Information Architecture
Discussion September 3rd, 2008Tonight we talked a little bit about Information Architecture (IA). We focused primarily on methods of organizing information on a server and how that translated to the user experience on a web site. Next week, as we move into Web Design, we will talk about navigation schemes and how that works with/through IA to improve the user experience.
In the meantime, here are a couple articles for you to read about IA (linked below). What I would like for you to do is read through these and consider the questions below. Write a 200-500 word response and also comment on two classmate’s responses. Please complete this before our next class. Grading on reading responses reflect comprehension of the topic, applied problem solving, and clarity of discussion. Let me know if you have any questions.
Readings
http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_whatisinfoarch/
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/we_are_all_connected_the_path_from_architecture_to_information_architecture
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial/Information_Architecture_Tutorial
Question #1) Why is Information Architecture important?
Question #2) What is needed for effective Information Architecture?
Question #3) Give examples of why Information Architecture fails?
26 Responses to “Information Architecture”
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September 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 am
Question #1) Why is Information Architecture important?
Information Architecture is the way a website is laid out prior to its construction. It defines the following parts of the web design process: form, function, metaphor, navigation and interface, interaction, and visual design. Therefore, it is the blueprint that defines the way the end-user will navigate a website, including what catches the end-user’s eye on a site. In some cases, the web designer will setup this navigation to be logical, much like a computer filing system, getting to different pages through a tree of folders and index files. In other cases, the end-user is not in mind when the decision is made. In the case of retailers trying to reach consumers, the layout is more difficult to go directly to a specific page and users must navigate through an entire tree to get to the page they want. This is extremely important in the long run because it defines the way the end-user interacts with a website.
Question #2) What is needed for effective Information Architecture?
Effective IA comes from the knowledge of what parties need to be pleased in the design of a website. These parties include the Web Designers, the Marketing and Business groups, and the end-user. In the same vein, there always needs to be a defined final goal. Each goal needs information such as the context, the content, and the users who the former two are directed towards. In essence, effective IA comes from prioritization that focuses on the desired end result of each project. The three steps to this process of prioritization are: 1) “Understand an organizations’ business objectives, politics, culture, technology, resources and constraints.” (1) 2) Conduct a content inventory in the attempt to better understand the quantity and quality of the proposed content. 3) Try to understand the way the end-user feels about the subject matter you are proposing.
Question #3) Give examples of why Information Architecture fails?
Information Architecture fails at times because the intuition of the web designer or businessman is not the same as that of the end-user. Thereby, the setup of a website, while it may make sense to the web team, does not always make sense to the end-user. This especially happens when a business tries to mirror their organizational layout on the web. This is not logical because the end-user doesn’t often know the business layout and as Step Two designs explains, “Effective IA must reflect the way people think,” not the way the business thinks.
(1) http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_whatisinfoarch/
September 6th, 2008 at 9:14 am
The articles give a variety of views regarding information architecture. This deals with an analysis of the content, its intended use, and creation of a planned organization for ease of use and maintenance. Reading the three articles, in order, was an interesting experience.
In the first, Iain Barker states “Information architecture is most commonly associated with websites and intranets, but it can be used in the context of any information structures or computer systems.”(1) This got me thinking about file systems other than internet servers. In my experiences, the number of files on my own personal computer makes it difficult to locate some files. The worst information accessibility, by far, is networked information within my own organization. There is a lack of user-friendly associative links. No one is responsible, everyone is responsible.
I personally find many internet sites quite easy to navigate and find info. Hyperlinks and search engines do the heavy lifting; I can pick out potential relevant stuff. Newer companies and high tech companies seem to do a great job of this. Many older companies simply try to post catalog information in a manner that makes sense only to them. Barker’s 9 step process is good, once undertaken.
In the second article, the author describes “emergence”, which somewhat describes the chaotic process that I have seen. Information may be stored in a collection of oddly-organized files and structure. Eventually, it does get worked out.
I rather enjoyed the architecture metaphor of this second article, though it was occasionally pushed a little too hard. The discussion on “Balancing Function and Form” is simply good engineering practice. Visualize the end, then pick the architecture that best fits it.
The final article is a very simple and logical procedure, with a good sense of purpose.. Note the plural “audiences” – there are several different groups of folks, each of whom has different interaction with the architecture. The procedure is good, and is classic engineering practice. It sometimes seems like a frustrating delay in getting to the “fun” stuff, but it always saves time in the end, and yields a better product. One thing hinted at was the importance of getting input from all the stakeholders up front, but also the importance of a single responsibility to make the call on the big picture, and communicating that vision before plunging into the details.
Good architecture will yield results which should be immediately beneficial by aiding the most frequent users. Paths to the information should be straightforward, links to related information easy to follow. The architecture should anticipate considerable growth in quantity, and be adaptable to modification for unintended new functions.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Question #1) Why is Information Architecture important?
Information Architecture and Information design are fields that are taking the Web to a whole new level. As we all know Information Architecture deals with the structure of a website and Information design deals with the web layout.
An effective information architecture comes from understanding business objectives and constraints, the content, and the requirements of the people that will use the site (1). Lets approach to the problem from both users and designers point of view. The users of a particular website are looking for an easy navigation, so they can find the contents they want in just seconds. “Dead end” links are not likely to improve the users, designer and business aspect of the web site. Lack of good navigation can frustrate the users so they will not come back to the same web site to look for the same information they were looking for.
From designer’s point of view, it is a good thing to have the Information architecture optimized so you can answer both business and users’ requirements and also can help yourself as a designer to better maintain and update the web site.
The main reason StepTwo gives the diagram is helping people find information. The design of the web site and its IA involves navigation, indexes and labeling, so users can easily find what they are looking for.
The use of Information Architecture is not limited only for web site design. IA is used for the big call centers. The operators can easily navigate the customers and provide them with the best service possible.
Question #2) What is needed for effective Information Architecture?
A great analysis is needed for an effective Information Architecture. To make IA more effective, research is one of the most important things. Researching what users really need and taking the broader context into account can help every web site designer to implement more effective Information Architecture. Two methodologies are used in order to create better IA: typical IA methodology and needs based IA methodology(2).
Typical IA Methodology
User Research -> User tasks and goals -> Draft IA -> Test and Iterate -> Develop User Interface -> Test and Iterate
Needs Based IA Methodology
Needs Analysis -> Strategy and Scope -> User Research -> User tasks and goals -> Draft IA -> Test and Iterate -> Develop User Interface -> Test and Iterate.
Question #3) Give examples of why Information Architecture fails?
Designing web site without going through needs analysis or taking the business, users and designers needs into account usually leads to IA failure. Developing IA without the previous mentioned steps will cause hard time for the end-users finding the information they need.
(1)http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_whatisinfoarch/
(2)http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_whatisinfoarch/
September 8th, 2008 at 11:50 am
From the three articles, readers can get an overall impression of Information Architecture, from its definition, its brief history of development, to the steps and procedures of its construction and its constituent elements. Now there is a clearer concept of Information Architecture in my mind.
The first article is about the construction of an effective IA. It’s stated in several points like the development of IA, the definition of IA, the steps and principles of building an effective IA and etc. In the second article, “We are all connected”, the author states his points about IA’s characteristics, methods and skills through an comparison between architecture and information architecture, which is illuminating to my understanding of IA. The article “IA tutorial” tells you what you need to know and what you should do before starting to build an IA.
Based on the articles, I have an understanding of the importance of Information Architecture. From “What is information architecture?”, I come to understand that IA plays an significant role in helping users to find the information they need successfully. In business, organizations rely heavily on an effective IA to get users to visit their site and get the information they put on it. So it matters a lot to both organizations and users because the latter tend to get frustrated if they can’t find the information successfully through navigations. It is now an era in which information is of great value in people’s daily life and in business. Unobstructed flow of information is very important, as is true with information technology.
The objective of constructing an effective information architecture is to guarantee that information can be found successfully, thus the construction of an effective IA starts with this goal in mind. Then the 9 steps mentioned in the article could be followed. A thorough knowledge and understanding of specific requirements of both the business and users are crucial in the process.
To my understanding, Information Architecture fails when users fails to find the information they want. This happens when information architects fail to understand an organization’s requirements, the content, and the users’ requirements. These failures can be exemplified by an automobile company website like GM or Ford when it can’t enable customers to obtain detailed information and images of their latest auto models which is greatly important for them to build a good first impression on them. It is very likely that this auto company loses a number of its potential customers.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Question #1) Why is Information Architecture important?
Answer) According to me an effective web site is an extension of one’s business and Information Architecture is used to create an effective web site. Information Architecture all about how you arrange the data in proper way so that it can be accessible by the end users Information Architecture is very important because without Information Architecture we can’t make website in an efficient way. If one wants to put data on the website so that the end user can access it easily. If the data is small so that it can fits into single webpage, then it won’t be a prob. If the data is more than one page then information architecture is comes into picture. Information Architecture is also important from organization point of view and from the end users point of view that is looking for information about the organization. Every Organization will have lots of data to put on it’s website so that the users can know about know more about the organization. The basic problem of the organizations is that though they have data with them but they are not able to put all data in the right order so that the people can navigate through different web-pages and search the information which they are looking for.
Question #2) what is needed for effective Information Architecture?
Answer) Effective Information Architecture is needed for both publishers who want to post their firm or organization data on the website and end users who is looking for information about the organization. The first article says that people using system became frustrated as they weren’t capable of doing what they were required to do. These may be because of poor Information Architecture. The biggest challenge of the organization is how to guide people through the vast amount of information on offer, so that they can get what they are searching for. In order to overcome from this problem organization is spending more time and money in planning and creating an effecting Information Architecture. The second article says that website can be using HTML but they are not interactive in order to make them interactive we have to use several other tools. I believe before publishing the web site the designer should consider some the key points like:-
1) Organization requirement
2) End user requirement
3) Good designing before creating the web site
4) Perfect Documentation
5) User friendly
6) Tested before publishing the website so that the designer can know the errors.
Question:-Give example of why Information Architecture fails?
Ans:-I feel Information Architecture fails because of poor planning and designing of the website. If the end-user is not able to find the require information on the web site then it cannot be considered as an efficient web site. For an example, “the step two….” article says that the online website for shopping plays a significant impact on the revenue and according to the research this online website many of the online purchase attempts are fail because of navigation system has failed and the users can’t find the product they are interested in. In the third article it says before creating any website designer should always think why end-users will visit to the website, what is the mission or purpose of the organization and who are the intended audiences. By keeping in mind this sort of question the designer can make a good website. The best example we can take is from a library website. For creating library website designer should web pages in a specific order so the end-user can find books easily otherwise it will be going very hard for the user to find books related to his/her major.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
JayRay, I enjoyed the comments. Thanks for highlighting the folly of structuring information the way one structures a business. I could cite examples, but would likely get fired.
Jon
September 8th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Martin, good comments on the call center. These are also business” information” and need the same care and support in designing a good architecture.
Jon
September 9th, 2008 at 12:16 am
As we all known that Information architecture is the foundation for great Web design. It is the blueprint of the site upon which all other aspects are built - form, function, metaphor, navigation and interface, interaction, and visual design from the article. But in my mind, there are some reasons to explain that why IA is important.First of all, it’s a very new field and offers a lot of opportunities for people who are interested in this area, you can save both time and money and don’t need to be an expert in this field, but still making challenges in it.. Second, IA is very abstract for you to touch and see, even you don’t konw how long you will spend for mastering this field. Third, people can only trust what they can see from their visual field, so IA can put all information collecting together, meanwhile, it would make a way to exhibit all information to people.
An effective information architecture comes from understanding business objectives and constraits, the content, and the requirements of the people that will use the site. Normally,creating an effective information architecture needs several steps: 1 Understand the business/contextual requirements and the proposed content for the system. Read all existing documentation, interview stakeholders and conduct a content inventory.
2 Conduct cards sorting exercises with a number of representative users.3 Evaluate the output of the card sorting exercises. Look for trends in grouping and labelling.4 Develop a draft information architecture.5 Evaluate the draft information architecture using the card-based classification evaluation technique. 6Don’t expect to get the information architecture right first time. Capturing the right terminology and hierarchy may take several iterations. 7 Document the information architecture in a site map. This is not the final site map, the site map will only be finalised after page layouts have been defined.8 Define a number of common user tasks, such as finding out about how to request holiday leave. On paper sketch page layouts to define how the user will step through the site. This technique is known as storyboarding. 9 Walk other members of the project team through the storyboards and leave them in shared workspaces for comments. If possible within the constraints of the project, it is good to conduct task-based usability tests on paper prototypes as it provides valuable feedback without going to the expense of creating higher quality designs. Create detailed page layouts to support key user tasks. Page layouts should be annotated with guidance for visual designers and developers.
Actually, 56% of the searching engines on the websites failed to offer any service to customers in united states so that they made a huge loss about million dollars. Because, those searching engines can’t help the customers to find what they really need. So it makes people inconvenient for their needs. Also, in early days of facebook development, they also came through with a trial period, searching trance often happeded at that time so that it waste people’s time, but without paying what they want too.. Above all, good service and compact function could keep the people on the scoop.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Jon, it is a good point mentioning the mess we are making within our computers. We are trying to keep the things ordered, but still there are some files missing. A good Information architecture is a need to (1) gain more customers, (2) keep the old customers and (3) better maintain the web site. Good and planned information architecture will increase the web site scalability too.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Jay, I would like to make an addition to your answer on the third question. You made really good points through the comment. But, We can’t always take only the users’ side of view. If the designers find that a specific IA limits the web site scalability, he should find a compromise that can satisfy both the web side needs of expansion and the user requirement.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Question #1) Why is Information Architecture important?
-Information architecture is important because it provides the user an (hopefully) easier way to access information. The purpose of information architecture is to design a setup in which the data one needs can be found easily and effectively. Data is sorted into groups called directories, from which the user can pick in order to reach whatever information they want. When it comes to websites, information architecture describes the way the website is organized, what links are present on each page, and how one may go about navigating the website in order to find what information they want. The more basic the architecture, the easier it may be for an new user to find their specific data.
Question #2) What is needed for effective Information Architecture?
For effective information architecture, the design team needs to not only understand the data they are dealing with, but also who will be accessing this data. Suppose they are dealing with large text files, they will need to sort the various files into differently associated topics in order to subdivide them, so that the user does not have to go through all of them to find what they are looking for. Also, one must understand their audience. If the website is to be viewed by users who are not too familiar with the internet, an easier navigation with many key words and links on the front page would be best. For a website where users are skilled computer users and/or programmers, a more efficient architecture might include less links on the front page, making a search engine a more prominent way for the user to access data. In this case, the actual file system may be less important than in a website for the more general public.
Question #3) Give examples of why Information Architecture fails?
Information Architecture fails when the design architects are unaware or not in contact with their audience. This could occur when an outside source is contracted to design a website for a company, but the company fails to provide the design team with much information about who they aim to sell their product to, or how large-scale their operation is.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
pang tuo, Inorder to find any information people use different search engines like google, fast search,Lycos etc and 90% of the people will get what they are looking for. Many people do not give the query properly as a result they will not able to get information which they wanted. So I think inorder to make proper search we should give query in a proper way.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
1) Information Architecture is the method of structuring content so that it is functional enough for the user to find information within a website. It is important because as the foundation of a system, it determines how information can be found in order to satisfy a specific audience or groups of people. Without any kind of organization presented, information can lose part or all meaning to the user. This is all considered as part of a structuralizing process in the first stages of developing a website. It is the mainframe of how a website is sought and navigated.
2) Information Architecture needs to find a meaningful structure within its own context that contains content of interest while being accessible and pertaining to the user. This can be achieved by capturing the way specific users think by series of research. However people do not think in the way of the organizational structure of a company. By grouping, labeling and evaluating users, developers can gain reference to thinking processes. This will then give designers the ability to define a structure through products such as site maps, page layouts, templates and prototypes. This ultimately allows a usable and functional design of the website. As a big representation of a company, the Informational Architecture of a site altogether should reflect the status as well as the character of the of the organization.
3) Informational Architecture fails when there is no organizational concept of information pertaining to the user. This in turn misleads the user giving a lack of information or a completely wrong impression of a company. Without grasping the way the user perceives and navigates information, the design of a website fails to become usable.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Hi Jerry, I agree with you as you in the last paragraph that IA fails when the users fail to find the information they want. In order to overcome from the drawback designer should always think as end-user before creating the website. Before launching any website the designer should test it for some days so that they can able to know if any error is there in the website.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Jay,
I really like how you have tied in the concepts between the discussion in class (the different sectors of business - marketing, designers, and users) with the ideas in the readings of defining the organization’s context. The concept of prioritizing is an excellent point to bring to the discussion. It is best to know who and what needs to be satisfied before developing a final product.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Caesar -
Your example of poor search engines comes to show the inevitable consequences of failed IA. In order to fix these problems, these sites should go back over what they are lacking in satisfying users while also engaging in usability activities to change the functionality of the search engine.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
1. Without reasonable information architecture, the user rapidly becomes lost and confused. Since almost all websites, from blogs to online shopping to search engines to graphic art galleries function at some level by conveying information, a confused user is a liability. If the needed information is not found, the article is not is or the book is not purchased. The given website will have failed.
2. To have effective information architecture several elements are need. First and foremost is a clear understanding of the type of information that is going to be delivered. Secondly, you need to understand how users are going to want to access the information, in what common ways will they behave. Then you need to develop a clear and logical hierarchy of how the data will be linked. Finally, if the data you are dealing with my change or expand the information architecture needs to account for scalability, otherwise an initially clear website will likely become muddled over time.
3. Information architectures can fail in a number of ways. If the information is simply presented in a list, or worse a list that is unsorted, more than a few dozen entries can make it impractical to look through. If the links in a hierarchy are unclear as to where they lead, a user could run in circles without ever clicking on the appropriated link. Also, if there is no clear plan for update, new information may be presented in an inconsistent manner, causing confusion as a site ages.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Kelly,
I have to register agreement with you statement. I especially liked the insight about how poor communcation with an outside developer could muck up a companies sight.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Jerry,
Your read of the articles seems good to me, however a question springs to mind. Did you believe the current Ford and GM websites have poor architecture, or were they arbitrary examples? It seemed easy to find photos and information on their cars at those sites.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
hi,rjakotia:
You make good a point for explaining why IA is important, for instance,without Information Architecture we can’t make website in an efficient way. And also, i agree with your views about why IA fails in some fields, such as, poor planning and designing of the website.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
hi, neasterl:
I like all your contents for your answers. Because they are very compact and clear. And also i could catch your meaning directly.
Actually, Information Architecture is the method of structuring content so that it is functional enough for the user to find information within a website.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Jon, after reading your ideas, one thing stuck with me, “Good architecture will yield results which should be immediately beneficial by aiding the most frequent users.” This interested me in the fact that the cookie architecture makes for the idea that frequent users will get the most out of a website. There is a search engine alternative to Google that I have heard has taken this idea to the extreme called A9.com. The beauty of this type of architecture is the idea that the user will, after a few uses, feel right at home on a websites homepage. For Google, it is the straight forward user interface that has given this impression instead of its ability to “track” the user’s ideas and desires. Well said.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Kelly, the idea of ease of use is on the top of the list when most information architecture is decided. However, the “links are present on each page” are in fact separate from the architecture itself. What I have noticed recently is the fact that in some cases, Valpo’s website for instance, is the fact that without the direct URL, which in the idea of directory frameworks makes sense, there is actually no way to get to say, Valpo’s IT site from the homepage. It is easy to see the fact that most businesses will use the easiest way they can think of to promote their company without making it annoying for the customer to clickstream through a certain website, but at the same time I think we need to see the distinction between the directories and their links.
November 8th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Kelly, I agree with your first point that a website should be organized in order for users to be able to find the information they want easily. Actually I think the accessibility of information needed with a website is one of the most important starting point of constructing a website. As to the second point, you mentioned search engine as a more efficient way of locating information than navigations for professional users. I think the efficiency of search engine is also true for unexperience users, however it raises the difficulty of constructing an efficient AI because an uneffective search engine will likely end up more troublesome in leading to the right information.
November 8th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Caesar, you made a thorough description of the steps of constructing an effective information architecture. Each of the steps are well and reasonably proposed. Generally, the key points are a all round understanding of needs and purposes from different parties are needed. That include the need of the organization, the purpose of the construction, and also the need of the users to find the information they want on the website, which is the most important for information architects.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
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