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FAPersian
May 14, 2026

Orbital information architecture

Treating a site map like a planetary system: a center of mass, well-behaved orbits, and gravitational hierarchy. A working method we use at GDO.

By Mehdi Gerami · 1 min read

Most site maps look like trees. Most products do not feel like trees. The visitor's experience is closer to a planetary system: there is a center of mass — the product's central proposition — and everything else orbits it at a distance proportional to its importance.

Why this matters

Tree IA optimizes for completeness. Orbital IA optimizes for hierarchy. When you ask a visitor what your site is about, they should be able to point at the sun.

How we do it

  1. Write a one-sentence center of mass.
  2. List every page and rank by orbital distance: 1 (always visible), 2 (one click), 3+ (deep).
  3. Re-write the nav until the orbits cluster cleanly.