advanced information architecture- fall 02 information architecture as theory and practice i. on the...

Advanced Information Architecture- Fall 02

Information architecture as theory and practice

I. On the term “information architecture”

• Origins

II. Conducting the analysis

• Why do the research?

• How to do the research

III. What IAs do

IV. Elements of IA

• What IAs deliver




Richard Saul Wuhrman introduced it in the 60s thinking about the role of information urban planning and design

Used an architectural metaphor

Information as instructions for organizing space

It involves the creation of systemic, structural, and orderly principles to make something work

The thoughtful making of either artifact, or idea, or policy that informs because it is clear

Wyllys, R.E. (2000). Information Architecture.http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~l38613dw/readings/InfoArchitecture.html


From a speech in 1976:

“Information architect:

1) the individual who organizes the patterns inherent in data, making the complex clear

2) a person who creates the structure or map of information which allows others to find their personal paths to knowledge

3) the emerging 21st century professional occupation addressing the needs of the age focused upon clarity, human understanding, and the science of the organization of information.”

Wurman, R.S. and Bradford, P. (eds). (1996). Information Architects. Zurich, Switzerland: Graphis Press.


The practice of IA

It takes place in an information ecology

Users

Factors: audience, tasks, needs, information seeking, experience

Understanding user demographics and preferences

Who us using the site and how they are using it

Content

Factors: documents, data types, content objects, volume, existing structure

This content has to be managed

It plays an important role in shaping the website


Information ecology

Content (cont.)

Ownership: centralized or distributed? Homegrown or outsourced?

Structure: what types of files? Sizes? Markup? Dynamically generated?

Context: organizational structure and culture

Factors: mission, business goals, business processes, workflow, funding, technology, resources, constraints

The website is an artifact of the organization, its public face, and a “touch point”




• Origins




III. What IAs do

IV. Elements of IA





Theoretical reasons

Research on organizations can help developers avoid problems that can undermine projects

Practical reasons

It is a necessary step in the project life cycle

It saves time, money, and effort

It allows you to figure out what you have to do

You can get a sense of the existing situation

You can understand what the constraints are and who can impose them



There are different ways to set up the problem

Ask an open-ended question

Set up a relationship and test it

There are a variety of ways to study an organization

You can talk to people interviews

You can ask people to fill out forms surveys

You can watch people observation

You can test people experimentation

There are variations within these approaches as well


There is a difference between academic research and IA research

There is less need for rigor

You don’t have to worry about generalizability

Peer review is not an issue

There are good reasons to use good research practices

If your methods are reliable, you can reuse them

You can be assured of quality data and reasonable conclusions

You can have consistency within and across projects

Over time this can lead to best practices

You can then train new employees more easily


The goal of the research is to understand the “socio- technical context” of the web site

Given the constraints of the project, what is the best way to learn about the organization’s “information ecology”?

What is it that you want to know?

What is the “big picture?”

Vision

What is the role of the web in the organization?

How is the current and/or future site viewed in the organization?

What are the short and long term goals for the site?

How does the organization plan to use the site?


What is the “big picture?”

Resources

What can the organization afford?

What types of financial, technical, and human resources can be made available for development?

What is the long term commitment to maintaining and upgrading the site?

Audiences

Why do/should people come to the site?

What do people do when they come to the site?

What are the major tasks that they would like people to do?


Research strategies

Determine who it is you should be talking to

Study the web site carefully

See what departments or groups in the organization are represented on the site

Note all names and contact information

Use your initial contact

Learn how the organization is structured and try to figure out who has a stake in the web site

Confirm your hunches with your contact


Settle on your strategy or strategies

Individual email or telephone interviews?

Group email or conference calls?

Individual face-to-face interviews?

Group meetings

Each has its advantages and drawbacks

Face-to-face interviews and group meetings are good ways to gather information

In addition to the research value, these strategies also serve a social function

You learn about stakeholder biases

You learn about political and power relationships




• Origins




III. What IAs do

IV. Elements of IA



III. What IAs do

Preparation

Site goals

The audience

User experience

User scenarios

The competition

The design document


Consider this question:

“What should our team create to give people experiences that are useful, usable, and desirable, that create value for our business and our clients?”

How can we answer it?

Rettig emphasizes the importance of an ethnographic approach

“Go where people work, learn, live and play. Discover unexpressed or masked needs. Let your design be driven by genuine understanding of the people you are trying to serve.”

Rettig, M. (2000). Ethnography and information architecture. http://www.enteract.com/~marc/asis/slide0009.htm


In practical terms, this means:

Observation: go into the setting and watch people

Shadowing: follow them around

Examining artifacts and their uses

Interviews: interview people in their workplace

This can be structured or unstructured

Sampling: can involve time or task sampling

They fill out activity diaries on your schedule

Self-reporting: they have the greatest amount of control

Ask them to take pictures or keep journals


Site design begins well before the first page is ever coded

This early stage requires considerable research

The first step is to understand the goals of the site owners

How well do you understand their business?

What are their main products and services?

What are their business rules?

Then work to understand the audience for the site

Who do they sell to?

Write user profiles and scenarios

Conduct needs requirements


Determining the goals for the site

Can be done informally with conversations with key stakeholders

Can be done formally at meetings with clear agendas

Questions to consider

Who should you talk to or include in the meeting?

Who has to buy in to the concept?

Goal

To achieve a group consensus


The basic set of questions should include:

What is the mission or purpose of the organization?

Check the answers you get against company literature

What are the goals of the site?

As people talk about goals for the site, categorize them into short term and long term goals

Who are the intended audiences?

Check these answers against the company’s market research

Why will people come to the site?

What are the main tasks that people are expected to perform?


Gather all of the data and begin analyzing them

This involves sorting and categorizing

Goals, activities/tasks, main content areas

Prepare a preliminary listing of these and use “member checking”

Be prepared for conflict, disagreement, and compromise

There should be a deliverable (a design document)

It summarizes the key points of the site and acts as an initial blueprint

The major stakeholders should all sign off on the document


Technical: Design and build

<html><head><title>Web page</title><script language=javascript></script></head><body>Text<IMG SRC=image.gif”></body></html>

Code

Scripts

Words

Images

Presentation: visual display

Structure: Organization of content

Behavior: What people do on the site

Basics of web architecture


Site design and basic questions

Where am I?

What can I do here?

Where can I go?


IAs work with four kinds of systems

Organization/structural systems

These constrain the ways content can be grouped

Labeling systems

Artifacts of taxonomies that determine logical relations among content groups.

Navigation systems

Provide means of moving through the site based on the scheme for the labeling

Searching systems

Help resolve user problems with navigation, labelling and organization




• Origins




III. What IAs do

IV. Elements of IA



IV. Elements of information architecture

Components

Constituent parts of a digital information space

Web site: pages, navigation scheme, site map functionalities

Dimensions

Web site: multidimensional information space with hypertext navigation

Boundaries

Lines of demarcation around the information space

Web site: not clear because of linking


Purpose

The functions of the information space

Web site: provide access to information, educate, sell, entertain

Heterogeneity

Characteristics of the content

Web site: many different media types, formats, programming and markup languages

Centralization

How the information space is controlled

Web site: becoming more decentralized in content management and technical maintenance


Orientations to information architecture

Social: Doing the research

What are the mission, vision, and goals for the site?

What will be the central metaphors for the site?

How will the site grow and change over time?

What will be the impacts on the organization?

Technical: Design and build

How will the site be organized ?

What content and functionality will the site contain?

What types of navigation, labeling, and searching will be used?


What do IAs deliver?

Site map

This is a visualization of the taxonomy and structural relationships among content domains

It also provides an overview of the navigation scheme

Content maps

These are detailed depictions showing what is on each page and how content on some pages is linked to content on other pages

Page view

A drawing or block diagram showing what information, links, content, promotional space, and navigation will be on each page


What else?

Prototypes:

An outline or storyboard of a functional prototype

Could also be a working prototypes with HTML, Flash, Director, or PowerPoint

Written reports

A narrative description of the site linking it to organizational mission, messages, and marketing constraints

Change management

How will the site grow and change over time?

What will be involved in maintenance?


Test, test, test

Track down participants through customer lists, related organizations, discussion lists, conferences

Pay them if you can afford it

What should you ask?

Get their name and use it

Find out their web skill level and familiarity

Ask other questions essential to viewing the results

What should they do?

Give them tasks, watch, and listen

Let them browse, watch, and listen


The process of information architecture

Planning and strategy: predesign analysis

Information organization: Content development

Launch

Conceptual design: prototyping

Production: Navigation systems Search tool

Labeling systems Operations

Testing: Quality assurance

and usability

Feedback and redesign

Maintenance and updating

advanced information architecture- fall 02 information architecture as theory and practice i. on the...

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