Let's talk about I.A. basics. The most important part is to keep "User Needs" in mind.

1. Information
Architecture
-The Basics-
Presented by KeroYu
Friday, 2 August, 13

2. About Kero
• Digital Art Design, Donghua University, China
• New Media Design and Web Development
Senior Management Certificate, BCIT, Canada
• Worked at: Sharp Point Press, Gamebase. eBay
Taiwan, Electronic Arts
• Now owns a column at TechOrange.com
Friday, 2 August, 13

3. What is I.A.?
• The structural design of shared information
environments.
• The combination of organization, labeling, search, and
navigation systems within Websites, intranets and
interactive media.
• The art and science of shaping information products
and experiences to support usability and findability.
• An emerging discipline and community of practice
focused on bringing principles of design and
architecture to the digital landscape.
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4. Structuring
Organizing
Labeling
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5. Finding and Managing
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6. Art and Science
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7. Why I.A. matters?
• The cost of finding information
• The cost of not finding information
• The value of education
• The cost of construction
• The cost of maintenance
• The cost of training
• The value of brand
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8. In short, I.A. will save your
time & money, and make
people love your site.
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9. Basic Model
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10. Context
•Business goals, funding, politics,
culture, technology, resources, and
constraints
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11. Users
•Audience, tasks, needs,
information seeking behaviour,
experience
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12. Content
•Document/data types, content
objects, volume, existing structure
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13. Practice:
Explain IA to Others
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14. User Needs and
Behaviours
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15. All websites serves
information.
All users come to a site for
information needs.
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16. The Too-Simple
Information Model
• User asks a question.
• Black Magic! (Something happens.)
• User receives the answer.
• Finish!
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17. Things are not
always that simple.
And, prior to all...
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18. When studying IA,
we need to know
the motivations behind
every behaviour.
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19. If we don’t think about it, we’re
just wasting time to make
something that no one cares.
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20. Users’ Questions
• Where am I? (What is this site about?)
• Is there anything I need?
• Why I should be here?
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21. What do users want?
Let’s use the metaphor of
fishing to get at the answer.
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22. Known-item seeking
The too-simple model would solve it.
The Perfect Catch
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23. Exploratory seeking
You hope that whatever ambles in will be useful.
Lobster Trapping
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24. Exhaustive research
You try to drag up everything you can.
Indiscriminate
Drift Netting
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25. Need-it-again re-finding
I’ve seen you before.
White Shark
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26. Information-Seeking
Behaviours
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27. Major Seeking Behaviours
•Searching
•Browsing
•Asking
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28. And we know how to
approach.
(Search engine, list, email or forum)
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29. More Complex Models
•Berry-picking
•Pearl-growing
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30. Berry-picking
Keep picking bits of information
along the way and modify the requests.
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31. Pearl-growing
You want “more like this one”.
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32. Figure out what’s the best
way for your users to find
information, and apply it.
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33. Be sure they
really need it.
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34. So, which model
should we choose?
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35. There’s no correct answer.
Just stick to
“two-step”model.
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36. ... and keep
“User Needs”
in mind.
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37. Tons of IA options
• Organization Systems
• Navigation Systems
• Search Systems
• Labeling Systems
• Browsing/Searching Aids
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38. 80/20 Principle
Only 20% of IA options fit user needs.
Your job is to figure it out.
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39. Practice
• Imagine the browsing experience on
a travel agent website.
• Give examples of all 4 seeking
motivations and describe about
when and how integrations/
iterations happen.
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40. THANKYOU!
• Tell me you how you think about the
first lecture, what your favourite
part is, and how I can improve it.
• E-Mail: kero.yu@spring-trees.com
Friday, 2 August, 13