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InformationarchitectureDonna Spencer - Maadmob (@maadonna)

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About me• User experience freelancer – information architecture, interaction design, content strategy • Far too long (10+ years)• Run UX Australia (Sydney, late August 2011)• @maadonna !"#$%&#()*+ ,-%.%-#/.0%*#0".% 7%2#"1(1"8%*9/$0%.% 123%4#%.50%-06+ /)4#:"()%"#15/.01.9#0+

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Topics covered• Information-seeking behaviours • How people look for info & what they do with it• Classification schemes • Ways to organise information & when they work• Processes • How to determine the best IA• Labelling• Testing IA• I’ll answer questions at the end (ask them at any time in the ‘questions’ window)

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Information-seeking behaviours

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Browse or search• People say that an individual either browses or searches• Not true - depends on what they need to do

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Finding known items• Know what you want• Have words to describe it• Fairly good idea of where to start• Know there is an answer• Know when you see the answer

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imdb.com

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Exploring• Have some idea of what you want to know• May not know how to articulate it/ terminology• May not know where to start• May never end

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Refine and narrow• Large set of items• Some criteria that matters• Narrow down to those of interest

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topgear.co.uk

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Comparing• Often follows from narrowing/refining• See items side-by-side to compare them

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topgear.co.uk

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Getting a broad idea• Sometimes people just need to know the basics• Don’t need the detail

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pixies

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Discovering unknown• Things you didn’t know were there, but you find yourself interested in

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youtube.com

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Keeping up to date• Don’t need an answer, but need to keep an eye on things

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google.com/analytics

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Refinding• Finding something you’ve seen before• Don’t underestimate the importance of this

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yogajournal.com

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amazon.com

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Information behaviours• In your projects, think about what people need to do• Then figure out how to design for it

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Classification schemes

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Organisation schemes• For any set of content, there are many ways we could organise it – many different schemes• Some of the most common: • Subject/topic • Geography • Task • Audience • Mixed

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Subject/topic

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choice.com.au

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alistapart.com/topics/

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Geography

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lonelyplanet.com

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last.fm

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Task

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paypal.com

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Audience

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monash.edu.au

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dell.com

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chi2010.org

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Mixed

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ato.gov.au

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Designing and testing IA

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Designing IA• Process of synthesis - user research, business goals, content• Draft top level groupings/attributes • Just make something up!• Check it • See if it suits the content • See if it will suit the users• Revise it• Stop when it feels right• Start discussing it with people

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Tips• How many content groups?• Think about navigation, but put it aside• If stakeholders hate it...• Team or individual• Don’t do it in front of a computer• Make notes about rationale• Sequencing

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Great labels• Are dull!• Call things by their correct name• Are consistently used• Use terms the audience uses• Are as clear as possible

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yogajournal.com

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3am.co.uk

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Testing IA• Just tests concepts and labels• Still will need to test navigation/pages• Need • Draft IA • Scenarios • Participants

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optimalworkshop.com

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plainframe.com

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Questions(if there are more than I can answer, I’ll answer some at http://practical-ia.com/)

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And a plug... Find out more in my full dayworkshop. 31 March, IA Summit, Denver (Colorado) http://2011.iasummit.org/

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Thanks • http://maadmob.com.au/ • +61 409-778-693 • donna@maadmob.net • Twitter etc: maadonna