This presentation was given during the EuroIA 2009, by Chris Pierson and Jacco Nieuwland. The slides are exactly the same, but the large images of most title slides have been removed to make sure no copyrights are being violated. We want to thank everybody for contributing their materials as examples in this presentation.

1. evolution of the sitemap
improve the usability
of your deliverables
Chris Pierson & Jacco Nieuwland
EuroIA - September 25th, 2009

2. introductions

4. Chris Pierson
UX consultant
10 years UX experience
2.5 years at User Intelligence

5. Jacco Nieuwland
UX consultant
8 years UX experience
4 years at User Intelligence

6. User Intelligence
It’s our goal to design interactive products that
provide great User Experiences, based on
knowledge of both
the users and the business.
Services we offer:
• Research
• Design
• Optimize
www.userintelligence.com

7. what is a
sitemap

8. a sitemap is a diagram in which the various pages
or page types throughout the site and the user
paths to and from them are documented.
A sitemap is an overview of
the pages within a website.
A site map is a diagrammatical
representation of the logical structure of a
set of webpages
the sitemap is an IA relic from
the web 1.0 era

10. our definition
a design deliverable that seeks to
communicate the overall structure and
navigation of [a website] –
possibly including screens, pages,
objects, states and flows

11. why talk about
sitemaps?

12. why talk about sitemaps?

13. why talk about sitemaps?

15. why (talk about) sitemaps?
• So many of us still do this – and need to do this
• Nature of websites and applications is changing
• Structure needs to be mapped & communicated
So sitemaps need to evolve to be able to
effectively communicate structure and
concepts

16. where have we come from?

17. Where have we come from?
web 1.0
hierarchical
top-down
static HTML

22. where are we now?

23. Where are we now?
web 2.0
linked & shared
content
focused on user &
communities
XML, RSS

24. sitemap

25. primary action map

26. sitemap + navigation scheme

27. Alternative visualisations

28. concept map

29. user flows

30. UIAML scheme

31. screenflow plus scenario

32. storyboard for interactive movie

33. interaction matrix / interesting moments grid

34. wireflow

35. Where are we going?

36. Where are we going?
web 3.0
the semantic web
the machine web
linked data clouds

38. even though the way data is handled will
change, in many cases the design of the
websites that display that data will not change
drastically

39. recap

40. sitemaps are still used to communicate
structure, navigation and concepts

41. it takes a lot of these diagrams to create
something simple

42. different audiences can have different
information needs – documentation needs to
account for this

43. so, is there a way to incorporate all these
needs into one deliverable?

44. interactive documentation

45. interactive documentation allows for different
layers of information and different views of
the same design

46. there are existing tools that do this
(Axure, Balsamiq, swipr, etc)
- but none provide the
complete set of features we’re looking for

47. why not apply our user experience design
experience to our documentation?

48. requirements for documentation:
• easy to create
• easy to maintain
• creative control (open)
• easy to share/publish
• contextual communication
• easy to navigate / intuitive

49. sketches /ideas

60. past experience shows enthusiasm with the
audiences and improved understanding of
the design

61. 2005 – UK government – communicate the
design of a complicated web application
integrating
screenflows, wireframes, mockups, validatio
n rules/business rules

62. wrap-up

63. a sitemap is more than just a hierarchical
collection of pages
mapping & visualising structure and
behaviour is still important
visualisations are naturally evolving with
evolving technology
different audiences have different needs

64. interactive documentation
helps to cater for these audiences in one
deliverable
is an opportunity to apply our UX Design
experience to our deliverables
allows us to present these different
layers of information in context

65. what next?

66. thank you!
user intelligence
Amsterdam office
www.userintelligence.com
Chris Pierson
pierson@userintelligence.com
Jacco Nieuwland
nieuwland@userintelligence.com

67. Interested? Want to see more?
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