Informationoriented

Informationoriented is an adjective used to describe approaches, systems, and designs that prioritize information as the central asset, artifact, and driver of decision making. It emphasizes information quality, structure, accessibility, and governance over purely technological or procedural concerns.

Definition and scope: In information science and systems design, informationoriented work aims to manage the lifecycle of information—its capture, storage, retrieval, dissemination, use, and preservation. It aligns with information architecture, metadata practices, data governance, and user-centered access. The orientation places information content and its relationships at the core of analysis and solution design, rather than focusing primarily on processes or technologies.

Applications: In software and systems engineering, informationoriented design favors explicit data models, clear information flows, and robust metadata. In user experience, it seeks strong findability, discoverability, and information scent. In organizations, it supports information governance, standards, and stewardship to ensure trusted, reusable information assets. In education and research, it promotes information literacy, citation, and information-rich curricula and environments.

Relation to other concepts: Informationoriented work overlaps with information-centric, data-centric, and knowledge-management approaches. It differentiates itself by prioritizing information content and its quality, structure, and accessibility as the primary object of concern, while acknowledging that processes and technologies are instrumental.

Criticism and limitations: Critics note that an exclusive focus on information can overlook actionability, privacy, and contextual factors. Achieving balance between information abundance and usability can be challenging, and effective implementation requires clear governance and stakeholder alignment.

See also: Information architecture, Information governance, Data governance, Knowledge management, Information literacy.