My research sits at the intersection of information architecture, design, and meaning-making, and is grounded in nearly three decades of professional practice across commercial, public, and cultural contexts. Its primary concern is the advancement of design as a mode of inquiry into how meaning is structured, stabilised, and made operative in the world.
This body of work contributes to the development of Information Architecture Design (IAD): an ontological framing of information architecture that understands design as the intentional composition of meaning across artefacts, systems, institutions, and broader social realities. The work emerges from a second intellectual culture within IA, one oriented toward meaning-making over sense-making, contrived ontology, and advancing an epistemological stance in which IA is understood as a bounded yet real and consequential condition of artificial assemblages in the world.
Across the broader body of my research, I engage themes of critical, reflective and reflexive practice; design ethics, and pedagogy; and transdisciplinary practice.
Sketch from the analysis conducted into solutioning for addiction. 2021.
The publications presented here span journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Together, they trace an evolving line of enquiry: from early concerns with user experience and design strategy, through to more recent work on meaning-making, contrived ontology, and the role of design in addressing complex societal challenges such as addiction. Across this trajectory, a consistent thread is the attempt to articulate a rigorous, design-led account of how worlds are made, maintained, and transformed through structured meaning.
I conduct the majority of my academic research through the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), within the Department of Multimedia. Prior to this, I was a Research Affiliate with the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD) at UJ.
I obtained my research-based Master of Arts in Design from FADA at UJ in 2021. My dissertation received an 86% grade and was awarded the Chancellors Medal for FADA for that year. Such medals are granted to one graduating masters or Phd student from each of the University’s nine faculties annually.
I was Chair of the Research Grants Committee for the IA Institute (2012–2013), and previously served as a member of the grants judging panel in 2008, 2009, and 2010. I was awarded IA Institute Research Grants in 2006 and 2011 (with Tegan Bristow and Terence Fenn, respectively).
Contextual enquiry for internet cafe research. Braamfontein. 2006.
Alongside formal academic outputs, I have also initiated and conducted a number of independent research projects. These include studies into internet cafés in Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the state and landscape of UX in South Africa, and addiction and addiction recovery in Johannesburg. These projects form an important part of the broader research programme, often grounding and informing the more formal theoretical work.
This research is developed in parallel with teaching and practice, forming part of an ongoing effort to establish Information Architecture not only as a professional discipline, but as a design-theoretic and world-building capability.
Research Profiles
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9MAtiAYAAAAJ&hl=en
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason-Hobbs?ev=hdr_xprf
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1869-5587
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Journal Articles & Book Chapters
Conference Proceedings
Research Reports
MAJOR WORKS
Two complementary bodies of work that establish and extend a design-theoretic approach to Information Architecture.
Applying Information Architecture in Design Thinking
Master’s Dissertation, University of Johannesburg | 2021
Develops information architecture as a form of design through a constructivist reframing linked to meaning-making. Explores how Conceptual IA supports synthesis in ideation in complexity and operates as a carrier of socio-ontological meaning.
Information Architecture Design (IAD): A Design-Theoretic Framework
In progress
Advances a design-theoretic framework positioning information architecture as the structural composition of meaning across artefacts, systems, and social reality. Builds on earlier work to formalise core constructs including Structural Logic, Semantic Formation, and Contrived Ontology.
JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS
Footnotes to “Re: The Future of Information Architecture”
Hobbs, J. | 2021
Journal of Information Architecture, 6(1)
Preserves and reflects on “Re: The Future of Information Architecture” (2019), documenting a moment of institutional dissolution while extending its conceptual argument. Introduces a distinction between two intellectual cultures within IA—one oriented toward sense-making and one toward meaning-making—and situates the field’s future trajectory across this divide.
↳ IA / Field Development / Intellectual Cultures / Historical Record
The Design of Socially Sustainable Ontologies
Hobbs, J. & Fenn, T. | 2019
Philosophy & Technology, 32, 745–767
Positions information architecture within Design as a means of structuring meaning across pervasive information environments. Introduces and frames the concept of “contrived ontology” as the intentional inscription of meaning into artefacts, services, and systems, and argues for its ethical visibility and accountability within the infosphere.
Note: First published articulation of the core compositional elements later formalised in IAD (Structural Logic, Semantic Formation, Contrived Ontology), following its earlier presentation at the 2018 IA Summit.
↳ IA / Ontology / Infosphere / Ethics
Nurturing Critical Citizen Designers: Applying Strategic Models for Reflective Practice
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J. | 2018
In Educating Citizen Designers in Southern Africa (E. Costandius & H. Botes, Eds.)
Applies strategic design models to support reflective and socially engaged design education
↳Critical Design Education / HCD / Strategy design
The Information Architecture of Meaning Making
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J. | 2014
In Reframing Information Architecture (A. Resmini, Ed.), Springer
Positions IA as a structural condition for meaning-making in design
↳IA / Design Thinking / Complexity / Synthetic Resolution
Bridging the Divide
Hobbs, J. | 2012
In Hotel Yeoville (T. Kurgan, Ed.), Fourthwall Books
Explores qualitative research with internet café users and the resulting Hotel Yeoville interface concepts
↳Hyperlocal / Diasporic / Social Systems
Maturing a Practice
Hobbs, J., Fenn, T., & Resmini, A. | 2011
Journal of Information Architecture, 2(1), 37–54
Critiques the development of IA as a discipline and positions practice-led research in its maturation
↳ IA / Discipline / PLR
From Practice to Discipline
Hobbs, J. | 2009
In On Making: Integrating Approaches to Practice-led Research in Art and Design (L. Farber, Ed.), University of Johannesburg
Traces the emergence of IA from practice into a formalised design discipline
↳ IA / Design Research
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Design Fiction Graphic Narratives: Designing with Rather Than for Experiences
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2024
In Cumulus Conference Proceedings, Budapest
Explores design fiction as a method for engaging with experiential futures
↳ Design Research / Speculative Design
Realising Discourse: A Strategic Design Solution to the Problem of Addiction
Hobbs, J | 2021
In Cumulus Conference Proceedings, Rome
Introduces “realising discourse” as a design mechanism for addressing complex social problems
↳ IA / Addiction / Strategy
Experience-led Design Strategy
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2017
In Design Management Academy Conference
Develops experience as a central driver in design strategy
↳ Strategy / UX
Conceiving and Applying Relationship Models for Design Strategy
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2017
In ICORD Conference
Introduces relationship models as tools for structuring and resolving complex design challenges
↳ Strategy / Systems
The Firma Model: A Meta-Framework for Design Research, Strategy and Critique
Hobbs, J. & Fenn, T | 2015
In Cumulus Conference, Milan
Establishes a meta-framework for addressing complex societal problems through design
↳ Strategy / Systems / Design Research
Wicked Ethics in Design
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2015
In DEFSA Conference
Examines ethical considerations as embedded conditions within design practice
↳ Ethics / Design
The Firma Model: A Tool for Resolving Complex Societal Problems
Hobbs, J. & Fenn, T | 2015
In DEFSA Conference
Applies the Firma Model to real-world systemic challenges
↳ Strategy / Systems
The User Experience Landscape of South Africa
Pretorius, M., Hobbs, J., & Fenn, T | 2015
In SAICSIT Conference Proceedings
Maps the UX field in South Africa across practice and maturity
↳ UX / Industry
Navigating Indeterminacy Through the Application of User Journeys
Hobbs, J. & Fenn, T | 2013
In Design Development Research Conference
Uses journey design to structure complex and uncertain problem spaces
↳ UX / Systems
Applying User Journey Design to Resolve Complex Design Problems
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2013
In GIDEC Conference
Demonstrates journey design as a tool for resolving systemic design challenges
↳ UX / Strategy
Preparing Undergraduate Design Students for Complexity: A Case Study of the Johannesburg Art Gallery Project
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2013
In GIDEC Conference
Applies real-world projects to teaching complexity in design education
↳ Education / Design Thinking
The Information Architecture of Transdisciplinary Design Practice: Rethinking Nathan Shedroff’s Continuum of Understanding
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2012
In Design Development Research Conference
Extends IA into transdisciplinary design and conceptual modelling
↳ IA / Design Research
A Role for Information Architecture in Design Education: Developing Innovation Through Structured Thinking
Hobbs, J. & Fenn, T | 2011
In DEFSA Conference
Explores structured thinking as a basis for innovation in design education
↳ IA / Education
A Role for Information Architecture in Design Education: Conceptualising Indeterminate Problems in Design Thinking
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2011
In DEFSA Conference
Positions IA as a tool for engaging with indeterminate design problems
↳ IA / Education
RESEARCH REPORTS
These applied and independent research projects ground and inform the broader theoretical work, often operating as early sites of enquiry into the conditions later formalised within Information Architecture Design.
The User Experience Landscape of South Africa
Hobbs, J., Pretorius, M., & Fenn, T | 2015
Industry research report (South Africa)
Maps the UX field in South Africa across practice, maturity, and institutional development, providing one of the earliest structured accounts of the discipline locally.
↳ UX / Industry / Field Development
Read on ResearchGate
Urban Renewal Initiatives in Johannesburg: Opportunities and Networks for the Johannesburg Art Gallery
Fenn, T. & Hobbs, J | 2012
Independent research project, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Examines the Johannesburg Art Gallery within the broader context of urban renewal, identifying opportunities, networks, and strategic positioning within the city.
↳ Urban Systems / Culture / Strategy
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Design Research and Service Strategy Recommendations for the Johannesburg Art Gallery
Hobbs, J | 2012
Independent research project, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Develops design research and service strategy recommendations to reposition the Johannesburg Art Gallery as an active cultural and civic institution.
↳ Service Design / Culture / Strategy
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Communal Computing and Shared Spaces of Usage: A Study of Internet Cafés in Developing Contexts
Hobbs, J. & Bristow, T | 2006
Independent research project, Johannesburg
Investigates internet cafés as shared computational environments, examining patterns of use, access, and social behaviour in developing urban contexts.
↳ Social Systems / Access / Computing Culture
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