Amidst all their usual fabulous porn, Wallpaper* (#46) have a good piece on the in-store layout at the Liberty clothes store in London; specifically their switch of 'information architecture' (though they don't use that term) away from organising around brands towards organising into trends. It's based on the notion that people are more comfortable mixing and matching brands to form a look - Top Shop with Prada, say; that trends shift rapidly; and that brands increasingly have their own shops. It also enables Liberty to introduce new items/brands to customers. So, essentially, the store has observed user behaviour, noted high levels of interaction within trend, choosing their own style rather than a brand's imposition of a single unified look. Not so much a separation of content from presentation; rather a separation of trend from brand.
I've written about the organisation of record stores before - observing these real-world could provide interesting parallels with online organisation of information. These following excerpts indicate how much there is in common with what we do online - sometimes significant similarities, sometimes utterly different tensions:
"'We're grouping collections as a way of putting clothes together,' explains womenswear buyer Damien Shaw. 'If you have a particular style, what other pieces would you buy?' This new navigating tool encourages a voyage, whether it be for a new brand or a new-to-you brand ... 'If you like minimalism, here's Helmut Lang, and next to it are brands you may not know about.'"[navigating, voyage of discovery; like this? try this]
"Where retail goes wrong is where you capture the person and the brand in one space ... It's not about fixed space, the store evolves each season"[liquid space]
"Trend-based layouts are much more cost-effective and flexible than a possibly 'hip today, gone tomorrow' brand that's just rooted itself in the corner of your store with its own shop-in-shop. 'Consumers are looking for an additional way to search for luxury.'"[rapid reorganisation of content]
"Events for seasonal trend shoppers rather than brand-loyal consumers. No shop assistants disturbing your browsing pleasure. Floor space designed to give the consumer clear options rather than fixed directions."[design supporting navigation rather than imposing]
