A case study describing one team's efforts to redesign a large information-rich website with the help of a mentor.

1. “ There’s no I in team” A case study in collaborative information architecture OZ-IA, Sydney September 2007 Patrick Kennedy, Step Two Designs

2. Information architecture can be hard enough, but what if you and your team have no experience?

5. Introducing ESA, a government agency with many departments and a lot of information to share!

7. The website reflected ESA, and had grown out of control, and the skills to fix it didn’t exist

9. The team assembled for the project was newly formed and relatively inexperienced

12. Project outline

14. User research was a key part of the process…

16. … and a new audience model was developed

18. Then the design process began in earnest…

21. Collaboration and mentoring

22. Collaboration can get messy but is essential for good analysis and design

28. Challenges

30. Trying to assemble and a coordinate a new team was difficult at times…

32. … especially with inexperienced practitioners trying to find their way…

34. … and wider organisational issues put more pressure on the team…

36. … and adding to the pressure was the fact that the mentor was inter-state

38. Benefits and limitations

40. User-centred design will improve the website, making it more useful to the audience…

42. … and working as a team is much better than working on your own…

44. … particularly when you have someone to turn to for assistance

46. Conclusion

48. So why are they so unpopular?