Information Architecture and the Distributed User Experience

// World Wide Wonder Museums on the web // Information Architecture and the distributed online experience June 10 th 2009 // Jason Ryan Head of User Experience, iCrossing UK

1. INTRODUCTION Working in digital for 14 years Joined Cogapp in 1998 - involved in many projects with Museums & Galleries IA and consultancy work for cultural, government and commercial clients Left Cogapp in 2007 to join iCrossing Focus on 4 main areas Introduction: How online is changing – and how this is affecting IA Introducing IA: What is it? Practical: Developing an effective IA? Consider: IA beyond the site // About me // About this presentation

What does this mean for IA? 1. INTRODUCTION Online has changed, and is changing… We started by replicating existing models (internal structures, buildings, collections, marketing, advertising) Somewhere along the way we realised it was about doing things differently… Explosion of content creation and distribution tools.. From passive consumers to active participants … Increasingly creating interfaces and context for our content The web IS social , content is democratic – everyone is having to adapt

1. INTRODUCTION Digg: A network of experiences

2. INTRODUCING IA What is Information Architecture? Home Galleries Links Contact Information Photography Art Other The effective organisation, labelling and layout of information that allows users to achieve their goals

2. INTRODUCING IA What about the quality of the experience? (Introducing User Experience) useful valuable credible usable desirable findable accessible ‘ UX is an approach to problem-solving that is media agnostic, interdisciplinary, holistic, and is driven by an understanding of human behaviour, cognition, capacities, needs, desires, and context’ ‘ It doesn’t matter how perfect the articulation of the interaction, or how elegantly the experience is structured; if it does not address a human need or desire, it is destined to fail’ ‘ Ultimately, our efforts must deliver value’

divergent convergent 2. INTRODUCING IA IA is part of a (user centred) design process personas and scenarios information architecture interaction design design iterations documentation contextual research stakeholder research competitor evaluation concept development user research

Many organisations see their website as the sum total of their online existence – But every organisation exists in a broader network; through networks of links and conversations – The question is to what degree we choose to be part of those networks ? through listening and engagement - And to what extent we can develop our IA to embrace and optimise the flow of information across the social web ? 2. INTRODUCING IA But what about the rest of the web? Welcome to the network map ...

2. INTRODUCING IA Information Architecture Is the term sufficient to describe what we are trying to achieve? We need to design architectures that deliver experiences and support human activities - communication and participation - Experience Architecture ? As used by some agencies - Network Architecture ? A network of experiences - Social Architecture ? The web is social - Participation Architecture? As used by Tim O’Reilly re. Web 2.0 - Engagement Architecture? - Communication Architecture ?

2. INTRODUCING IA The challenges - We are moving from a channel to a network view of the web - We need to consider centralised and de-centralised web strategies - Distributed access to content needs to inform the IA/UX strategy - What does success look like - measure engagement as well as page views

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA IA is not about a set of rules and methodologies IA is about ways of working - a toolbox of principles , guidelines and techniques Business Users Content IA

3. DEVELOPING IA A program for developing an effective IA Objectives: be clear about what you want to achieve (and how you will measure it) User Needs: Understand what your (potential) audience / collaborators are doing, and want to do Content: What content meets both your objectives and user needs? Context: Embrace the rest of the web (understand trends, what people are doing online and where they are doing it) Design, test, iterate Continually measure and optimise IA is dynamic, it is a process, it can always be improved

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Set objectives Objectives Stakeholder interviews – involve as many as possible External consultants are well placed to do this The process is important – a good process ensures representation and buy-in The output - a clear set of strategic objectives Think in terms of cultural, political and economic objectives Case Study: The British Museum 24 stakeholders interviewed (including Trustees, Deputy Director, Curators, Exhibitions, Education, Marketing, IT, Content creators etc.) Stakeholders asked to identify opportunities, challenges, ideas, frustrations The output was consensus on 10 strategic objectives

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Identify user needs User needs Quantitative site analysis – user journeys and popular pages with web analytics User research: interviews and survey – quantitative and qualitative research One output is a set of user goal statements Another output is a set of task-based personas that are used to inform design process Case Study: The British Museum Over 50 user interviews Over 300 replies to survey Around 80 user goals identified 5 key personas (general public, researcher, teacher, journalist, venue booker)

Strategy workshop Decide which user goals to support Map identified user goals against strategic objectives Evaluate strategic objectives against user research: refine if necessary Case Study: The British Museum Refined set of objectives to 3 key objectives – one overarching principle Reduced set of user goal statements to take into design phase 3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Strategy

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Content Content review / gap analysis Review existing content against the strategic objectives and user goals Identify useful, redundant and missing content The key output is a content strategy

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Top-down Successful design comes from two approaches… Top-down IA Top-down is about primary navigation and labelling Conceptual models are important Research navigation systems first – don’t reinvent the wheel ! Build a prototype navigation system and test Case Study: The British Museum Development of a conceptual model that makes sense to everyone Card-sorting exercises to test the conceptual model Information hierarchy (primary, secondary etc. navigation) was the output

3. DEVELOPING IA Why do we need a conceptual model ?

3. DEVELOPING IA Case Study: British Museum conceptual model BUILDING Visiting History Galleries Shops Cafes Tickets THEMES World cultures Themes Subjects COMMUNITY Friends of BM Partnerships Outreach Online networks PEOPLE Friends of BM Curators Scientists Archaeologists ---- Historical figures Famous people OBJECTS Collections Highlights ACTIVITIES Exhibitions Programmes Events OUTPUTS Publications TV Programmes Learning resources Picture Library Research Conferences Workshops

The Building The Collection People Exhibitions Events Speed of change 3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Conceptual model

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Top-down Top-down IA Case Study: The British Museum Card-sorting was useful for some areas of the IA, and supported the conceptual model – but not the collection... how can you find the optimal organisation of the whole of human history and endeavor through card-sorting exercises? Key insight from the research… 3 modes of enquiry I am looking for something specific I am interested in this topic/subject Inspire me! The information hierarchy for the site was developed from the user research, through both regular testing and consultation with Museum staff

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Bottom-up Bottom-up IA Case Study: The British Museum Definition of content types and relationships between them Definition of taxonomy (authority tags and lists) Top-down and bottom-up IA brought together in wireframes Iterative testing of wireframes Iterative testing continued into the UI design stages Bottom-up is about content types, relationships and contextual navigation Taxonomies and user journeys are vital

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Bottom-up

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Wireframes

3. DEVELOPING IA Developing an effective IA: Research & testing Continually test and optimise throughout the design process

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE From Channels to Networks The people formerly known as ‘the audience’ now exist in connected networks of experiences and information Those organisations that are aware , active , useful and ultimately trusted in these networks will succeed Search and social media help define networks as they enable the navigation and conversation that is fundamental to our online journeys

Search as Navigation 4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Search as Navigation UK only All searches

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Search as Navigation Home page Search optimised landing pages Widgets on 3 rd party sites Yoursite.org.uk Home

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Search as Navigation Industry Language Oral care Oral health Locate dental professional Good oral hygiene Oral hygiene Good Oral hygiene Whitening Battery-powered toothbrush Kid’s toothbrush Professional whitening system 148 5,232 10 190 5,155 190 5,075 145 592 670 17,407 Search Volume per month Consumer Language Dental care Dental health Find a dentist Dental hygiene Dental hygiene Personal hygiene Tooth whitening Electric toothbrush Child toothbrush Tooth whitening system 188,818 74,588 29,525 24,558 24,558 17,670 146,212 16,522 835 6,205 529,491 Search Volume per month

TWO : ENGAGE 4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Network Architecture 3 principles for success in networks / listen / be useful / be live / Map networks and monitor conversations to understand what people are saying and doing / Attention is earned in networks not bought / Use this understanding to provide useful content for people to find and share / Free up information so it can travel online / Set engagement targets / Measure / Respond through active management / Use social media spaces that are immediate and responsive, i.e. Twitter / Develop relationships with influencers and advocates

Media platforms Forums Applications Streams / feeds RSS Widget 4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Network Architecture Yoursite.org.uk

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Network Architecture Network Architecture is a framework for effectively planning tactical implementation of objective-led activities or campaigns It is based on mapping content types to : locations, either onsite or in networks; potential engagement activities; roles and responsibilities around maintaining/building engagement around the content; and success criteria/metrics Content types Site copy Images Video Audio Docs Links Objects Events People Articles Format(s) Location(s) CMS CMS YouTube iTunes CMS CMS CMS CMS CMS CMS Flickr Vimeo Vimeo Slideshare Delicious Forums Upcoming LinkedIn Blogs Picasa Facebook Houndbite Scribd Magnolia Flickr Twitter Facebook News Facebook Flickr AudioBoo Papers Google OAI Feeds Blogs upublica API Twitter Shareable         Comments         Who KPIs Metrics

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Network Architecture: 3 rd party content

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Network Architecture: Set your content free

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Case Study: Brooklyn Museum of Art

MEASURE & OPTIMISE 5. SUMMARY Summary IA is part of a research and design process It strives to balance organisational objectives and user needs There are no rules – one size does not fit all The web is changing and IA must adapt along with the rest of us IA techniques can be useful for designing our web presence as well as our web site We need to consider architectures that support human activities – such as communication and participation We need to consider how we can design and build architectures that support distributed content and engagement across the whole of the web

Jason Ryan Email : jason.ryan@icrossing.co.uk Twitter: www.twitter.com/jasonryan Thank you

4. IA BEYOND THE SITE Search as Navigation

Advocacy Actions Awareness Volume & Brand Control Involvement Interaction Influence Intimacy MEASURE & OPTIMISE 5. MEASURE AND OPTIMISE Measurement framework: Search, site & social

MEASURE & OPTIMISE 5. MEASURE AND OPTIMISE Measurement framework “ Do people know about us?” “ What are they doing when they get here?” “ What do they say?” “ Are they acting differently?” Involvement Visits Clicking on an advert How long they stay there “ Bounce Rates”; whether people stick around Interaction Rating something... Leaving a comment... Registering for something... Watching a video... Downloading something... Signing up … Initmacy Bookmarking us Following us Expressing opinions on blogs and forums Influence Content recommended / forwarded High profile bloggers posting about us Attitudes changing

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