Information Architecture and Internet Lecture 12.

Information Architecture and Internet

Lecture 12

Summary of Previous Lecture The Internet

HistoryResource that can be sharedApplications of InternetClient/Server Architecture Internet Service ProvidersHTMLWeb Browsers

Summary of Previous Lecture Searching the Web

Tips and TechniquesSearch ProcessDifferent Web search toolsOutlook Express

Today’s Lecture Intranet Webpage and Website Web servers Static Website and Dynamic Websites Purpose of Information Architecture and basic

problem. Common Mistakes

Information Architecture Defined Information Architect

Today's Lecture Main Concepts of Information Architecture

Structuring, organizing and LabelingFinding and ManagingArt and science

Library and WWWDifference between books and websitesDifference between libraries and websites

Different roles of Information Architect IA Job and Role

Today’s Lecture Why IA matters? Example design structure of a University

website. Structural schemes for website design. Navigation system in a website

Intranet A private network of any company. Resources are shared within the

organization. Allows small group of people to access

specific information.E.g. Journals and Articles Access on

COMSATS Intranet, Not permitted outside.

COMSATS LAB Intranet – Students are using network COMSATS LAB Intranet – Students are using network ResourcesResources

Webpage and Website A web page is one single page of

information, while a website is made up of a number of different web pages connected by links.

Website is a set of related web pages containing content (media) such as text, images, video, audio, etc.

Web servers A web server is a computer which host

websites. Hosted website can be accessible via

network such as the Internet or Intranet through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator.

How Does the Web Work?

Your computer

Folder that your site is saved in

Server

Computersaround theworld

Static Website Visitors are not able to control information

they receive using static web site. Simple Hyper Text Markup Language

(HTML) based website is a static website. Contents of the website do not change by

itself.

Dynamic Websites A dynamic website is one that changes or

customizes itself frequently and automatically, based on certain criteria.

A backend database is mostly associated with dynamic websites.

Contents of the website are changed on the change in database.

Users are able to customize their search preferences.

Static Vs Dynamic Websites

Defining the purpose

If a website is difficult to use; most people leave it

If an Intranet site is difficult to use; most companies will suffer productivity issues

Low intranet usability costs the world economy up to or more than $100 billion/year in lost employee productivity.

Jakob Nielsen, www.useit.com

Example of Poorly Designed Website

Example of Worst Web Page With Bundle of Information

INFORMATION EXPLOSION

The Problem Organizations carry huge volume of day to

day business data.Mostly stored in Database Systems.

Questions arises how to put data on organization web.Web Design Information PresentationEase of use

Common Mistakes Lot of time spent on efficient information storage

and retrieval, small time to present it. Not using Graphical User Interfacing (GUI)

properly. Unknown concepts related Human Computer

Interaction (HCI). Technical people considered as Business

Development Managers. Let them present information whatever they want.

Result Information search

becomes cumbersome.

Solution: understand Information Architecture for WWW.Solution: understand Information Architecture for WWW.

A big Chaos Imagine a book

store with organization scheme. Thousands of books

are simply tossed into huge pile.

Gould's Book Arcade, Australia.

Nearly Impossible to find a book by TopicNearly Impossible to find a book by Topic

What is Information Architecture? The art and science of structuring and

classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information.

When users look for answers (on your website) and find them in the right place you have better… Sales (e-commerce) service (marketing) and productivity (good Intranet usage).

Information Architect (IA) The individual who organizes the patterns

inherent in data, making the complex clear.

A person who creates the structure or map of information which allows others to find their personal paths to knowledge.

Woman, R.S. and Bradford, P. (eds). (1996). Information Architects. Zurich, Switzerland: Graphis Press.

Information architecture is not new

Managing and presenting data remained a KEY issue in history. For example consider the case of Library. The Library of Alexandria, in Egypt, was the

largest and most significant great library of the ancient world (330 B.C.).

It housed 120 scroll

bibliography.

Main concepts of IA

Structuring, organizing and Labeling Finding and Managing Art and Science

Structuring, Organizing and Labeling SOL = It’s what IA is Defining granularity* and

deciding how to relate them to one another

Grouping into meaningful categories

Labeling means what to call those categories

How then to decide on the navigation from those choices

Granularity refers to relative size or chunks of information;

varying levels could be journal issue, article, paragraph or sentence

Finding and Managing “Findability is a critical success factor for

overall usability.” Users have the option of:

…Searching …Browsing …Asking

…and if they can’t find “it” then the site fails.

Finding and Managing

While designing a website, Information Architect must balance the needs of the user and the goals of the business (Return on Investment).

But this is hard to do

Finding and Managing Dewey Decimal System

A proprietary system of library classification developed by Melvil Dewey in 1876.

Greatly modified and expanded in the course of the twenty-two major revisions, the most recent in 2004.

Attempts to divide knowledge in classes and sub-classes.

Books are placed on shelf in numerical order.

Art and Science IA must rely on experience, intuition

and creativity. You must be willing to take risks and

trust your imagination. It is often difficult to understand.

Library and World Wide Web In the similar fashion, we organize library

books, information in web sites can also be organized.

Information Architecture of a Library is essential to study information architecture of web sites.

Library, Books and WWW

Difference between books and websites.

Difference between libraries and Websites

Browsing in a Library and Internet for a Book

Both provides ordered book browsing faciltiyBoth provides ordered book browsing faciltiy

Different Roles of Information Architect Explaining different jobs of IA in his/her

own wordings, IA as Internet Librarian

“I'm an information architect. I organize huge amounts of information on big web sites and intranets so that people can actually find what they're looking for. Think of me as an Internet librarian."

IA as online merchandiser"I am an information architect. I help my

company by making it easy for customers to find our products on our web site. I'm a kind of online merchandiser. I apply one-to-one marketing concepts on the Internet."

Different Roles of Information Architect

IA as Information load organizer."I am an information architect. I'm the one

who takes on that information overload problem that everyone's been complaining about lately."

Different Roles of Information Architect

Information Architect Job IA focuses on the structure or organization of a

web site. How the different pages of the site relate to one

another.

It involves such activities as Content analysis and planning Organization of the pages Providing cues to help users orient themselves Labeling, search techniques, and navigation design

Information Architect Job IA Jobs is not related to

Graphic DesignerScientistSoftware Developers

In typical web design project, the IA is found between the administrative team and the development team

An important role for the IA is as boundary spanner between these groups

Producers, project managers, editorial staff

Graphic designers, programmers, database designers

IA

Information Architect Role

Why Information Architecture Matters? Several reasons exists, including

Return on InvestmentCost of finding informationValue of educationCost of constructionCost of maintenanceCost of trainingThe value of the brand

Return on Investment How much an organization invested on

developing the web site and what is the possible benefit out of it.

Consider a case in which an organization spent a lot of money on developing, hosting and maintaining a web site and user feels not comfortable with it.

Cost of Finding Information What does it cost if every employee in any

company spends an extra five minutes per day struggling to find answers on the intranet?

What will be the cost of frustrating the customers with a poorly organized web site?

How many bad decisions are made every day in your organization because employees didn't find the information they needed?

How many customers do you lose because they couldn't find the product they want on your web site?

Value of Education Value of educating the users about new

products and services on your website is really beneficial.

This is only possible through interactive web design.

Cost of construction Cost of designing and building a website.

How much it will cost when after few months later, you decide to change the website because it does not support search and does not scale.

Cost of maintenance People who update and manage website

must know where to put new content and when to remove outdated contents on the company’s website.

Cost of training How much it cost to train the employees to

use the website.For example a call center website.

How much a company can save if it is not complicated to use.

The value of the brand No matter how beautiful your web site, if

customers can't find what they need, your brand loses value in their eyes.

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A3.1.3.1: New curriculum

Example design of a university website

Structural schemes for design Many types of structure scheme to design a

website can be used, this includes Hierarchical (flat and broad) Hierarchical (narrow and deep) A wheel Sequential (an entry way into and an exit from a core) An organic hypertext structure Frames Sub-sites Database model

Hierarchical (flat and broad)

Hierarchical (narrow and deep)

The Wheel

Sequential

Hyperlinked structure

Frames

Home

Home

Sub site

Sub sites

Database Model

Home

DB DB DB

Types of Navigation system in a Website Hierarchical

The navigation follows the tree structure This is a rigid system without linking across branches Contextual Navigation

Global navigation Can reach any page from any other page This has limits depending on the size of the site

Local navigation Can reach any page from any other page in the sub

site Site map

Contextual Navigation

Page Title

Page content. Page content. Page content. Page content. Page content. Page content.















Local Navigation

Global NavigationLearn About Our Organization

Announcements and Initiatives

Events and Conferences

Publications and E-Mail Lists

About [name]

Organization and Governance

Policies

Contact Us

FAQs

About the [name] Web Site

See Also

Summer Program

ABC Initiative

[name]: http://www.[name].com Questions or comments?

[sponsor credits and logos] Please contact us

name [graphic logo]

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Summary In today’s lecture

We overviewed the essential concepts related the information architecture.

We defined Intranet Web page and web site

We understood how to structure the web site and how to organize the contents of a web site.

This is a growing and increasingly important subject today.

Information Architecture and Internet Lecture 12.

Documents

website slide

information architect

website design

world slide

role slide

university website

hosted website

organization web