extending ia past taxonomies - a case study of debenhams retail ia
TRANSCRIPT
Extending IA past taxonomies - a case study of Debenhams Retail IA
Mags HanleyAnnabelle Reid
UX Australia, Brisbane
Introductions
Mags Hanley• 20 years a Cybrarian, Project
Manager, Information Architect, Product Manager & Teacher
• Provided IA and UX expertise to the project
Annabelle Reid• Product Search and Image
Manager at Debenhams• Responsible search and
navigation of transactional products for debenhams.com
What is Information Architecture?
IA is the art and science of organising and labelling web sites, intranets, online
communities and software to support usability and findability.*
IA Institute ‘What is IA?’ http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/resources/what_is_ia.php
Progression of information architecture
1998Site maps,
wireframes, search and navigation
2001Taxonomies
and metadata
2004Folksonomies and tagging
2010Domain
modelling and semantic web
2015The whole thing + SEO
Most UXers understanding of IA
1998Site maps,
wireframes, search and navigation
2001Taxonomies
and metadata
2004Folksonomies and tagging
2010Domain
modelling and semantic web
2015The whole thing + SEO
Agenda
Covering • Debenhams and the IA challenges• IA model for Debenhams• Navigation example• IA and business interactions• Continuing work
Introduction to Debenhams
The problem and the project
UX vs. IA in Debenhams
• User Experience is focused on the design of the customer experience across the web site and multi-channels.
• Information architecture (IA) is the structure (product data, labels and categories) on which the experience can be built on top.
• It closely aligned with Product Information, Search and Categories all managed by Annabelle
Little black dresses – Search vs. browse
• 35 ‘little black dresses’ found via search• 114 ‘Little black dresses’ and 1 ‘Little black dress’ in the categoriesProblem: Inconsistency of categories and not integrating search and categories together.
Where are the mugs?• One of the top search
terms is ‘Mugs’ • But only 20% of people
search, so where is it living in the navigation?
• It is under ‘Dinnerware - loose
Problem: Our categories names do not reflect the words our customers use.
Bedding – what size are you looking for?
• Most people shop ‘Duvet covers’ by size.
• Which one of the many sizes on the site meets the customers’ needs?
Problem: There is no standardisation of size in bedding. ‘Duvet covers and pillow cases’ have 54 variants of size in the ‘Size’ attribute; many of which are not sizes.
What we did in the project
Project plan
Current state report
User research & business
goals report
Content, data & search report
IA and conten
t model
Dresses categories tested
with users
Facets for Dresses section
Metadata and URL rules for
SEO
Lo-fi navigation
and product pages
prototype
Full Dresses IA
Governance and
operational model
Next steps
DesignDefine
Project Kick-off
Current state analysis
Business insights
Content data & search
User Research
Develop Dresses IA
Online User Testing Facet
development
Metadata & SEO
Lo-fi prototype
User Testing
Governance &
operational model and next steps
Develop IA and content
model
IA model for Debenhams.com
Top-down IA model
Bottom-up IA model
EXAMPLE OF NAVIGATION
Old navigation
Draft of navigation
New navigation
IA and business interactions
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change management
Analytics
IA and SEO
• Previous stateNew categories were sent by Trading Manager to Digital Marketing for ‘SEO’ing.Resulting in no changes to the categories.• Contribution to IAAbility to identify language patterns from across the the whole of the internet, not just the Debenhams web site.
• Changes to workingInstead of throwing the categories over the wall to Digital Marketing, work consistently with IA and Product team on category labels.• ImpactDigital Marketing and SEO requirements are taken into consideration as part of the process.
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change managemen
t
Analytics
IA and user research• Previous stateVery little user research performed to inform the IA• Contribution to the IAMakes the IA user centred.Using multiple research methods to understanding how people find products, including:• Information seeking research• Card sorting• Path analysis• Search log analysis
• Changes to workingUsing the usability methods to inform and break down the business only considerations for the IA.• ImpactWe now have methods to use to design the IA better with user feedback rather than just opinion of the business
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change managemen
t
Analytics
IA and change management• Previous stateMany parts of the organisation felt they owned the IA. This included Trading, Digital Marketing, Buying and Merchandising and Product data.• Contribution to the IAAll the groups contribute to the IA, as they represent the parts of the business. For example B&M tell us what the new trends are, so we can describe the products correctly.
• Changes to workingOwnership of the IA is within the Product data team and is empowered to make decisions about the IA. All departments can contribute, but one function is responsible.Take the departments through the process, rather than impose it on them.• ImpactChanges can be made in Debenhams rather than paralysis.
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change managemen
t
Analytics
IA and Product data
• Previous stateThere was a product loading team managed by Annabelle. The focus was loading correctly and secondly describing it.• Contribution to IAIA is both categorisation and structure of content; so product data IS the IA of the Debenhams site.
• Changes to workingWorked with the product data team to ensure they understand how to make the data more user friendly, correctly described and reflects the trends in the products.• ImpactBetter description of content
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change managemen
t
Analytics
IA and technology
• Previous stateThe technology determined what could be done in navigation and search, with slow releases. • Contribution the IALimits the way that the navigation works, how search is tuned and how products can be found on the site.
• Changes to workingAs part of the IA model, instead of living with the technology, requirements for search and navigation are as important as e-commerce or design.• ImpactLet the IA have impact in the site rather than just changing labels.
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change managemen
t
Analytics
IA and analytics
• Previous stateIA was not measured by analytics; only ad hoc reports when someone asked• Contribution to the IAMakes the IA accountable.We used click-through rates on the navigation to try and understand the patterns of use.
• Changes to workingDuring implementation for dresses, there was a realisation that there was no benchmark for the categories and therefore knowing what worked was hard to determine• ImpactAnalytics for benchmarking and design are baked into the process.
Information architecture
User research
Technology
Product data
SEO
Change managemen
t
Analytics
Continuing work• Since Mags left in the last 6 months, Debenhams has made a
lot of progress.• The navigation has changed; made responsive and updated
and continuing to be refined.• The search engine (FredHopper) is being upgraded within the
next few weeks• A PIM has been commissioned so that the data is not
enhanced for digital, but created by the Buying and Merchandising teams
• Changes to the team structure including an IA and changes to the product team and ways Debenhams’ teams work together
QUESTIONS?
THANK YOUMags Hanley @magshanleyAnnabelle Reid