War-game a docs IA rewrite before task paths, redirect budgets, and rollback steps harden into what every page will quote.
IA rewrites fail when the tree invents jobs the search logs never showed, when redirects dual-count the same deep link as migrated and as broken, when money-adjacent flows still lack a named accuracy owner, and when support cannot show who owns the decision after a partial cutover misfire. A neat sitemap PDF is not evidence.
Freeze the tree
One sentence for why the rewrite exists, which surfaces and audiences it covers, who owns task paths, logging, and rollback, and the abort trigger if task completion or link health lag past a named threshold. Attach the draft tree, sample search queries, redirect map, and the measured path from old URL to restored task. If product, eng, and support disagree on which jobs are truly covered, stop and reconcile first.
Name the decision you will make if the war game finds nothing new, and the delay criteria if any money path still lacks a named rollback owner or a verified canary section.
Seats that matter
- Docs. Where task paths invent coverage or hide shared rules across product lines.
- Support. Where macros still leave the old tree and become standing exceptions.
- Engineering. Which example breaks first when the new tree misplaces a shipping API.
- Product. How status language trails the customer-visible completion rate.
- Skeptic. The claim that looks strongest and is least evidenced by prior IA drills.
Attach the same source pack to every seat. Secret allowlists for favorite pages only create fake calm.
Require a canary section with a measured find-and-finish pass before any public tree joins the rewrite. If the canary still depends on a verbal redirect list, keep the change in hold.
Loop the review
Feed Pingpong the draft tree, canary notes, and open risk list. Early passes steelman the design. Later passes attack from docs, support, eng, product, and skeptic seats. End with a pass that turns surviving objections into clearer owners, a timed canary, or a hold. Delete invented "we already navigate cleanly" claims and dual-counted success rates.
Force a month-after narrative: what happens if a partner integration guide is buried, if a billing docs gallery starts failing deep links, or if an operator widens a redirect under launch pressure. If those stories are stronger than your mitigation plan, fix the package before you ship the tree.
Pair with the docs lead seat, a docs overhaul review, an API changelog format stress test, and the war-game decisions hub.