjects (such as personalization and audience segmentation) that most of us have never had to deal with personally. Far from "dumbing down," his explanations are lucid and his observations are right on target. Reiss also provide loads of hands-on advice, which helps beginners and pros alike avoid expensive mistakes. When presented this logically, the rules of site organization all seems so obvious. But if they really were, why are so many designers still repeating the same dumb mistakes? This book is a "must have."
Rating:
Summary: Clear, concise, and USEFUL! Deserves 6 stars!
Review: It seems you either love this book or your hate it. I LOVED it! I've heard many of these things before (and I have actually thought of some of them all on my own!) but Reiss lays it all out, step by step (OK, not in five easy steps, but in 19), and I was surprised at the number of practical goodies I could put to immediate use in my work as a web designer. This is one of the few books for web designers written by a communications expert (Reiss started out as a business writer) that effectively explains information architecture as a means to achieve business goals, which so many web people fail to grasp. I thought Chapter 6 and Reiss's discussions of shared references and customer trust were particularly valuable. Some of the reviews I've read think this book is far too simple and doesn't cover anything in depth. Maybe it's because Reiss discusses basic GENERIC issues. For example, his discussion of hyperlinks only runs about 8 pages. But the point is, if you understand the principles layed out in these 8 pages, you'll be able to arrive at good solutions on your own, without having to look them up in a 300-page Nielsen's Guide to the Use of Hyperlinks. (How nice that Reiss assumes that the people who read this book will actually THINK FOR THEMSELVES once in a while!) Is this book for beginners? By all means! It's easy to read and gets right to the point and walks you through the process from A to Z. Is is for the pros? Maybe not everyone, but to dismiss it as "heard it all before" is grossly unfair. (I wonder if some high-priced professionals are scared this guy gave away too many of their little secrets!) Personally I'm not too proud to acknowlege a few holes in my education and am glad when someone helps set me straight. I think this book has real and lasting value and I'd give it 6 stars if I could!
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