From information architecture to sensemaking with Abby Covert
09/14/2026As UX roles and titles continue to shift, the ability to make sense of complexity may matter more than ever. Lou talks with information architect, author, and longtime collaborator Abby Covert about how her work evolved from information architecture into the broader practice of sensemaking—and why she believes that work extends far beyond people with “IA” in their job titles.
Abby also offers a preview of Shift UX, Rosenfeld Media’s hybrid conference on September 24–25, where she is one of the main curators. She explains how the event itself is being redesigned to move away from “design theater”: speakers will share the stage, dedicated sensemakers will connect ideas across talks, and the audience will become part of the conversation.
The conversation explores Abby’s Sensemakers Club, the importance of creating genuine community, and her new book, Timeless Sensemaking for Modern Sensemakers. Throughout, Abby makes the case that sensemaking isn’t simply about organizing information—it’s also about understanding people, adapting how we communicate, and helping others turn complexity into something they can actually use.
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
- How information architecture led Abby to the broader practice of sensemaking
- Why UX skills may outlast traditional UX roles and titles
- How Shift UX is rethinking the traditional conference experience
- Why sensemaking is personal—and looks different for everyone
- How intentional discussion can turn connection into genuine community
- Why adapting how you communicate can make your work more effective
Q&A with Abby Covert
This interview has been edited for clarity and length from Abby Covert’s appearance on the Rosenfeld Review Podcast, “From Information Architecture to Sensemaking.” Responses are adapted from the podcast discussion and should not be treated as verbatim quotations.
Q: UX is shifting. What do you think is changing most fundamentally about the work?
A: Titles are changing, organizations are uncertain, and conventional UX boundaries are less stable. Shift UX is positioned as a place to work through that change—not merely observe it.
Q: Why is sensemaking such an important skill for UX practitioners now?
A: So much of the work is not simply about making a screen, a service, or a piece of content. It is about helping people understand complex systems, competing priorities, changing information, and different points of view. Sensemaking gives us a way to work with that complexity instead of pretending it is not there.
Q: What can information architecture teach people beyond the IA field?
A: Information architecture has always involved more than navigation or menus. It is about how people understand information, how language affects that understanding, and how systems are structured. Those are useful concerns for anyone working in design, research, content, product, operations, or leadership.
Q: Why is this the right moment for a new UX conference?
A: We are in a moment where people are asking real questions about what UX is, where the work belongs, and how it needs to evolve. Those questions are bigger than any one discipline or role. We need spaces where people can come together, compare what they are seeing, make sense of it, and think about what comes next.
Q: What could someone gain from attending Shift UX that they may not get from watching talks alone?
A: The value is not only in the content of any individual talk. It is in what happens when people gather around the ideas: the conversations, the connections, the different perspectives, and the chance to make sense of what matters to you. A meaningful event gives people a way to participate in the work of understanding, not just consume someone else’s conclusions.
Q: How can Shift UX help someone whose role no longer fits neatly under “UX”?
A: You do not have to fit neatly into one label to contribute to this work. Many people are already working across boundaries: research, content, design, product, operations, technology, and organizational change. If your work involves helping people make sense of complex situations and building things that work better in the world, you belong in the conversation.
Q: What is the most important idea you want people to take from this conversation?
A: Sensemaking is not simply about organizing information. It is about understanding people, adapting how we communicate, and helping others transform complexity into something useful. That work matters whether you call yourself an information architect, a UX practitioner, a researcher, a content strategist, a designer, or something else entirely.
About our guest
Abby Covert is an information architect, writer, and community organizer who specializes in helping people make sense of messes. She has written three books on sensemaking. How to Make Sense of Any Mess (2014), Stuck? Diagrams Help. (2022), and Timeless Sensemaking for Modern Sensemakers (2026).
In 2020, she left a 20-year consulting career to focus on independent publishing and community building. Since then, she launched Makesensemess, a beloved annual storytelling event celebrating sensemakers, and founded The Sensemakers Club. Abby now serves as the Chief Sensemaker of 170+ sensemakers globally, reporting on discussion trends, identifying and training new discussion leaders and mentoring a growing list of Sensemakers in Residence producing experiments in Community-Powered Education.
Quick Reference Guide:
0:16 – Meet Abby
2:29 – Sense-making as part of information architecture; placemaking vs sensemaking
5:31 – More on the term sensemaking
9:46 – More on placemaking; moving away from performance and toward disclosure; experience design
16:09 – 15% off on two books: What Your Machines Should Do by Stephanie Hutka and Body Talk by Dane DeSutter and Stephanie Scopelitis
17:17 – Sensemaking is personal
19:11 – What sensemaking will look like at the Shift UX conference
21:22 – Sensemakers Club and Abby’s book
26:27 – More on Abby’s book
30:34 – Abby’s gift for listeners
31:33 – Check out the Rosenverse
Resources:
How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert
Shift UX conference – September 23-25, 2026
Timeless Sensemaking for Modern Sensemakers by Abby Covert
Join Abby Covert at Shift UX 2026.
Attend live in New York City or participate online, September 23–25, 2026. Shift UX brings together practitioners working across UX, research, design, product, content, data, technology, and organizational change to explore how products and services can work better in the real world.
