For a long time, nobody had figured out Information Architecture, so we all just made stuff up.

Jeffrey Zeldman’s quote humorously reflects the early, exploratory days of Information Architecture (IA) in the digital world. When he says, “nobody had figured out Information Architecture,” he is acknowledging that during the formative years of web design and development, there was no clear framework or established best practices for organizing digital content. As a result, designers and developers often had to improvise solutions to structure websites and applications in ways that users could understand and navigate.

The phrase “we all just made stuff up” captures both the creativity and chaos of that era. Without a standardized system, practitioners relied on intuition, trial and error, and shared experiences to shape the emerging field of IA. This improvisational spirit led to a wide variety of user experiences—some innovative, others confusing—but it also paved the way for the development of more formalized principles that would eventually guide how information is structured, labeled, and presented on the web.

Zeldman’s quote also speaks to the pioneering nature of early web design. As one of the leading voices in web standards and user experience design, he helped advocate for a more thoughtful and user-centered approach to web development. His recognition of the early messiness of IA does not diminish its value—instead, it celebrates the evolution of a field born from experimentation and necessity.

The origin of this quote lies in Zeldman’s public talks and writings, where he often reflects on the growth of the internet and the challenges faced by early web practitioners. As the founder of A List Apart and a key figure in the development of modern web standards, Zeldman played a crucial role in shaping the way we think about digital structure and usability. His words remind us that even the most essential disciplines often begin with uncertainty, and progress comes through collaboration, reflection, and iterative improvement.