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Slide 1: Planning an Information Architecture Strategy Chiara Fox Internet Librarian 2001 November 6, 2001 Making IA Real
Slide 2: 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
Slide 3: What is Information Architecture?  Information architecture is the art and science of structuring and organizing information systems to help people achieve their goals.
Slide 4: An Ecological Approach Business Context Content IA Users
Slide 5: IA From Top to Bottom Top-Down  portal  strategy  hierarchy  primary path portal Bottom-Up  sub-site  objects  metadata  multiple paths Object X Name: Product Category: Topic: Stale Date: Author: Security: local subsites (HR, Engineering, R&D…)
Slide 6: Components of IA  Organization  Navigation (including search)  Labeling
Slide 7: Organization  The grouping of like content together  Provides a way to browse the structure of the site  Exact Schemes  Chronological  Geographical  Alphabetical  Subject  Audience  Task  Ambiguous Schemes
Slide 8: Navigation  Global  Local  Contextual  Supplemental  Search Global Navigation Local Navigation Content is here, with contextual navigation embedded or separate. Where am I? What's nearby? What's related to what's here?
Slide 9: 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
Slide 10: Websites Need an IA Strategy Users  Websites grow organically  Need to plan before you build a new site or redesign a current site  Strategy begins with research Website
Slide 11: Know What You Have  Content Analysis and Audit  Content Map  Classification Scheme Analysis  Search and Server Log Analysis Content Business Context IA Users
Slide 12: 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
Slide 13: Content Audit Example
Slide 14: Content Map Example Site 1 Site 2
Slide 15: 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?
Slide 16: Classification Scheme Analysis Example Main Products Page Federal Government Public Sector Industry Solutions Customers, by Page Industry Federal US Federal Government Government Public Sector Public Sector Industry User groups Official Name Government Public Sector Financial Services Financial Financial Services Financial Services Government Public Sector Federal User Network Financial Services Financial Services (UK) High Technology Distribution High Technology/ Electronics Wholesale Distribution High Tech Wholesale Distribution High Technology/ Electronics Wholesale Distribution
Slide 17: 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?  Determine most accessed pages  Click-stream analysis - what path are users taking through the site  Server Logs
Slide 18: Get a Second Opinion  Interview opinion leaders & stakeholders  Discuss the goals and direction for the site  Get buy in & support from top management Content Business Context IA Users
Slide 19: “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 Users complain that they can’t find things on the site. Hard to cross-sell products and services since they are so separate. Everyone has different ideas about what the site should do. Takes too long for the pages to load, especially on a modem.
Slide 20: 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 Business Context IA Users
Slide 21: Card Sorting & Affinity Diagrams  Card Sorting  Great for understanding how users would like to see the content organized  Open sort vs. closed sort  Way to analyze what the users told you in the card sorting  Affinity Diagramming
Slide 22: Affinity Diagram Example
Slide 23: 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
Slide 24: Mental Model Example Find Out High-Level Information Read Vendor Marketing Materials Distrust Marketing Material Attend Conferences Get Proposals Write Requests for Proposals Read Proposals Find Vendors Refine Requirements Refine Requirements Based on Research Mental Model Find Vendors Partner Profiles Submit an RFP? Interactive Diagram Feature/ Benefit Descriptions Product OneSheets Components Descriptions About the Company Super Demo Content Map Product Tour Landing Page (for events) Feature Stories Events Online Seminars
Slide 25: 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     Determining content areas Designing navigational systems Applying clear and descriptive labels Improving search  Remember you are:
Slide 26: Blueprint Example
Slide 27: Wireframe Example
Slide 28: 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)
Slide 29: Metadata Schema Example Attribute Name Type of Attribute Examples Value Type Tagging Process Title Identity My X-Zone Free Text Manual Architectural Placement Workflow My X-Zone, Product Catalog Text -Controlled Vocab Date Manual Review Date Workflow 01-01-2002 8:00AM GMT Automatic Subject Keywords Descriptive Dry Etch Technology; Transistor Text – Controlled Vocab Text – Controlled Vocab Manual Relevant to …person …product …process Descriptive Engineers, Semiconductor, Fabrication Process Manual
Slide 30: Levels of Control (Vocabularies) Synonym Rings Authority Files Classification Schemes Thesauri Simple Complex Equivalence Hierarchical (Relationships) Associative
Slide 31: Ways to Leverage  User Interface  Generate browsable indexes  Enable field-specific searching  Support personalization (site-wide, sub-site, specialized authority files) (filters, zones, sorting) (language, location)  Behind the Scenes  Enable efficient content management  Dynamically generate pages
Slide 32: 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> Rapid <parent UREF="SVCS::80"/> Implementation <child UREF="SVCS::8099129"/> Methodology <child UREF="SVCS::8099130"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099131"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099132"/> <child UREF="SVCS::8099133"/> </SVTerm> Enterprise Document Archive
Slide 33: Next Step: Implementation  Make it happen  Work closely with other teams  Graphic Design  IT Department  Content Contributors  Not easy but well worth the effort
Slide 34: 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  Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville  Practical Information Architecture by Eric Reiss  Web Navigation by Jennifer Fleming  Books
Slide 35: Thank You Chiara Fox Information Architect chiara_fox@peoplesoft.com Presentation available at http://www.geocities.com/chiarafox PeopleSoft http://www.peoplesoft.com