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“[IA] takes user research insights and
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Uploaded byRik Williams
What is IA?
The document discusses information architecture (IA), emphasizing its critical role in organizing content to enhance user experience and decision-making. It explains the three main tenets of IA: ontology, taxonomy, and choreography, highlighting how they work together to create a coherent structure for information. Effective IA aids users in finding what they need across various contexts, from websites to physical systems.
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What is IA?
- 1. Rik Willi a ms, UXArchitect, Moor f ields Eye Hospit a l rikwilli a ms.net WhatisInformation Architecture?
- 2. Objectives What is information? Whatis architecture? What is information architecture (IA)? 3 tenants: Ontology, Choreography and Taxonomy Summary Wh a t you will le a rn in this session…
- 3.
- 4.
- 6. Information ≠ Content≠ Data
- 7. Information is themeaning extracted from a particular sequence of things.
- 8. Information is whata person understands to be true based what they experience .
- 9. Content is whateveris being arranged or sequenced for a person to interpret.
- 10. Data are thefacts, observations and questions that a user has about a thing.
- 11. We cannot createinformation. Instead we make content that is able to be perceived in a way that we hope will be based on what users know.
- 12. Without thinking abouthow your content is perceived and the data users might have available, you might not be creating the information intended.
- 13.
- 15. Architecture is thethe complex or carefully designed structure of something.
- 19. Physical spaces Digitalspaces Rooms, Spaces Pages, States Hallways, lifts, stairs Sections, menus, fl ow, links Windows, doors Dialogs, viewports, homepages Locks, keys Passwords, credentials Furniture, paintings Interface elements, images Desire lines Desire paths Squares, rectangles CSS box model City, building System, app, site
- 20. Thinking about architectureis optional, but architecture always exists.
- 21. S a r a h R. B a rrett “Youmay not have an information architect on your team, but you de fi nitely have information architecture in your experience.”
- 22. If we don’tthink about it we are letting it grow organically which usually means that it’s hard for people to use.
- 23.
- 26. Source: content inventories 16websites
- 27. Source: content inventories 4.2million users
- 28.
- 29.
- 33.
- 34. Abby Covert “Information architecturemakes sense of mess.”
- 35. IA Institute “If you’veever tried to use something and thought, ‘where am I supposed to go next?’ or ‘this doesn’t make any sense’, you are encountering an issue with an information architecture.”
- 36. IA Institute “Information architectureis the practice of deciding how to arrange the parts of something to be understandable.”
- 37. IA is acritical discipline for user experience (UX) design
- 38. User experience (UX) design is a process tocreate products and services that provide meaningful and relevant outcomes for people.
- 39. UX involves the design ofthe entire process of acquiring and integrating the product or service, including aspects of branding, design, usability and function.
- 40. UX DESIGN Visual Design Architecture Interaction Design Human-Computer Interaction Industrial Design User Research ContentDesign Human Factors & Ergonomics Information Architecture
- 41. Only visual design? Voice?… Source:Jesse James Garrett, 2000 Only here? Not throughout?
- 42.
- 43.
- 44. Information architecture focuses on theorganisation of data and objects into structure in a system.
- 45. IA de fi nes whattypes of content and functions will be available for people under what labels, sequences and hierarchies.
- 46. Why is information architectureimportant?
- 47. An e ff ective IAhelps people to make meaning and fi nd what they’re looking for — in the real and the virtual worlds.
- 48. Sophi a Pr a ter “[IA] takes userresearch insights and synthesises them into structure.”
- 49. Abby Covert “Information architectureprovides actionable blueprints for what's being designed and built.”
- 50. Linds a y Eryn “Well-de fi ned leadsto well- designed.”
- 51. IAcande f ine… • Which contentis most essential for people at each stage of a journey? • How important is this thing compared with this other thing for the customer? • What are the relationships between these objects for a user? • What labels should we use to make this system easy to navigate? • What content do we require to meet a customers needs? How can it be reused? • Where should a user be able to get to from this location? • How to categorise items so that they are fi ndable?
- 52. GoodIAforUsers… • Increases… • speedby lowering the time to complete tasks. • value by making the right product/service. • accessibility by making the system understandable, consistent and predictable. • accuracy by aligning with real, valid, mental models. • focus by keep an onus on task, purpose and outcome. • Reduces… • cognitive load by making the unclear, clear. • errors by not providing misleading (or hard to fi nd) choices. • abandonment by enabling/signalling task progression/completion. • frustration by meeting real needs without fuss or bother.
- 53. GoodIAforOrganisations… • Increases revenueby: • increasing likelihood of conversions / sales. • reduces risk of abandonment to a competitor. • reduces costs of contacting customer support. • Reduces content duplication. • Creates competitive advantage.
- 54.
- 55. UX DESIGN Visual Design Architecture User Research ContentDesign Human Factors & Ergonomics Information Architecture
- 60. UX DESIGN Visual Design Interaction Design Human-Computer Interaction User Research ContentDesign Information Architecture
- 63.
- 64. D a n Klyn “What wemean when we say what we say.”
- 65. Ontology is adeclaration of meaning in a speci fi c context — but meaning is slippery!
- 66.
- 67. The meaning behinda label/term can be completely di ff erent between organisations and their users.
- 68.
- 69. Poorly de fi ned ontologycauses fi ndability issues, user errors and retention problems.
- 70. “Orange” “Make the websiteorange orange”
- 73.
- 75.
- 76. Ashley K a y “The arrangementof the parts to accomplish speci fi c goals with and across contexts”
- 77. How content isgrouped, classi fi ed and labelled within a shared environment.
- 80. Classi f ication Page divided intosections Pages that a website has Mobile application sections Rooms in a building Dewey Decimal System Alphabetically sorting a directory of people …or how we order things
- 81. Intentions Consume more content( f ind/extract value) Contribute more content (social posts) Increase telephone calls (sales) Decrease telephone calls (support) Referring people (growth) …or how me a ning a nd cl a ssi f ic a tion is interpreted by Users
- 82. Howtoorganiseanything There are only5 ways to organise things… • Location • Alphabet • Time • Category • Hierarchy (I double d a re you to try to bre a k this!)
- 84. Rik “Organising things isn’thard. Agreeing on how to organise things is hard.
- 85. LATCH principles Wayof organising records Category Genre Alphabet Artist name Time Release date Hierarchy Sub-genre Location Band’s country, or city
- 87. Miles Kington “It takesknowledge to know that a tomato is a fruit and wisdom to know not to put it in a fruit salad.”
- 88.
- 89. Choreography comes togetherwhen meaning (ontology) and categorisation (taxonomy) interact with each other to create an experience.
- 90. Choreography is thesequence of steps a user can take, across contexts/channels.
- 91. ExamplesofChoreographyinIA • The di ff erencein features between a desktop and a mobile experiences (Insta) • A limitation of functionality based on the role of a user (free/paid plan) • The change of interface for a fi rst-time user vs. long-time user (Facebook).
- 92. Ontological Choreography TaxonomicalChoreography Label changes Navigation schema changes How does the language you are using change in certain contexts or channels? How does the structure you are using change in certain contexts of channels? Icon substitution Content hierarchy changes Meaning changes Limitation of features
- 93. Placemaking — theact of determining how to communicate the intended purpose of a place to its users.
- 94. Howdoyouknowwhattheseplacesarefor? Subtle cues whichdenote where you a re a nd wh a t you c a n do here.
- 95. Placemaking A single roomc a n be ch a nged slightly to communic a te different intentions to users.
- 96. We have todecide how we want our users to move
- 98. The interplay ofontology, taxonomy and choreography can’t simply be designed: it needs to be architected fi rst.
- 99.
- 100. Information architecture isall about organising content or things, describing them clearly and providing ways for people to get to them.
- 101. Good information architecturehelps people to fi nd information they need. It can also help them learn and make better decisions.
- 102. A lot ofinformation architecture work relates to websites and intranets, but is just as relevant for music and movies, a computer fi le system, your paper fi les at home or even groceries on supermarket shelves.
- 103.