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Information Architecture: Core Concepts and Best Practices
The document outlines the core concepts and best practices of information architecture (IA) as it relates to user experience on websites and intranets. It emphasizes the importance of organization, labeling, search, and navigation systems, and discusses how IA supports usability and findability for users. Additionally, it highlights the strategic aspect of understanding user needs and objectives to effectively design web content and navigation structures.
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Information Architecture: Core Concepts and Best Practices
- 1. Information Architecture: Core Conceptsand Best Practices Francis Zablocki, Strategist mStoner
- 2. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE mStoner CORE CONCEPTS USER EXPERIENCE BESTPRACTICES 23 February 2016 Fran Zablocki
- 3. m Fran Zablocki Strategist atmStoner @Zablocki ABOUT ME
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- 5. DEFINITION ELEMENTS IA PRACTICE ONCAMPUS CONTEXT USER EXPERIENCE DISCIPLINES
- 6. m CONTEXT The structured designof shared information environments. Source: IA for the WWW, Morville & Rosenfeld, 2006 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IS:
- 7. m CONTEXT The combination oforganization, labeling, search, and navigation systems within web sites and intranets. Source: IA for the WWW, Morville & Rosenfeld, 2006 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IS:
- 8. m CONTEXT The art andscience of shaping information products and experiences to support usability and findability. Source: IA for the WWW, Morville & Rosenfeld, 2006 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IS:
- 9. “The work wedo involves high levels of abstraction, ambiguity, and occasionally absurdity, and to some degree we’re all still making it up as we go along.” — Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2006
- 10. m How do wemake sense of all of this?CONTEXT
- 11. m Planned Structure Form &Function Designated Pathways But the analogy only gets so far... INFORMATION VS. PHYSICAL ARCHITECTURE CONTEXT
- 12. Most buildings aren’tdesigned to be entered via: • The window • The ceiling • The plumbing But most websites have to be. http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4019/4684666416_1750a85773.jpg
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- 14. m The Elements ofUser Experience Jesse James Garrett A Visual Model to Make Sense of a Rapidly Evolving Field Because IA is a piece of a much bigger puzzle, we need to understand how all the pieces fit together. USER EXPERIENCE OUR MODEL
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- 19. m What do yourvisitors need to do? Research Compare Apply Donate Contact USER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY: USER NEEDS
- 20. m What do yourvisitors need to know? Why is your school is a good fit for me? Who teaches and learns at your school? How can I apply? When should I apply? What’s the latest news? Where are you located? USER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY: USER NEEDS
- 21. m What purpose doesthis site serve? To sell your institution to prospective students. To encourage alumni engagement. To provide employees with resources. USER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY: SITE OBJECTIVES
- 22. m What business objectivedoes the site meet? Increase applications. Increase donations. Decrease time spent on information requests. STRATEGY: SITE OBJECTIVES USER EXPERIENCE
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- 28. m What features willthe site need to include? Search Social Media Video Forms Logins USER EXPERIENCE SCOPE: FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS
- 29. m What content willthe site need to include? Notifications Events News Testimonials Reference SCOPE: CONTENT SPECIFICATIONS USER EXPERIENCE
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- 34. m Information architecture is thestructure of content. It is the structure, order, and hierarchy of content labels and categories. STRUCTURE: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE Source: http://www.jjg.net/elements/pdf/elements.pdf USER EXPERIENCE
- 35. m Interaction design isthe structure of experience. It’s the hover state, slide out effect and behavior of that structure. STRUCTURE: INTERACTION DESIGN Source: http://www.jjg.net/elements/pdf/elements.pdf USER EXPERIENCE
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- 40. m Decisions: What font willwe use for the navigation? How much space (kerning) between the navigation items? How will different navigation elements be placed in relation to one another (alignment)? SKELETON: INFORMATION DESIGN USER EXPERIENCE
- 41. m Decisions: Carets or Bulletsor Arrows to represent child links? Bold or Underline to represent what page people are on? SKELETON: NAVIGATION DESIGN USER EXPERIENCE
- 42. m Decisions: Does the navigationexpand on hover or click? Does the navigation slide out sideways, or down? How many levels are shown at once? SKELETON: INTERFACE DESIGN USER EXPERIENCE
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- 47. m Every layer belowcontributes to visual design. Each layer is invisible to the visitor - they just see ‘the design’. Even as site creators, we don’t typically think of each of these components in isolation. SURFACE: VISUAL DESIGN USER EXPERIENCE
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- 51. ELEMENTS IA PRACTIVE ONCAMPUS DEFINITION SCHEMES & STRUCTURES TAXONOMY & VOCABULARY
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- 56. m Topical Tells the visitorwhat the most important categories of information are. AMBIGUOUS ORGANIZATIONAL SCHEMES SCHEMES & STRUCTURES
- 58. m Audience Asks the user‘Who are you?’, ‘How do you identify yourself?’ AMBIGUOUS ORGANIZATIONAL SCHEMES SCHEMES & STRUCTURES
- 60. m Task Designed to allowsomeone to accomplish something. Uses action verbs in labels. AMBIGUOUS ORGANIZATIONAL SCHEMES SCHEMES & STRUCTURES
- 62. m Global Local Hybrid (MegaMenu) DEPTH OFSTRUCTURE SCHEMES & STRUCTURES
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- 66. m Contextual Supplementary Convenience Site Map BREADTH OFSTRUCTURE SCHEMES & STRUCTURES
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- 71. ELEMENTS IA PRACTICE ONCAMPUS DEFINITION SCHEMES & STRUCTURES TAXONOMY & VOCABULARY
- 72. m Know Your Audience BeEfficient Anticipate what the user will expect to see TAXONOMY TIPS TAXONOMY & VOCABULARY
- 73. The label says research- where does it lead?
- 75. m Uniform method ofdescribing things Provides quality and consistency Consistency means predictability ‘About’ or ‘About Us’? ‘Admission’ or ‘Admissions’ CONTROLLED VOCABULARY TAXONOMY & VOCABULARY
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- 78. STAFFING Ideal: Dedicated Information Architecton staff Reality: Key point person for IA Goal: All staff associated with the web need to be versed WHO SHOULD DO IT?
- 79. STAFFING You are ALLinformation architects! WHO SHOULD DO IT?
- 80. Demand that IAbe taken seriously Use the tools at your disposal Read, watch, listen, learn - there is an entire IA community out there BE A CHAMPION EVANGELISM
- 81. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Establish IA asa real thing, just like design, development, and content Use case studies from industry Insert IA into your training regimen Build up expertise among staff who work in the UX family (hint: that’s everybody) IA AT YOUR SCHOOL
- 82. Information Architecture forthe World Wide Web (Book): http://amzn.to/3RqL7y Elements of User Experience (Book) http://amzn.to/18Q4fA4 Jesse James Garrett http://www.jjg.net Karen McGrane http://karenmcgrane.com RESOURCES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- 83. Adaptive Path adaptivepath.com/events-training SmashingMagazine smashingmagazine.com A List Apart’s UX section alistapart.com/topics/user- experience mStoner Blog mstoner.com/team/fran-zablocki/ RESOURCES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- 84. THANK YOU! QUESTIONS? HELP US HELPYOU WITH IA @MSTONERINC | 773.305.0537 CASSI.GREENLEE@MSTONER.COM mStoner
- 85. Strategy. Research. Branding. UserExperience. Content Strategy. Digital and Print Design. User Testing. Technical Execution. www.mstoner.com 773.305.0537 cassi.greenlee@mstoner.com @mStonerInc