“We live in a world today where we spend a lot of time in these places that are made of information instead of being a physical place.” Larry Port talks with Emily Claflin, an information architect at The Understanding Group, about structuring and organizing information in ways that are useful to people. The conversation moves from websites, intranets, and apps to enterprise environments where you cannot make the complexity go away, but you can bring clarity. Emily shares a career story that starts with history and sociology, a year of service with AmeriCorps, public libraries, a master’s in library and information science, and then an internship that became full-time work. Along the way: talk to your professors, because all sorts of opportunities open up. The conversation also touches on AI, search, browsing, and chat, as well as “garbage in, garbage out,” ethics, and navigating organizational complexity.

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Guest Bio

Emily Claflin is an information architect with The Understanding Group. She came from library science, worked in a local public library system, and did her master’s program fully online while working full-time. She took a class in information architecture, got an internship, and then went from hourly, part-time work while finishing school to full-time work. She also talks about serving as a conference chair and selecting a theme such as “navigating complexity.”

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What We Cover

• What an information architect does: give structure to information, organize it, and make the most important information the easiest to find and the easiest to use
• Complex information environments: clarity, relevance, and “one kind of person with one particular goal”
• Information architecture and user experience design: a blurry line, “behind the scenes,” and “hopefully you never notice it”
• A career that was not a clear end goal: history and sociology, Spanish minor, study abroad, AmeriCorps, public libraries, and a master’s degree
• Talking to the deputy director, getting a mentor-like conversation, and planning “three or five years from now”
• Research as a prerequisite: recruiting, interviews, trade shows, and synthesizing insights into shared artifacts and models
• Who does well in the role: naturally curious, okay with ambiguity, and sees the forest and the trees at the same time
• AI, ethics, and information retrieval: search, browse, and now chat, plus “garbage in, garbage out”

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Resources Mentioned

• Emily Claflin
• Larry Port
• The Understanding Group
• IA Conference
• AmeriCorps
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Zoom
• SharePoint
• GED classes