Designing for change
Of all the four Cs, perhaps the most important one is change. When we think about change, a question often arises about how it will affect our design. Will it require a complete rethinking, like when cameras went from film to digital? Will it mean making room in our current design for something new, like adding new products or new categories to an existing online store? What effect will change have on your taxonomy and your design? All these considerations are important to ensure that your well-designed IA remains that way long after you have created it.
Supermarkets are great at change. New products are added, while others are removed, and never are there disruptions to the overall experience or the layout of the store. Categories and aisles have been so well-placed and coordinated that there is really no need for change, despite products coming and going on a regular basis. Now, that's good IA.
We see this online as well with sites such as Amazon, Facebook, Pinterest...