Is this Information Architecture?

Could “Information Architecture” go in the blanks below?

Leave off the second sentence, and Information Architecture might fit nicely into the blanks. But, this is actually from an intro to Cognitive Psychology text (fill in the blanks with ‘Cognitive Psychology’).

What struck me just how similar this might appear, at first glance, to some other descriptions of Information Architecture:

“The art and science of structuring, organizing and labeling information to help people find and manage information.” -Louis Rosenfeld

Or this more ‘expansive’ view of Information Architecture from Peter Merholz

”...we are providing an architecture—a space, a platform through which and upon which people move, contribute, and change.” (where “architecture” can apply to all shared information environments—not just virtual spaces)

I think the key distinction here is the focus on the environment (virtual or otherwise) versus a focus on the person. But even this distinction is one I see shifting over time, as the field of Information Architecture matures and best practices and conventions leave us with less to discover about the environments we are designing. While mental models and personas are certainly part of the IA toolbox, I believe that more of these types of tools—psychological tools that focus on cognition, emotion, social interactions, etc. — will work their way into everyday practice for information architects.

Which makes me wonder… Are we backing into an established profession (Cognitive Psychology), by way of a more marketable niche profession (Information Architecture)?

Currently, I spend a good deal of time fixing rather obvious UI errors, recommending best practices to common challenges, creating consistent labeling and understandable language, determining and describing task flows—mostly explicit things that can be documented or referenced elsewhere. But, when most systems work reasonably well and follow established UI conventions, what then will make one system work better than another? I think it is at this point that understanding—and designing for—the variety of human nuances (especially emotional ones) will be a critical differentiator in product applications. And it is at this point that that the distinction between Information Architecture and Cognitive Psychology gets really blurry…