We all know about Information Architect in UX field, but why it's required, why it's important, what is required to design a successful IA, what qualification required to become IA. All topics covered in this presentation.
I have tried to make it as simple as possible to even understandable by any beginner to crack IA interview.
2. All we want to know about !!
1. What Information Architecture (IA) is? Slide 3 - 17
2. Why we need it? Slide 18 - 22
3. Role of Information Architect. Slide 23 - 24
4. Methods to design Information Architecture. Slide 25 - 76
5. Evaluating information architecture Slide 76 -85
6. How it is helpful in business? Slide 86-87
7. How a good IA can save company time and money during and after development? Slide 88 - 96
8. Return on investment (ROI) of Information Architecture Slide 96 – 97
9. What qualification I need to be Information Architect? Slide 98-99
10. Books which I can follow for IA Slide 100
3. What Information Architecture is?
Information Architecture is the practice of deciding
“How to arrange” “the parts of something” “to be understandable”.
Let’s first see..
“A good IA helps people to understand their surroundings and find what they’re looking for”
4. Aim of Information Architecture
“To organize and structure information to improve findability and discoverability”
5. Information Architecture(s) Are All Around Us
In the Websites we Use
Basic actions grouped in
header part
All navigations info bounded together
for easy navigation
Information grouped according
to specific section
“Organized and structured information to improve findability and discoverability”
6. Information Architecture(s) Are All Around Us
The Apps and Software we Download
“Organized and structured information to improve findability and discoverability”
7. Information Architecture(s) Are All Around Us
The Printed Materials we Encountered
“Organized and structured information to improve findability and discoverability”
8. Information Architecture(s) Are All Around Us
Even the Physical Places we Spend Time In
Different departments organization
in office
Books organization
in library
Spices organization
in kitchen
“Organized and structured information to improve findability and discoverability”
9. “If you’ve ever 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.”
11. first of all, lets understand the terms individually
It is a processed form of
DATA
What is Information?
Data
Data is raw, unorganized facts
that need to be
processed.
Information
In organized, and structured context so
as to make it useful, it is called
Information.
When data is
processed
14. From WHERE to get data?
Mainly
Stakeholders (Business Holder)
(What are their requirements to meet their business needs)
Target Audience (Real Users)
(Real users who will use the product, ask about their pain points, and what relevant
information & functionalities they are seeking to solve their purpose)
“we will discuss in detail to assemble such information in further slides ”
15. Now HOW data can be collected?
through various
Research Methods
Again I repeat.. collect data from Users & Stakeholders, related to
“what current approaches they are following to solve their purpose, and what are their pain points”
16. “The purpose of Data Gathering is to
collect sufficient, accurate, and relevant data
so that a set of stable requirements can be produced”
17. DATA
c a n b e
Quantitative Qualitative
Collected
Related to Quantity
(When we gather information in countable form)
Related to Quality
(When we talk about emotions & feelings)
Who are the users?
What are the user’s problems?
Where are the users currently using their solutions?
How do users behave?
Why do they behave that way?
How do they react on different modules?
18. After Data gathering, it is transformed into Information through some methods..
We will discuss that methods in coming slides
BUT
Why we felt the need of Information Architecture?
19. In the 90s,
the rise of the Internet produced a
World Wide Problem
Websites without a Plan!
Small sites grew into big messes, which led to..
23. Then! people realized that, websites need planning
and Information Architecture was readily embraced, because
now people could easily grasp the flow of information
26. Ok! But what are the methods to design
Information Architecture?
How to achieve that goal?
27. 1. Structure types: Hierarchy, linear, and web
2. Organization schemes: Topic, task, format, audience, alphabet, time, geographical, attributes, tags
3. Label names: Being specific vs. concise
4. Search: Designing search for content to be found
5. Logic: Taxonomy and metadata, when and why they're needed
There are five main components of Information Architecture
28. Organization Schemas - How you are going to categorize your content
Organization Structures - How you define the relationships between pieces of content.
Content Inventory - To gain insight from your inventory, to assess each piece of content
Wireframing - Creating flow of information
Which we can achieve through following methods
29. In order to create these systems of information, you first need
to understand the interdependent nature of
users, content, and context.
30. Users
Who are the users?
What is their behavior to seek the information?
Content
What is Content Objectives?
What are Document & Data Types?
What is existing structure?
What is volume of data?
Context
What are Business Goals?
What is Culture?
On which technology project is going to be build?
What are the Constraints?
31. It gives us clear clarification on “3W1H”
WHO, WHERE, WHAT, & HOW
WHO - Roles – Who are the end users, and what roles & responsibilities they are playing individually.
WHERE – Devices – On what devices they are going to use product. Mobile, Desktop, Touch Screens or all!!
WHAT – Actions – What results we are getting from every individual task completion.
How – Activities – How they are performing particular tasks/activities.
“Before starting Information Architect for any project, get clear clarification on above”
32. First of all determining structure is essential.
It allows you to identify and alleviate pain points, and to create and display content
that speaks to your users at an emotional level.
SO!
Simply put all raw content in Excel
Make relevant grouping
Organize content
Look for duplicacy, or repeated things
Again restructure content that speaks users language
34. At the beginning, we’re not focusing on how beautiful the product looks.
We’re prioritizing what goes where in the interest of creating a sturdy foundation.
35. IA is:
What Goes Where
IA is not:
Aesthetics and Visual Design
Sitemap/Site architecture Colors
Page types Images
Page structure Brand
Navigation patterns Motion
Global elements Video
Story outline Icons
Object placement Multimedia
Content organization Style
36. IA and Content are both laid out on wireframes. Wireframes serve as the bridge between the two.
When we think about wireframing, we’re focusing on the placement and structure of things,
without spending time on aesthetics or finalized content.
Architecture focuses on hierarchy, priority, and story,
which results in the placement of assets
Information
Architecture
Wireframe Content
37. If you’re just thinking about where things go in the interest of being organized.
You might be missing the point!
Tie IA back to the user and what they care about.
It’s important to create a structure that fits the user’s mental model,
filling it with content that speaks to their
needs and emotions.
WAIT!
38. “There are a variety of questions arise when determining Information Architecture”
These questions focus less on organization, and more on developing a
navigation scheme that fits the mental model of users.
Questions are like..
39. Page Architecture Analysis Navigation Architecture Analysis Content Architecture Analysis
1. When viewing site analytics, do the findings
reinforce that users are accessing certain pages
over others?
1. What needs to be in the navigation? What
doesn’t?
1. What types of content do various personas care
most about?
2. What about frequency? What gets visited and
what does not?
2. What CTAs should be included in the
navigation?
2. Are there clear entry paths for different users?
3. Is there a common sequence to pages visited?
3. Are user stories represented well in the
navigation?
3. Do users care about the content you’re
including?
4. When do users leave the site?
4. Where are navigation elements located?
Does this follow convention?
4. Do you know what content users care most
about?
5. What pages do they see first?
5. Do users have access to a sitemap – in
the footer – to find everything they want?
5. Can you combine multiple pages into a single
page that enables scrolling?
5. What pages are not in use very frequently? 6. Do they have access to search for less
important items?
6. What content should be more connected?
W H I L E D O I N G
41. Research
Conducting user interviews, user
testing, and analytics aids in the
creation of a logical structure and
understanding of user needs
Card Sorting
Organize and prioritize
information according to the
user’s mental model
Affinity Diagramming
Researchers and designers
organize and clarify fuzzy
data to make it concrete
OOUX
Object Oriented UX puts
information in objects and
prioritizes it for various users
User Stories & User Flows
User stories help us understand
the goals, needs, and tasks users
want to complete; and user flows
allow us to create a pathway
through the story
1 2
3
4
5
42. Research
1
Conducting user interviews, user testing, and analytics aids in the creation of a logical structure and understanding of user needs
Research is a broad umbrella for several IA methodologies:
User and Stakeholder Interviews, User Testing, and UX Analysis.
By developing a comprehensive picture of who the users are?
what their needs are, and what trends are occurring,
you can create a structure that fits the mental model – that is, how they conceptualize the experience.
This leads to usability and efficiency.
43. User Interviews: Reveal background details and insights to better understand user behavior. Uncover problems, needs, and goals.
Key Task: Interview both users and stakeholders to identify a hierarchy of needs/wants
User Testing: User testing early on helps unearth problems that need to be fixed, validate what the most important issues are, and evaluate whether hypothesized solutions
are truly improvements.
Key Focus: Find out what’s working and what’s not; validate or invalidate IA decisions
UX Analysis: Understand usage patterns from analytics that further shape the solution. Discover issues and gather data in the process to validate issues and improvements.
Key Questions: What gets visited and what does not? What pages are most important?
How to Do It
Tools of the Trade
Video recordings, audio recordings, user observation, user testing software, expert review, web and device analytics
How to do Research?
44. Card Sorting
2
Organize and prioritize information according to the user’s mental model
“Card sorting is a generative method: we don’t yet have a design, and our goal is to find out how people think about certain issues.
There is great variability in different people’s mental models and in the vocabulary they use to describe the same concepts.
We must collect data from a fair number of users before we can achieve a stable picture of the
users preferred structure and determine how to
accommodate differences among users.”
Jakob Neilsen
45. Step 1: Prepare the cards. Provide participants with cards listing the content/information you will have on your site, albeit with no predesignated themes or categories.
Step 2: Allow participants to sort cards into groups (representing site content) that make sense to them. Asking participants to think aloud while sorting is helpful.
Step 3: Allow participants to label and describe each created group.
Step 4: Take notes and photos, and follow up with clarifying questions if necessary to document the session.
How to Do It
Tools of the Trade
Whiteboards, Index Cards, Recorded Live Observation, Online Card Sorting Software
How to do it?
“This method allows users to manipulate information, giving designers an understanding of their mental model.”
46. You can use physical index cards or online
card sorting software, but the key is allowing a
representative sample of users, without guidance,
to manipulate information into categories that
are logical to them. Users then help in labeling
the categories. The process gives teams an
understanding of what navigation hierarchy
makes the most sense to the people who will be
using the product.
For doing Card Sorting
47. Affinity Diagramming
3
Researchers and designers organize and clarify fuzzy data to make it concrete
Affinity Diagramming takes indistinct information and makes it actionable and concrete.
It allows teams to reach consensus – by organizing, categorizing, and labeling qualitative and quantitative data points, you develop a
better understanding of user behavior and users’ mental models.
48. Step 1: Gather qualitative and quantitative data through interviews, contextual inquiry, user observation, and other relevant methods.
Step 2: Commit all data points to sticky notes.
Step 3: Post the transcribed data to a large whiteboard, which enables manipulation.
Step 4: In a pre-designated “timebox,” organize the data thematically based on the insights it provides about users and their response to the design challenge.
Step 5: Organize – and reorganize, as needed – the individual points into meaningful categories that can be used to create accurate personas, logical layouts, and intuitive interactions.
Tools of the Trade
Post-its, Whiteboard, Markers, Timer, Data Sets
How to do it?
49. Affinity Diagramming allows teams to sort
through and organize robust data sets
efficiently. This data can then be used to
create other design artifacts.
50. Okkk… But I found Card Sorting & Affinity Diagramming similar..
What’s the difference in both …?
51. In simple words..
Affinity Diagramming
allows a group or individual to organize
large amounts of DISORGANIZED data
and..
Card Sorting
involves SORTING a series of cards by labeling,
into groups that make sense to users or participants,
and shows relationship between ORGANIZED data.
52. Okk! So.. Affinity Diagramming comes FIRST, then SECOND step is Card Sorting..
First ORGANIZE data from UNORANIZED, then SORT organized data based on human mental models
Let’s move to other methods of Information Architecture
53. User Stories & User Flows
4
User stories help us understand the goals, needs, and tasks users want to complete; and user flows allow us to create a pathway through the story
User Stories allow us to fill in the blanks. They are concerned with fostering an understanding of the
goals or needs users have and the tasks they need to complete.
“As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>.”
54. Step 1: Meet with stakeholders. Ask about their goals and objectives.
Step 2: Meet with users. Ask about their needs and their wants.
Step 3: Write the user stories.
Step 4: Review the stories, looking for accuracy and utility.
Step 5: Prioritize user flows that allow the protagonists of the user stories to achieve their goals.
Tools of the Trade
Diagrams, Spreadsheets, Pen And Paper, Video/Audio Recordings
How to do it?
Note: User stories are typically written in the format “As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>.”
Follow these links for more details
https://www.uxpin.com/studio/user-experience/how-to-write-a-painless-user-story-for-agile-ux-teams/
http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/user-stories-a-foundation-for-ui-design/
55. OOUX
5
Object Oriented UX puts information in objects and prioritizes it for various users
OOUX revolves around thinking about Information Architecture in terms of objects –
“designing objects before designing interactions.”
This allows the team to think about the user’s mental model, a key component of determining
Information Architecture.
56. Step 1: Define objects. Review the creative brief and pull out key nouns, extracting “objects” from goals.
Step 2: Define core content. Using each object, determine what elements (core content and metadata) make up an object.
Step 3: Nest objects to create cross-linking. Cross-linking reveals the relationship between different objects, leading to contextual navigation.
Step 4: Forced ranking. Reorder elements by imagining which will be most important to your users.
Step 5: Add CTAs. Define the main calls to action that are necessary for a component to function.
Tools of the Trade
Diagrams, Spreadsheets, Pen And Paper, Video/Audio Recordings
How to do it?
“OOUX allows you to get at the deeper organizational layers, establishing the specific hierarchy of objects on an individual page and determining the
relationship between pages that link to one another. This helps in deciding what goes where.”
57. What will be the End Deliverables from these methods?
Let’s see..
58. Research Card Sorting Affinity Diagramming OOUXUser Stories & User Flows
IA
End Deliverables
Page Architecture
Sitemap
Navigation Architecture
Wireframes, Process Flows, &
Sitemap
Content Architecture
Wireframes
59. We talked about
Sitemaps, User Flows, & Wireframes
As
End Deliverables
But
How to design that?
Let’s see..
61. Sitemaps are a hierarchical diagram showing the structure of a
website or application
something you can put in front of your client and say
“this is the plan”
62. A site map is like a floor plan for your site. Site maps give you a visual representation of the site's organization and
how different sections are linked together.
63. Sitemaps are useful in several ways
They show how the navigation should be structured
They help identify where content will sit and what needs to be
produced
They help show the relationship between different pages
They provide a structure upon which to begin estimates for
development
They are the first tangible deliverable showing what you will be
creating
64. Here are a few of the most popular tools for buildingout your final site-map
Illustrator
Xmind
Mindjet
Omnigraffle
Powermapper
GatherContent
Illustrator or Photoshop, while online services like Omnigraffle and Mindjet can work better when it comes to sharing and collaborating on site-maps.
You also get more full-service tools like Powermapper and GatherContent which can bridge your site-mapping process to the next stage and help you
to start collecting and developing the actual content and preparing your CMS.
66. “Flows are made out of individual screens where interactions
take place. A screen offers some possibilities and the user
chooses one. Then something happens, and the screen changes.
It’s an ongoing conversation.”
67. In each moment in a flow, their (computer) screen is showing something and the
user is reacting to it. A good and understandable way to map steps in the flow is to
use state diagrams
what the user sees what the user sees next
what the user does what the user does next
https://conversionxl.com/how-to-design-user-flow/
explore more at following link
68. At starting of designing user flows
Define The Problem With Different Personas, and their entry points..
Simple Example
https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/defining-and-applying-personas-to-ux-design--webdesign-7561
70. Here are a few of the most popular tools for building out your
user flow diagrams
Illustrator
InDesign
Offline
Online
https://www.draw.io/
https://www.gliffy.com
72. Remember
“When we talk about IA, we’re focusing on
organization, wireframes, and content strategy.”
73. Before creating wireframes on any software, best recommendation is
First make plan on PAPER, draw rough sketches, iterate, and finalize skeleton on paper
Then.. It will be easy to create it on any software..
http://alessiobresciani.na1452682647.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Wireframe-A4-Blank-Sketchbook.jpg
75. There are lots of wireframing tools are available for desktop, & online.
Some of them are
Illustrator
InDesign
Balsamiq
Axure
Offline Online
www.fluidui.com
www.moqups.com
www.uxpin.com
Tutorials
www.smashingmagazine.com
www.dtelepathy.com
76. After designing your blueprint (wireframe), next step is..
Evaluating Information Architecture
also known as
Heuristic Evaluation
78. If changes are necessary and to assess what changes are needed.
“An evaluation can identify opportunities to improve a web site,
maximizing profit and increasing productivity.”
To check
80. There are types of evaluations that work best at the
various phases of the design and development life cycle.
Let’s see..
81. Phase Types of Evaluation Qualitative Quantitative
Identifying
requirements
• Obtain base-line measurements that can be used for later comparisons
• Validate existing IA designs with users
• Compare your IA to the IA of a competitor’s site
Research • Explore users’ grouping/labeling behavior
Early Design
• Validate IA designs with users
• Compare this IA to a previous IA for the same site
Later Design • Refine/validate an IA design
Post-launch
• Compare this IA to a previous IA for the same site
• Compare this IA to the IA of a competitor’s site
Evaluation can be both quantitative and qualitative, and both approaches have their merits.
Quantitative methodologies work better for testing a single, discrete component, (e.g. a label) or a single, discrete behavior (e.g. looking for additional
“pages like this”).
Qualitative methodologies are more appropriate for evaluating multiple components at once and working with users.
82. So when you evaluate IA, evaluate step by step.. First STRUCTURE, then GROUPING, then LABELING
83. EVALUATING STRUCTURE
“Site structure refers to the completeness and form of the site as whole.”
Here we can measure how well the site structure reflects
The sponsor’s needs
Users’ needs
An appropriate structural design
84. EVALUATING GROUPING
“How well similar things are grouped together”
We can measure by
The degree of similarity of objects within a category.
The degree of overlap between categories.
How well a child content object represents its parent.
85. EVALUATING LABELING
such as
the title of a page,
or
the title of a category or heading.
“Labeling refers to the name or icon of a content object”
87. Here are few handful of ways investing in information architecture pays off
• Reduces the cost of finding information
• Reduces the chance of finding the wrong information, or finding no information at all
• Reduces reliance upon documentation (i.e., the interface is intuitive and doesn’t require a user manual to navigate through it)
• Reduces the number of phone calls to the customer service department
• Supports business strategy by understanding business goals and user goals
• Improves user experience through iterative user testing
• Results in increased sales by enabling users to find information more efficiently
• Improves brand loyalty
• Improves scalability and growth of systems
• Reduces maintenance costs
• Improves knowledge sharing
• Reduces duplication of effort
88. How a good IA can save company TIME and MONEY during and after development?
89. This is age of customers!
where every customer prefer to go where they find best customer experience..
90. So let’s say, there are two companies, they both started ecommerce store at same time
Company A & Company B
Both want to stay competitive by providing superior customer experience
Let’s see! What strategies they both follows..
91. In first 3 months
Company A
Company A invested in lots of technologies,
Systems, man power, warehouse to build a
powerful website.
Company B
Company B invested in finding in depth requirements,
customer needs, and make resourceful information
based on data.
92. next 2 months
Company A
Launched website based on large
workforce & use of best technologies.
Company B
Still working on organizing information, and building sitemaps
based on user mental models to provide
good user experience.
93. At 6th month
Company A
Found less traffic to its ecommerce portal, so
Invested in marketing to attract more customers
Company B
Launches its website with super user experience
94. At 7th month
Company A
After investing so much, still Company A customers were
finding difficulties in tasks completions.
Company B
Customers were very happy to use it, as it was very user friendly,
And easy to use navigations.
95. At 8th month
Company A
Its ROI graph was still downfall.
Reason?
Didn’t invested time in Information Architecture, now
As a Result
Again have to invest from starting in fixing things.
Company B
Its ROI graph was rising
Reason?
First gave priority to Information Architecture, and build
Good user experience
As a Result
Increased sale & satisfied customers traffic.
96. So first investing in Information Architecture always give good
Return on Investment
(ROI)
99. Information architecture is a subset of user experience, much like interaction design and content strategy, yet
the role of Information Architect includes most of User Experience. So someone..
With Background from
Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Science, Communication Design
+
Skills of
Logical and Critical Thinking
can be
Information Architect
100. There are so many books & stuff is available online & offline for Information Architecture, but when we see so much, we hardly go for any single one.
In last, we end up with nothing.
So instead of suggesting so many books & links, I would suggest just one link, from where you can good knowledge about IA,
and I believe, after studying that you can step in field of
“Information Architecture.”
Just follow
www.howtomakesenseofanymess.com
How to Make Sense of Any Mess
by Abby Covert
by
102. Architects of Understanding
We help our users to understand, where they are,
What they’ve found, what to expect, and what’s around
We help our clients to understand what’s possible.