Hosted by Kelley Jarrett, Marketing Manager and Web Strategist, GUIDE Creative

Guest Panelist: Anthony Harris, Interactive Design Manager, GUIDE Creative

Kill The Noise Prioritize your Website with Wireframes and Strategic

Information Architecture

presents

Why is Visual Strategy Important? YOUR WEBSITE MAY SAY SO MUCH IT SAYS NOTHING AT ALL PROVIDES AUDIENCE-CENTRIC CONTENT AND NAVIGATION PROMOTES CLARITY AND FOCUS

The Importance of Prioritizing Your Content

Prepare to Reduce the Noise: REVIEW YOUR WEBSITE AND ASK YOURSELF: What three user tasks are the highest priority for your organization? Are you giving that user task the loudest voice? Are less important tasks competing with your critical tasks?

Visual Prioritization YOUR WEBSITE YOUR AUDIENCE

Wireframes Help Prioritize SHOULD BE COMPLETED AFTER AUDIENCE ANALYSIS AND BEFORE VISUAL DESIGN HELP TAKE YOUR WEBSITE FROM SUBJECTIVE TO OBJECTIVE.

Wireframes Help Prioritize IDENTIFY THE TOP 10 TASKS AND PRIORITIZE IMPORTANCE WHEN CREATING A WIREFRAME, CONSIDER:

Position Size Contrast Calls to Action

DOCUMENT WHY DECISIONS WERE MADE. PREVENTS COMPETITION AND “CONTENT CREEP”

Audience-Centric Navigation YOUR WEBSITE YOUR AUDIENCE

Online Card Sorting Online Card Sorting gives your team the ability to determine the ideal structure of your new navigation by grouping pages and tasks into common categories and sorted by importance. This data can be used to create a new sitemap and to drive the visual design of the new interface of your site.

Onsite Card Sorting The Onsite Card Sorting allows us

to work side by side with your team in developing the navigation and interface of your site. Unlike the Online Card Sort, conducting the exercise in person can lead to revealing conversations about the nature of your audience and the deficiencies of your current navigation scheme that can be solved by a effective card sort.

Site Map

From the Onsite Card Sorting exercise, a new Site Map is generated. This site map takes all the data gathered during the card sort and compiles it into a diagram of your site’s new navigation scheme, allowing you to visualize how the user will navigate through your content. This site map also acts as a guide for the interface that is developed during the Visual Design process.

Content YOUR WEBSITE YOUR AUDIENCE

Analyze Your Content ANALYZE CURRENT CONTENT

Active Pages Broken Links # of pages Most commonly accessed Least accessed 2 Clicks to Key tasks

DETERMINE KEEPERS AND TRASH

What can you leave behind? What should you optimize with Calls to Action?

Plan Your Content Strategy ANALYZE CURRENT STATE DETERMINE WEAKNESSES

Recap ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE PRIORITIZE TASKS CREATE A VISUAL HIERARCHY THROUGH WIREFRAMES FORM AN AUDIENCE-CENTRIC NAVIGATION ANALYZE YOUR CONTENT DEFINE YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY

Next Session THE ART AND THE MAGIC BEAUTIFUL DESIGN BASED ON SOLID STRATEGY

REDUCING THE NOISE

WHILE AUDIENCE-CENTRIC DESIGN IS KEY, YOU MUST NOT FORGET ABOUT YOUR GOALS AND WORK THEM INTO THE DESIGN.

YOUR AUDIENCE’S GOALS + YOUR ORGANIZATION GOALS = WELL

PRIORITIZED SITE

Recap IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE ANALYZE BEHAVIOR CREATE PERSONAS PRIORITIZE OUTLINE YOUR TOP THREE GOALS GET BUY-IN TO REDUCE THE NOISE

How Can You Learn More? 5 Tips to Strengthen Your Website’s Core Message (Blog by GUIDE Designer,

Ben German) Get Better Results from Your Website (Blog by GUIDE Creative Designer,

Katherine Till) The Importance of Strategic Web Design (Blog, webinar recordings and slide

downloads) – Kelley Jarrett Kill the Noise – the Importance of Wireframes for Website Prioritization – Blog by

Ben Wong, Interactive Design Manager Audience-Centric Design - How to Get There – Blog by Andrew Fort, Interactive

Design Manager

The GUIDE Series Continues…