Information architecture and SharePoint

Information architecture & SharePoint An experience designer’s view on how information architecture ﬁts within the SharePoint context. Lulu Pachuau 3 July 2009, SharePoint Conference Sponsored by 1

problem solver I’m NOT really a SharePoint person… strategist facilitator communicator evaluator critic mentor sales person implementer business person information architect interaction designer 2

SP SharePoint people or using it 3 Logos I could ﬁnd...

Information architecture (IA) IA is a process IA is an outcome IA is one of elements of user experience (UX) Elements of User experience - Jesse James Garret 4

UX people ﬂee at the sound of “SharePoint” 5

Business assumes IT will put it together 6

We just provide a service Where are we going with this? IT need clearer requirements & directions 7

What’s so different about SharePoint projects? 8

SharePoint is like a DIY toolbox or warehouse 9

SharePoint is... “an enterprise information portal... to run intranets, extranets and internet sites... allows people, teams and expertise to connect and collaborate.” By SharePoint HQ 10

Features and ways to do it – LOTS!! http://www.themackpage.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/083107-1957-whitepapers1.jpg 11

Demo – features you can use right out of the box! 12

Ready Set GO? 13

…before you get buried too deep 14

Common problem – Poor/lack of communication 15

Business Implementtttttttttttt t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t requirements SharePoint Business consultant IT/Tech team Typical project with SP 16

Business Business Business Implement requirements Implement requirements Implement requirements SharePoint Business consultant IT/Tech team Some projects start with implementing the product! 17

… end up with something no-one will use and $$$$$ 18

…or like this 19

Who you gonna call? 20

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Business Information architecture Implementation requirements (analysis & design) Information SharePoint Business architect consultant IT/Tech team Fill the gap with information architecture 22

“ Look before you leap – plan and design the IA before you write a single line of code dig into SharePoint ... 23

So what is information architecture? 24

Information architecture is… “ the art and science of structuring, organising and labeling information to help people ﬁnd and manage information.” - Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville, authors of the “polar bear” book 25

Information architecture for SharePoint instructs… • How the site will be structured and divided into a set of sub- sites. • How data will be presented in the site. • How site users will navigate through the site. • How information will be targeted at speciﬁc audiences. • How search will be conﬁgured and optimised. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262873.aspx 26

Context Content Users 3 areas of information architecture 27

Context Context Content Users 28

Business goals and vision: “intranet staff will love and ﬁnd pleasurable to use” “A world class website” “a one-stop shop for all our customers. They will just come to our website for all their needs” Requirements & expectations: One-stop-shop portal, hub, wikis, RSS, Blogs, Facebook, Google search, documents, dashboards… and a pony We need it next week – timeframes Limited budget & resources – constraints We’ve already bought SharePoint – technology landscape Research and understand the context 29

Context SharePoint context Content Users 30

Information architecture rules (out of the box) 31

User interface patterns – adding content 32

Feedback not most user friendly 33

Compartmentalisation of content (out of the box) 34

Metadata = site columns 35

0% or min: less $$ 100% custom UI: $$$$ Levels of customisation 36

Summary – SharePoint context IA’s need to know • Information architecture rules • User interface patterns • Feedback messages • Compartmentalisation of content • Customisation requirements • SharePoint terminologies - Themes aka skins - Master Page - Web parts Context - Site columns – metadata - Content types – bunch of metadata/columns - Etc… Content Users 37

Context Content – analysis & modelling Content Users 38

Content… • Documents • Images, photos • Audio, Video • Tools or applications – desktop, web based • Services • Physical items • Communications – ministerials, meeting minutes, etc 39

Facets of content relevant to SharePoint • Governance – Ownership, Retrieval, Security - Who owns, creates content? when does content get created or removed? Is it centralised? Does it need approval? Who can view what when? • Metadata (more later) - How is content described? what makes them different from each other? • Format (that content is in) - Textual documents, databases and software applications, audio & videos, books, people and so on • Volume - how big is your intranet/website going to be? How many pieces of content are there? • Dynamism - what is the rate of growth of content within your organisation? how long are they valid? How do you want to keep old records? * More on the Information Architecture for the World Wide Web book – Pete Morville & Louis Rosenﬁeld 40

The universe of content 41

Context Users Content Users 42

? User research – behaviours, tasks, preferences 43

User research – Context of use 44

Context Information architecture Content Users High level to low level IA 45

Where am I? I know what How do I get I’m looking around? for, how do I search for it? What kinds of information do they have that is What’s going useful to me (as a one, what’s prospective popular? student or staff)? I need to get to my university email quickly Caters to different needs, info seeking behaviours 46

Organisation system e.g. by author, time, topic or geography Navigation system e.g. Global & local nav, contextual, task based Metadata e.g. titles, desc, author, etc. Labelling system e.g. Food terms, scientific terms, etc Search system e.g. Scope, fields, keywords, tags, best bets Core components of information architecture * More on the Information Architecture for the World Wide Web book – Pete Morville & Louis Rosenfield 47

Search Organisation system system Navigation system Organisation system Navigation system

Interface Information architecture components IA behind the scenes – impacts user experience * Information architecture iceberg concept from Information Architecture for the World Wide Web – Pete Morville & Louis Rosenﬁeld 49

Quick introduction to metadata 50

TradeMe – Metadata driven 51

Users provide metadata – drives the website 52

You can “See” the metadata 53

In summary… Context • Three areas of IA • Core components Content Users • IA impacts user experience Organisation system Interface Navigation system Metadata Labelling system Information architecture Search system components 54

Keep in mind… 55

Business Information architecture Implementation requirements (analysis & design) Information architect Information SharePoint Business architect consultant SharePoint consultant & integrator IT/Tech team We don't need to do or know everything 56

What does the info architect create & deliver? 57

Sitemap – organisation, labels hierarchy, top down Navigation pathways Content types, labels & Metadata 58

Page templates & layouts – content placement, metadata values Search – scope, which ﬁeld, prefered terms, cv Speciﬁcations – components of IA 59

? 60

Custom development on SharePoint 61

Intranet 62

MOT Intranet 63

Custom development on SharePoint 64

DIY store – tools to build anything you want… If you know what you’re going to build… If you know what you need to build it 65

Alex Dean Stephanie Beath SharePoint trainer, consultant and Experience design consultant implementer Information architect Information architect steph@beath.co.nz alex.dean@knowledgecue.co.nz Isha Hartono Kate Smith SharePoint consultant, theme SharePoint information architect, expert, website integrator theme expert, interaction Interaction designer designer, website integrator Information architect kate@trinkit.co.nz Isha.hartono@provoke.co.nz Zef Fugaz Lulu Pachuau Experience design consultant Experience design consultant Information architect Information architect Interaction designer zef.fugaz@zefamedia.com lulu@lushai.com 66

References • Information Architecture for the World Wide Web Peter Morville & Louis Rosenﬁeld http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527341/ • Deﬁnition of SharePoint: http://www.sharepointhq.com/resources/what_is_SP.htm • Determine the information architecture of your site: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262873.aspx • Project cartoon: http://www.projectcartoon.com/ 67

Thanks!! lulu@lushai.com http://www.lushai.com Photos found on Flickr and Google images 68

Information architecture and SharePoint

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