In the occasion of World IA Day 2015, I presented 11 lessons on information architecture & user experience in the UAE at Hult International Business School, Dubai. These lessons were drawn from my observations and experiences over the past few years working in the digital communication and marketing field. What other IA lessons did you learn? Learn more about the global event here: http://2015.worldiaday.org/locations/dubai-united-arab-emirates/ Follow the conversation at @WIAD_Dubai and #WIAD

1. Observations, experiences and tips
lessons on IA in the UAE11

2. • Who am I
• Content of this presentation
Mohammed Abdulmajid
@mxmajid
mmajid.com
#WIAD@WIAD_Dubai

3. 10 years
User Experience Interaction Design Information Architecture

4. Intertwingled by Peter Morville

5. • IA plays a major role in shaping the overall experience
• Talented team with different and contrasting skills is the only way to deliver great
results
• Pay attention to everything from the smallest buttons to the mega-iest of menus
1
Buildings are not only bricks and
mortars

6. • Don’t focus on design and interaction and ignore structure
• Think about IA for all of your projects even small microsites and campaign
destinations
• Poor IA will confuse users and force them to leave
• Spending time on IA pays off. Scalable and adaptable IA will save you money
2
Visual design and structure are
equally important

7. “It is not the beauty of a building you should look at;
it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand
the test of time.”
David Allan Coe

8. • Use IA to help tell your brand story and support your business objectives
3
Use IA to promote your brand
and build understanding

9. • Think about how you integrate subsites with overall site structure
• Don’t forget SEO and site search!
4
Watch out for microsites and subsites

10. • Make sure that they’re concise, descriptive and mutually-exclusive
• Remember that recognition is easier than recall
• Stick to a maximum of 5-7 items for your main navigation
• Search doesn’t replace standard navigation
http://www.thenational.ae/
5
Establish clear expectations with your navigation

11. • Use LATCH (location, alphabet, time, category or hierarchy) to organize content
• Think about people and processes, and always be prepared to change your plans
• Taxonomies are imperfect - get feedback and iterate
• You can organize things in multiple dimensions and offer faceted navigation
6
There’s no one right way to organize things

12. • Be careful from the hamburger menu - it’s not a magic solution
for all navigation challenges
• Make sure all the necessary navigation items are visible
7
Fast-food navigation is not good
for your UX

14. • Poorly designed intranet will frustrate your employees, waste their time and
hinder their productivity – and ultimately cost you money!
• IA on Intranet is crucial for usability and findability
• Consider the wider ecosystem of applications your employees are using
8
Why should we care about our intranet?
After all, our customers are not using it!

15. 9
Your users don’t have the time to play
Minesweeper
• Minesweeping for navigation is a usability nightmare
• Develop clear and consistent navigation schemes

17. 10
Wireframes can’t tell the whole story
• Consider using prototypes if you can
• Be agile and iterate frequently
• If you’re going to produce wireframes for clients, make sure that you explain
what wireframes are, remind them of its purpose - and don’t forget to make
them beautiful!

18. • “We think we're making websites … but we're not. We are agents of change within
complex adaptive systems.” - Intertwingled, Peter Morville
• Governance and processes are critical for success
• Align with the organization culture
11
“Everything is connected from
code to culture”

19. “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”
Winston Churchill

20. How do everyday experiences make us
happy and what can we learn from them?

22. Thank you Let’s connect:
Mohammed Abdul Majid
@mxmajid
mohamad@mmajid.comAny questions?