INFM 700: Session 2 Principles of Information Architecture Paul Jacobs The iSchool University of Maryland Wednesday, February 1, 2012 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United St See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ for details
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INFM 700: Session 2
Principles of Information Architecture
Paul JacobsThe iSchoolUniversity of Maryland
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United StatesSee http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ for details
Today’s Topics Recap – Info. Architecture, Some Key Concepts
User information needs What do users want? How do users behave? Role of users in information architecture
Information architecture components (“tools of the trade”)
Organization systems (start) Structuring the information space Static and dynamic components How to support different user needs
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Review and Loose Ends Some Key Concepts of Information Architecture
The Process
Explanation of Some Ideas from the Readings
iSchool
The Process Understand user and system requirements
Design (and build) organization, navigation, and metadata systems
Evaluate the user experience
Figure out what’s needed
Design itBuild it
Figure out if it works
(compare with physical architects)
iSchool
Explanation of Important Themes
Structured vs. Unstructured (Content)
Content vs. Metadata
Big IA vs. Little IA (Not “One Size Fits All”)
Top-down vs. Bottom-up (Analysis, Methods)
User-driven vs. System-driven (Approaches)
iSchool
User Needs: Overview Characterizing User Behavior
Responding to User Needs
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
The IA Circles (“Ecology”)
from M&R, p. 25
Context
Content UsersUsers’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Another View
Content
Users
Systems
Context
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
The “Black Box” User asks question
“Black magic” (search, navigate, browse)
User gets answer
Fin
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
from M&R, p. 31
iSchool
Some Complications User need not fully specified
User doesn’t know what he/she wants Need is broadly defined (e.g., “surf”, “learn”) Users express themselves badly (e.g. word choice,
clicking in wrong place) Interaction with organizational needs
System performance imperfect Search engines fail Problems with labels, navigation Absence of information
Process inherently structured or iterative Need or desire changes Refinement (e.g. “drill down” in search, navigation) Complex specification of need
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Common Information Needs
The right thing
A few good things
Need it again
Everything
from M&R, p. 35
exploratory seeking
known-item seeking
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Precision vs. Recall
The right thing
A few good things
Everything = Recall-oriented Searching
= Precision-oriented Searching
Exploratory seekingKnown-item seeking
Orthogonal concepts:
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Additional Dimensions ( Not necessarily just computers! )
Retrospective vs. prospective
Focused vs. unfocused vs. serendipitous
Finding information vs. finding [people, objects , … ]
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
User, Task, Context Characteristics of the User
Expert vs. layman Current state of knowledge …
Characteristics of the Task Duration and scope of need Complexity of the task …
Additional context Requirement for specific sources Reference to external events …
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
“Relevance” The property of how “good” the information is
Harder to pin down than you think! Complex function of user, task, and context
Types of relevance: Topical relevance: is it about the right thing? Task-based relevance: does it help in what I’m doing? Utility: is it actually useful? Can I act on it?
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Q0
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
A sketch of a searcher… “moving through many actions towards a general goal of satisfactory completion of research related to an information need.”
Picking Berries
Marcia J. Bates. (1991) The Berry-Picking Search: User Interface Design. In M. Dillon, editor, Interfaces for Information Retrieval and Online Systems: The State of the Art. New Jersey: Greenwood Press.
Organization of Information Probably as old as writing itself
Many different approaches: Library and Information Science: thesauri, indexing, etc. Computer Science: knowledge representations Cognitive Science: how do humans grasp concepts? Philosophy: epistemology (“the nature of knowledge”) …
Hmmm… where did I put that tablet?
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Analogy: Printed Book Organization System:
Chapters Sections Paragraphs
Navigation System: Table of contents Index Page numbers Cross-references …
Established over 500 years… Not all present at the dawn of printing
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Hierarchical Organization Systems of organization are mostly hierarchical
Represents a specific mode of thinking: reductionistic, decompositional, general-to-specific
Why? “Natural order” Convention and familiarity Physical limitations Cognitive limitations
Hierarchies are everywhere: Human organizations Computer file systems Physical file systems Biological organisms
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Depth vs. Breadth“shallow but wide”
“narrow but deep”
What are the tradeoffs?
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Non-Hierarchical Systems Hypertext
Direct links between different information segments Pre-dates the Web
Social tagging “Wisdom of the mob” Shows what everyone else likes Web 2.0 (hype?)
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
“Exact” Systems Alphabetical
Chronological
Geographical
Organizational (for Intranets)
Any inherent attribute of entities
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
“Inexact” Systems Topic
Task
User
Metaphors
Hybrid
Organizational (in general)
ProcessUsers’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Hypertext
Diana
Philip
Elizabeth
Charles
Balmoral
Tony
ElizabethUsers’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Social Taggingdel.icio.us
flickr
YouTube del.icio.us
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Other Organizational Tools Relational databases/tables
Wizards
Hybrids
. . .
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Ideas in Tension Does a hierarchical organization system defeat
the entire point of hypertext?
Does a hierarchical organization system decrease emphasis on users?
Does social tagging eliminate the need for organization systems?
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Organization and Behavior Bookmarks
Arrangement of tabs and windows
Social tagging
Personal homepage
Blogs
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
So what do we do?
Type of task/content Type of organization system
User generated content (e.g. blogs) Structured database/formOverall site content/task Hierarchy (e.g. “buy a book”, “contact us”) Chapter/sectionLocal site content/task User Tags (e.g. “cars for sale”, “product specs”)Local site content/task Hypertext (e.g., “today’s news”) Calendars/mapsFrequently consulted content Task/User/OrganizationRelated/required content
Users’ Needs
Architecture Components
OrganizationSystems
iSchool
Blueprints Blueprints are diagrams outlining the organization
system of an information space
Can provide overview at different levels Conceptual level Physical level (i.e., how pages are actually linked)
Keep it simple and uncluttered! Choose the appropriate level of detail