1. Developing Information Architecture
with Non-Technical Stakeholders
Vanessa Turke (@vcreatrix)
Senior Solution Architect at ImageX Media
“Information Architecture: The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites,
intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability.”
~ The IA Institute

2. presentation outline
★ What is the value of good information architecture?
★ Identifying project stakeholders
★ Effectively facilitating stakeholder groups
★ Where does information architecture begin?
★ What is the process for developing IA for Drupal?
★ How do you know when you’re done?

3. information architecture components
1. Organization systems - How we categorize information
2. Labeling systems - How we represent information
3. Navigation systems - How we move through information
4. Searching systems - How we search information
Peter Morville, Louis Rosenfeld. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web O'Reilly, 2006

4. IA process overview
★ Identify the project needs
★ Conduct research
★ Review content life cycle
★ Document user experience
★ Organize, classify & label
★ Create information and access model
★ Design navigation system
★ Create wireframes

5. who are project stakeholders

6. identifying stakeholders

7. potential stakeholders
★ Marketing & Sales
★ Content Strategist
★ HR People
★ Faculty / Educational Consultants
★ Board Members / Executive Director
★ Project Managers / IT Team
★ Copywriter / Editor
★ Remote Team
★ In House Designer
★ Outside Vendors
★ Volunteers
★ Customers / Focus Group

8. effectively facilitating stakeholder groups
★ Agree on what the project is about on a high level
★ Take an evidence based approach
★ Outline the value of content management
★ Work with actual users
★ Work with actual content
★ Discuss the entire content life cycle (7 ‘C’s)
★ Review access and workflow from every angle
★ Look at the requirements through different lenses

9. first agree on the purpose of the project

10. background and high-level analysis
★ Type of Organization
★ Type of Website
★ Type of Audience
Carolyn Chandler & Unger, Russ. Project Guide to UX Design, A: For user experience designers in the field or
in the making: New Riders, the Voices That Matter series, 2009

11. organization type
★ Company, Non-profit, etc.
★ Philosophy
★ Process
★ Role of website in their organization
Carolyn Chandler & Unger, Russ. Project Guide to UX Design, A: For user experience designers in the field or
in the making: New Riders, the Voices That Matter series, 2009

12. website type
1. Brand Presence
2. Marketing Campaign
3. Content Source
4. Task-based application
5. E-Commerce (combines 1-4)
6. E-Learning (combines 3 & 4)
7. Social Network (can combine 1,2,3 & 4)
Carolyn Chandler & Unger, Russ. Project Guide to UX Design, A: For user experience designers in the field or
in the making: New Riders, the Voices That Matter series, 2009

13. primary audience
★ Customers/Clients
★ Organizational Members
★ Employees/Staff
★ ???

14. conducting research

15. research
★ Research Meetings
★ Stakeholder Interviews
★ Content Analysis
★ Content Mapping
★ Competitive Research and Benchmarking
★ Heuristic Evaluation
★ Usage Statistics
★ User Surveys
★ Usability Testing
★ Card Sorting
http://www.jojest.com/process

16. stakeholder meetings and interviews
★ Sales & Marketing Team - branding, direction
★ Strategy Team - mission, vision, audience
★ Subject Matter Experts - data modeling, metadata
★ Content Creators - publishing workflow, content life cycle
★ Content Management Team - web policy, standards & governance
★ IT Team - infrastructure, integrations, technological constraints

17. information gathering tools
★ Spreadsheet
★ PowerPoint
★ Websort / Optimalsort
★ Naview
★ Usertesting.com
★ Usabilityhub
★ Google Analytics
★ Usabilla
★ SilverBack
★ IntuitionHQ
★ Custom tool

18. consulting analytics
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/taking-the-guesswork-out-of-design/

19. a content audit

20. usability audit
http://www.userfocus.co.uk/articles/heuristics.html

21. documenting the user experience

22. high level questions
1. What is the business goal of the website?
2.What is the mission critical task for a user to
complete?
http://www.slideshare.net/rhanna/preparing-for-successful-content-management

23. user goal: information
★ Browsing, comparing, comprehending:
★ Maps
★ News readers
★ Dashboards
★ Media players
★ Online stores
http://insidetech.monster.com/training/articles/7760-how-to-create-a-rich-internet-application-screen-design

24. user goal: process
★ Providing information in a structured manner:
★ Product configuration
★ Tool setup, or installation
★ Signup & Registration
★ Store checkout
★ Booking resources
http://insidetech.monster.com/training/articles/7760-how-to-create-a-rich-internet-application-screen-design

25. user goal: creation
★ Create new content or modify existing content:
★ Publishing new content
★ Revising / editing content
★ Formatting / styling
★ Submitting content for moderation
http://insidetech.monster.com/training/articles/7760-how-to-create-a-rich-internet-application-screen-design

26. leading stakeholder conversations
★ “Walk me through the current process of...”
★ “Would you imagine that it would work this way...”
★ “So ideally you would see this piece working like this..?”
★ “I am hearing that the most important piece of this is...”
★ “Would you see an immediate need for [feature XYZ], or
can this wait until phase two?”

27. as a [type of user] I want to [goal] so
that I can [reason].

28. writing user stories
http://blog.mountaingoatsoftware.com/advantages-of-the-as-a-user-i-want-user-story-
template

29. reviewing the content life cycle

30. the 7 ‘C’s of content management

31. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception

32. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception
2. Creation

33. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception
2. Creation
3. Categorization

34. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception
2. Creation
3. Categorization
4. Confirmation

35. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception
2. Creation
3. Categorization
4. Confirmation
5. Changes

36. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception
2. Creation
3. Categorization
4. Confirmation
5. Changes
6. Community

37. the 7 ‘C’s of content management
1. Conception
2. Creation
3. Categorization
4. Confirmation
5. Changes
6. Community
7. Consumption

38. organize, classify & label

39. organizing, classifying & labeling
★ Identify content types
★ Identify attributes & values
★ Identify relationships
★ Identify terms & vocabulary
http://www.agiledata.org/essays/dataModeling101.html

42. when labeling, eschew obfuscation!
★ Research industry terms
★ Highlight every industry term, phrase, or buzzword
★ Ask repeated ‘why’ questions regarding terms and concepts
★ Ask random people what they mean
★ Come up with answers a 10-year old would understand
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2009/08/07/im-not-an-idiot-but-i-play-one-on-online-and-so-should-you/

43. varied search titles by user
★ Human Resources Manager, “HR Form V3051”
★ Team Manager, “Leave Application”
★ Staff Member, “going on vacation” or “holiday request”
http://www.zefamedia.com/websites/card-sorting-doesnt-cut-the-custard/

44. example of inconsistent site-wide labels for “locations”
★ Branch
★ Store
★ Location
★ Bureaux
★ Airport locations
★ Airport branches
★ Retail locations
★ City Locations
★ Boutique storefront locations

45. designing the navigation and
information model

46. cardsorting
★ Do the users want to see the information grouped by
subject, process, business group, or information type?
★ How similar are the needs of the different user groups?
★ How different are their needs?
★ How many potential main categories are there?
(typically relates to navigation)
★ What should those groups be called?
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide

49. sitemap

51. navigation stress test
★ What is this page about?
★ What site is this?
★ What are the major sections of this site?
★ What major section is this page in?
★ What is "up" 1 level from here?
★ How do I get to the home page of this site?
★ How do I get to the top of this section of the site?
★ What does each group of links represent?
http://instone.org/navstress

52. content types

53. title
Author
Date
Body text Body text Body text Body text
Body text Body text Body text Body text Image
Body text Body text Body text Body text Body text Body
Attachment (PDF 131 MB)
Resource Link

55. user roles

56. understanding search approach
★ Known-item
★ Exploratory
★ Don’t know what you need to know
★ Re-finding
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/four_modes_of_seeking_information_and_how_to_design_for_them

57. multiple pathways example: “vegan chocolate cake”
★ By ingredient (e.g. “chocolate”)
★ By dietary consideration (“vegan”)
★ By category (e.g. “desserts”)
★ By searching (e.g. “vegan cakes”)

58. keyword search issues example: “DRESSING”

59. pattern libraries, mockups and/or proof of concept

60. creating wireframes

61. create attention map to prioritize page elements
http://webdesignfromscratch.com/web-design/attention-map.php
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/taking-the-guesswork-out-of-design/

62. sketching out initial layout
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/466-sketching-with-a-sharpie

65. IA deliverables
★ Content Audit
★ Data modeling: content types, relationships and taxonomy
★ Access Matrix
★ Sitemap / navigation system
★ Publishing workflow & conversion workflow
★ User Stories
★ Wireframes

66. common stumbling blocks
★ Conflicting vocabularies
★ Inexperience with CMS (still thinking in terms of pages)
★ Steep learning curve
★ Organizational shift (from submitting copy to a webmaster
to editing and publishing own content)
★ Unfinished site content (BIG RED FLAG!)

67. symptoms of an unproductive committee
★ Unable to come to decisions
★ Revisiting the decisions multiple times
★ Changes in communication pattern
★ Excessive rabbit hole or spinoff discussions
★ Excessive time between meetings
★ Undermining committee member behavior
★ Private communications

68. causes of an unproductive committee
★ Lack of a clearly stated objective
★ Lack of milestone based deadline
★ No process roadmap
★ Suggestions based on individual preferences
★ Absence of leader or final decision maker
★ Disorganized feedback process
★ Diffused resources and priorities
★ Personal or political agendas
★ Policy Roadblocks

69. staying focused
★ Schedule regular web meetings and stick to the schedule
★ Provide regular status updates
★ Provide opportunities for brainstorming
★ Version control of project documentation
★ Task delegation: Recognize each one’s strengths and work
autonomously
http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/how-to-make-remote-team-collaboration-work/

70. stakeholder communications structure

71. thank you!
Vanessa Turke
http://imagexmedia.com/vanessa
Presentation Resources:
http://www.vanessaturke.net/ia-ux