Making IA Real: Planning an Information Architecture Strategy

Making IA RealPlanning an Information

Architecture Strategy

Chiara Fox

Internet Librarian 2001

November 6, 2001

What We’ll Cover

What Is Information Architecture?

Know What You Have

Get a Second Opinion

User Test, User Test, User Test

Bring It All Together

What is Information Architecture?

Information architecture is the art and science of structuring and organizing information systems to help people achieve their goals.

Content

BusinessContext

UsersIA

An Ecological Approach

portal

local subsites(HR, Engineering, R&D…)

Object XName:Product Category:Topic:Stale Date:Author:Security:

IA From Top to Bottom

Top-Down

portal

strategy

hierarchy

primary path

Bottom-Up

sub-site

objects

metadata

multiple paths

Components of IA

Organization

Navigation (including search)

Labeling

Organization

The grouping of like content together

Provides a way to browse the structure of the site

Exact Schemes Chronological Geographical Alphabetical

Ambiguous Schemes Subject Audience Task

Navigation

Global

Local

Contextual

Where am I?

Wh

at's

ne

arb

y?

What's related towhat's here?

Global Navigation

Lo

cal N

avi

ga

tion

Content is here,with contextual

navigationembedded or

separate.

Supplemental

Search

Labeling

The interface to the organization scheme - the names of the different categories

Appears in the words in the navigation systems

One of the most important aspects and one of the most difficult to do.

Needs to reflect the content and the user - must be written in the users’ language

Websites Need an IA Strategy

Users

Website

Websites grow organically

Need to plan before you build a new site or redesign a current site

Strategy begins with research

Know What You Have

Content Analysis and Audit

Content Map

Classification Scheme Analysis

Search and Server Log Analysis

BusinessContext

UsersIA

Content

Content Analysis & Audit

Take a representative sample of the content on your site

Look for patterns and relationships among the content What is similar What is different Possible attributes Identify ROT

You will need to do a complete content audit before implementation to document the site for migration

Content Audit Example

Content Map Example

Site 1

Site 2

Classification Scheme Analysis

Compile listing of all classifications used on the site Product names Industries

Look for similarities and differences

Can schemes be collapsed?

Do you need a new scheme?

Classification Scheme Analysis Example

Official NameMain Products

PageIndustry Solutions

PageCustomers, by

IndustryIndustry User

groups

GovernmentFederal Government

Federal Government

US Federal Government

Public Sector Public Sector Public Sector Public SectorGovernment Public SectorFederal User Network

Financial Services Financial Financial Services Financial Services Financial ServicesFinancial Services (UK)

High TechnologyHigh Technology/ Electronics High Tech

High Technology/ Electronics

DistributionWholesale Distribution

Wholesale Distribution

Wholesale Distribution

Search & Server Log Analysis

Take a sampling of the logs – a few hours or days depending upon site traffic

Search Logs Determine top 100 terms users are searching for What terms are yielding no results? How do these terms relate to your content?

Server Logs Determine most accessed pages Click-stream analysis - what path are users taking through

the site

Get a Second Opinion

Interview opinion leaders & stakeholders

Discuss the goals and direction for the site

Get buy in & support from top management

Content UsersIA

BusinessContext

Users complain that they can’t find things on the site.

Everyone has different ideas about what the site should do.

Hard to cross-sell products and services since they are so separate.

Takes too long for the pages to load, especially on a modem.

“Points of Pain” Exercise

Exercise to determine which problems with the website are related to information architecture

Good to do with stakeholders rather than executives

User Test, User Test, User Test

Exploratory user testing

10 representative users is usually enough

One-on-One testing, not focus groups

Ideally do it more than once Content

IA

BusinessContext

Users

Card Sorting & Affinity Diagrams

Card Sorting Great for understanding how users would like to see the

content organized Open sort vs. closed sort

Affinity Diagramming Way to analyze what the users told you in the card sorting

Affinity Diagram Example

Task Analysis & Mental Model

Task Analysis More traditional usability study Have the user try to do something on the site Can use prototypes to test design

Paper prototypes are great so users don’t get hung up on design

Users’ Mental Model Determine what discrete tasks the user is trying to

accomplish by coming to your site Match the content of your site to the mental model

Mental Model Example

Find Out High-LevelInformation

Find Vendors

Find Vendors

Read VendorMarketingMaterials

DistrustMarketingMaterial

AttendConferences

InteractiveDiagram

Super Demo

Product Tour

Landing Page(for events)

Events

PartnerProfiles

OnlineSeminars

Product One-Sheets

Feature/Benefit

Descriptions

ComponentsDescriptions

FeatureStories

Refine Requirements

RefineRequirements

Based onResearch

Get Proposals

WriteRequests for

Proposals

ReadProposals

Submit anRFP?

About theCompany

Mental Model

Content Map

Bring It All Together

Use the information you have gathered to create a structure that: Enables users to complete their tasks Supports the goals of the organization Can grow and adapt as needs change

Remember you are: Determining content areas Designing navigational systems Applying clear and descriptive labels Improving search

Blueprint Example

Wireframe Example

Metadata Schemes

Definition Metadata is structured data which describes the

characteristics of a resource. It shares many similar characteristics to the cataloguing that takes place in libraries, museums and archives.

Chris Taylor, University of Queensland

Purposes Document surrogate (abstract, title) Maintenance attributes (date, author) Facilitates retrieval (subject, audience)

Relevant to

…person

…product

…process

Subject Keywords

Review Date

Architectural Placement

Title

Attribute Name

ManualText – Controlled

Vocab

Engineers, Semiconductor,

Fabrication Process

Descriptive

ManualText – Controlled

Vocab

Dry Etch Technology;

Transistor

Descriptive

AutomaticDate01-01-2002 8:00AM GMTWorkflow

ManualText -Controlled

Vocab

My X-Zone, Product

Catalog

Workflow

ManualFree TextMy X-ZoneIdentity

Tagging ProcessValue TypeExamplesType of Attribute

Metadata Schema Example

Levels of Control

Simple Complex

SynonymRings

AuthorityFiles

ThesauriClassificationSchemes

Equivalence Hierarchical Associative

(Vocabularies)

(Relationships)

Ways to Leverage

User Interface Generate browsable indexes (site-wide, sub-site,

specialized authority files) Enable field-specific searching (filters, zones, sorting) Support personalization (language, location)

Behind the Scenes Enable efficient content management Dynamically generate pages

Controlled Vocabulary in XML

<SVTerm UID="SVCS::8099"> <label>Document Management Systems</label> <alt>Document Delivery Systems</alt> <alt>Document Management</alt> <alt>Document Delivery</alt> <parent UREF="SVCS::80"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099129"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099130"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099131"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099132"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099133"/></SVTerm>

Rapid Implementation Methodology

Enterprise Document Archive

Next Step: Implementation

Make it happen

Work closely with other teams Graphic Design IT Department Content Contributors

Not easy but well worth the effort

How To Learn More

Argus Center for Information Architecture Website http://argus-acia.com IA Guide http://argus-acia.com/ia_guide/

ASIS&T SIG-IA Website http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGIA/ Email discussion list

Books Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Lou

Rosenfeld and Peter Morville Practical Information Architecture by Eric Reiss Web Navigation by Jennifer Fleming

Thank You

Chiara Fox

Information Architect

[email protected]

Presentation available at http://www.geocities.com/chiarafox

PeopleSoft http://www.peoplesoft.com