Some questions that you probably
can’t answer • Who are your content’s primary audiences? • What are the five major tasks and needs each has? • Are you satisfying those tasks and needs? • What data support your thinking? • How do you measure success?
Why can’t we get findability
right? • We don’t know how to diagnose • We don’t know how to measure • Siloed organizations
Why can’t we get findability
right? • We don’t know how to diagnose • We don’t know how to measure • Siloed organizations • Ill-equipped decision-makers
Why can’t we get findability
right? • We don’t know how to diagnose • We don’t know how to measure • Siloed organizations • Ill-equipped decision-makers • Short-term thinking
Why can’t we get findability
right? • We don’t know how to diagnose • We don’t know how to measure • Siloed organizations • Ill-equipped decision-makers • Short-term thinking • Semantic illiteracy
Information architecture: 8 better practices
for findability 1. Diagnosing the important problems 2. Balancing our evidence 3. Advocating for the long term 4. Measuring engagement 5. Supporting contextual navigation 6. Improving search across silos 7. Combining design approaches effectively 8. Tuning our designs over time
A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ A little goes a long way documents meet the needs of your most important audiences
A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ A little goes a long way documents meet the needs of your most important audiences Not all queries are distributed equally
A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ A little goes a long way documents meet the needs of your most important audiences
A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ A little goes a long way documents meet the needs of your most important audiences Nor do they diminish gradually
A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ A little goes a long way documents meet the needs of your most important audiences
A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ A little goes a long way documents meet the needs of your most important audiences 80/20 rule isn’t quite accurate
Lou’s TABLE OF OVERGENERALIZED Web
Analytics User Experience DICHOTOMIES Users' intentions and What they Users' behaviors (what's motives (why those things analyze happening) happen) Qualitative methods for What methods Quantitative methods to explaining why things they employ determine what's happening happen Helps users achieve goals What they're Helps the organization meet (expressed as tasks or trying to achieve goals (expressed as KPI) topics of interest) Uncover patterns and How they use Measure performance (goal- surprises (emergent data driven analysis) analysis) Statistical data ("real" data Descriptive data (in small What kind of data in large volumes, full of volumes, generated in lab they use errors) environment, full of errors)
The missing metrics of in-betweenness
• Orientation (“What can I do here?”) • Engagement (“I like this; do you?”) • Connection/cross-promotion (“What goes with this?”) • Authority (“I trust this”) • and many more...
Contextual navigation: your site’s desire
lines Determine through content modeling, site search analytics Deep navigation requires content modeling: a better approach to deep IA and content structuring
Important content objects emerge concert
calendar from content modeling (example: BBC) album pages artist descriptions TV listings album reviews discography artist bios
Important content objects emerge concert
calendar from content modeling (example: BBC) album pages artist descriptions TV listings Content that matters most album reviews discography artist bios
...by contextualizing “advanced” features, focusing
on revisionsearch session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. solar energy charts 2. how solar energy works search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. energy
...by contextualizing “advanced” features, focusing
on revision search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. solar energy charts 2. how solar energy works search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. explain solar energy 2. energy
...by contextualizing “advanced” features, focusing
on revision search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. solar energy charts 2. how solar energy works search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. explain solar energy 2. energy search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. solar energy news
Treat your content Each layer
is cumulative; most important like an onion content is at the core information layer usability content strategy architecture indexed by search 0 engine leave it alone leave it alone squeaky wheel issues 1 tagged by users addressed refresh annually tagged by experts (non- test with a service 2 topical tags) (e.g., UserTesting.com) refresh monthly tagged by experts “traditional” lab-based titled according to 3 (topical tags) user testing guidelines content models for structured according 4 contextual navigation A/B testing to schema
Summary: 8 IA better practices
1. Diagnosing the important problems 2. Balancing our evidence 3. Advocating for the long term 4. Measuring engagement 5. Supporting contextual navigation 6. Improving search across silos 7. Combining design approaches effectively 8. Tuning our designs over time
Summary: 8 IA better practices
1. Diagnosing the important problems 2. Balancing our evidence 3. Advocating for the long term 4. Measuring engagement 5. Supporting contextual navigation 6. Improving search across silos 7. Combining design approaches effectively 8. Tuning our designs over time Let’s stop boiling the ocean