Presentation for the workshop "Introduction to Information Architecture & Design," School of Visual Arts, Winter 2010 by Robert Stribley

1. Introduction to Information Architecture & DesignSchool of Visual Arts | Winter 2010Robert Stribley

2. Introduction

3. Intro Introduction Robert Stribley I’m an senior information architect at Razorfish, writer of music and arts reviews, producer/promoter for a variety show, photographer of various things

4. Intro Robert Stribley I’ve worked with clients such as, Bank of America, Smith Barney, Wachovia Boston Scientific, Nasonex Choice Hotels Computer Associates, EMC Ford Travel Channel, Women’s Wear Daily Introduction

6. Intro Introduction Goals of this workshop Understand the basic concepts of user experience design Experience the general process and techniques used on a design project

7. Butterfly on the New York City Highline

8. Pattern Recognition: In cognitive psychology, the ability to identify familiar forms within a complex arrangement of sensory stimuli Butterfly on the New York City Highline

9. Butterflies at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory.

10. Butterflies at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory.

11. Owl butterfly at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory.

12. Prints from EuropasbekanntesteSchmetterlinge(ca. 1895), by Dr. F. Nemos

13. Agenda

14. Agenda Agenda Morning Background User Research Our Project Competitive Review Personas Lunch

15. Agenda Agenda Afternoon Content Analysis & Card Sorting Design Concepts Grids Sketches Q&A

16. Background

17. Background Background: Defining IA in•for•ma•tionar•chi•tec•ture n. The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system. The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content. The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information. An emerging discipline and community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (1st Edition), p . 4, Rosenfeld and Morville

18. Background Background: Defining IA The Information Architecture Institute defines information architecture as “the art and science of organizing and labeling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability.”

19. Background Background: Defining IA "It's hard to say who really is an information architect. In some sense, we all are.” — Alex Wright, Author Glut

20. Background: History A Brief History of IA 1975 Richard Saul Wurman coined the term “information architecture” to describe the field now more likely described as “information design” 1994 Formation of Argus Associates in Ann Arbor, WI, the first firm devoted to IA 1998 First edition of Peter Morville and Lou Rosenfeld’s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, affectionately known as “The Polar Bear” book.

23. Design Process

24. Design Process context IA users content

25. Design Process interface information architecture

26. Design Process Design Process metaphor: architectural plans Flickr.com: Cornell University Library

27. Design Process Goal of user experience design Communicate a message that allows users to accomplish their goals easily, simply, and rapidly. Design Process

28. Design Process Design Process Discovery Design Definition Development

30. Business requirements

31. Competitive & comparative audits

32. User research

34. Content & meta data audits

35. Card sorts

36. Use cases

37. Creative brief

38. Moodboards

40. Task flows

41. Wireframes

42. Stakeholder reviews

43. Prototypes

44. User testing

46. Quality assurance

48. Background Deliverables IA Deliverables discover design define requirements document sketches site map comparative/competitive review personas wireframes feature/functionality inventory user flows prototype experience brief use cases visual design

49. Our Project

50. Our Project What to do?

51. Our Project Events.comwants to revamp its website to become the go-to online resource people wanting to both attend and promote events across the United States. Our Project

52. Discover

53. User Research

54. User Research “Through research, we aim to learn enough about the business goals, the users, and the information ecology to develop a solid strategy.” Louis Rosenfield & Peter Morville Discovery: User Research

55. User Research Discovery: User Research Flickr.com: yandle

56. User Research Methodology Focus Groups Surveys Interviews Goals Identify patterns and trends in user behavior, tasks, preferences, obstacles. Discovery: User Research

57. User Research Class Exercise: Survey Questions How do you learn about events in NYC? What type of events are you interested in? What’s more important to you: Price Type of Event Location Date How often do you attend the events? Do you ever need to promote an event? Do you ever invite people to an event? Discovery:User Research

58. Competitive Review

59. Discovery: Competitive Audit “This type of assessment helps set an industry ‘marker’ by looking at what the competition is up to, what features and functionalities are standard, and how others have solved the same problems you might be tasked with.” Dorelle Rabinowitz Discovery: Competitive Review

60. Competitive Review Discovery: Competitive Review Methodology Usability Criteria Scorecard Heuristic Evaluation Goals Review and analyze competitor sites according to particular criteria Draw key findings, which can influence and guide IA through the design phase Also: Comparative Reviews

61. Competitive Review Discovery: Competitive Review Competitors

62. Competitive Review: Flavorpill Discovery: Competitive Review Flavorpill “ Flavorpill loves culture. We embrace the high-brow, low-brow, underground, mainstream, and everything in between — as long as it's good. A city guide for those who like to go out, Flavorpill publishes a daily update of worthwhile cultural-event listings, from art exhibits and readings to concerts, plays, and festivals. ” http://flavorpill.com/about

63. Competitive Review: Flavorpill Discovery: Competitive Review Home Page Search Up Next This Week Events calendar Flavorwire Free Events Big Shows

65. Daily Dose

67. About Us

69. Join Flavorpill

70. Email signup (weekly event updates)

72. Calendar

73. Filtering

74. Google maps

75. Comments

76. Profile

77. Submit cover artCompetitive Review: Flavorpill Discovery: Competitive Review Functionality

78. Going.com Competitive Review: Going.com Discovery: Competitive Review “ Going helps you find fun things to do and fun people to meet. Ever wish there were one place where you can find all the events around town? Want to know whether an event is worth going to and see who else likes it? Looking to meet some new people who are up for doing fun things? We felt the same frustration and decided to do something about it. The result is Going: we now have hundreds of events a day and thousands of people who are up for doing fun things. ” http://newyork.going.com/about_site

79. Home Page Post an Event Search Inbox Organizer Tools What’s Popular this Week City Feed Recession Busters Top Searches (tag cloud) Photo Booth Competitive Review: Going.com Discovery: Competitive Review

81. Places to Go

84. Inbox

85. Post an Event

86. Search

87. Settings

89. Calendar

90. Profiles

91. Picture rating

92. Who likes it?

93. Comments

94. Event posting and promoting

95. RSVP online

96. Buy tickets

97. Event filtering

98. Link to Google MapsCompetitive Review: Going.com Discovery: Competitive Review Functionality

99. Discovery: Competitive Review NYCgo.com “ NYC & Company is New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization. Our mission is to maximize travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, build economic prosperity and spread the dynamic image of New York City around the world. ” http://nycgo.com/?event=view.footerArticle&id=49568 Competitive Review: NYCgo.com

101. This Week carousel

102. NYC Insider

103. NYC Essentials

104. Events calendar

105. Recent articles

106. Filter by borough

108. Hotels

109. Dining

110. Shopping

111. Nightlife

112. Arts & Entertainment

113. Sports & Leisure

114. Offers

115. Events

117. Meeting Planners

118. Membership

120. Language Selector

121. My NYCCompetitive Review: NYCgo.com

123. Google maps

124. Calendar

125. Find an event

126. Filtering

128. Clear need for and emphasis on filtering of events

129. Calendars provide obvious benefit but are handled with varying degree of success

130. Maps also prove helpful, if not as necessary

131. Profiles and community features are also common, but handled with varying degrees of detail, success

132. Free events often highlighted/bubbled up

133. Event detail pages vary, may have maps, RSVP, sharing, rating, commenting functionality

135. What are the strengths of these sites?

136. What are their weaknesses?

137. How might another event site differentiate itself from these sites?Discovery: Competitive Review

138. Define

139. Personas

140. Definition: Personas

141. Personas “Personas summarize user research findings and bring that research to life in such a way that everyone can make decisions based on these personas, not based on themselves.” Steve Mulder Definition: Personas

142. Personas Characteristics of Effective Personas Varied and distinct Detailed Not weighed down with minutiae Tied into business-specific goals Backed by data Definition: Personas

143. Personas Methodology Cluster Analysis Goals Create a narrative based on real data to illustrate user behavior, motivations, goals Definition: Personas

144. Definition: Personas Big Budget Promoter Planner Small Budget

145. Personas Definition: Personas Sabrina, 27 The party planner Location: Gramercy Park Attitude: Organized, outgoing Financial Perspective: Generous, bit of spendthrift Online Habits: Avid user of social networking sites, Twitter, Facebook, etc Quote: “I love getting bunches of friends together to attend all these NYC events. There’s so much great stuff to do in this city!” Big Budget Planner Promoter Small Budget

146. Definition: Personas Jerry, 44 The out-of-towner Location: Cincinatti, OH Attitude: Casual, yet adventurous Financial Perspective: Moderate spender Online Habits: Utilitarian use of the Web to research trips, read about the arts and pay bills Quote: “I’m visiting the Big Apple with my wife and we want to check out some art-related events.” Big Budget Planner Promoter Small Budget

147. Personas Definition: Personas Donny, 38 The local comedian Location: East Village Attitude: Laidback, loosely organized Financial Perspective: Frugal, paycheck to paycheck Online Habits: Spends time networking, promoting his act online, haunts comedy sites Quote: “I land a few comedy gigs around the city and I want to promote them better.” Big Budget Promoter Planned Small Budget

148. Personas Definition: Personas Jenny, 33 The professional promoter Location: Williamsburg Attitude: Busy, disciplined, professional Financial Perspective: Healthy budget for promotions and advertising Online Habits: Heavy use of social networking sites both professionally and personally, shops online Quote: “I manage a few bands and DJs and I have to ensure they’re listed in the right, targeted places.” Big Budget Planned Promoter Small Budget

150. Goals

151. Obstacles

152. Pain pointsDetermine 3 tasks your persona might attempt to complete on Events.com Select a spokesperson to share your findings with us Definition: Personas

153. Lunch Break

154. Agenda Afternoon Card Sorting Sketches Wireframes Q&A Agenda

155. Card Sorting

156. Card Sorting Definition: Card Sorting “There are often better ways to organize data than the traditional ones that first occur to us. Each organization of the same set of data expresses different attributes and messages. It is also important to experiment, reflect, and chose which organization best communicates our messages.” Nathan Shedroff, Experience Strategist

157. Definition: Card Sorting Flickr.com: cannedtuna

158. Methodology Grouping and labeling with index cards, post it notes Goals Find names for groups of content based on user’s perspective Organize content more efficiently Definition: Card Sorting

159. Class Exercise: Card Sorting As individuals: Take 5 minutes to think of all events a person could attend Definition: Card Sorting

160. Class Exercise: Card Sorting Now: Take 2 or 3 minutes to organize your events into categories (group & label) Then we’ll share some categories Definition: Card Sorting

161. Design

162. Design Concepts Design Concepts Donald Norman, Co-Founder, Nielsen Norman Group

163. Design Concepts Key Concepts Affordance Mapping Constraints Visibility Feedback Design Concepts

164. 84 Design Concepts Affordance “Perceived properties that determine how a thing is used [and] provide strong cues to the operations of things.” - Donald Norman

165. Design Concepts Design Concepts Mapping Relationship between two things http://flickr.com/photos/annavsculture/441610821/

166. Design Concepts Design Concepts Constraints Limitations that constrain possible interactions http://flickr.com/photos/hippie/2561854165/

167. Design Concepts Design Concepts Visibility “Just the right things have to be visible: to indicate what parts operate and how, to indicate how the user is to interact with the device.” - Donald Norman http://flickr.com/photos/huladancer22/530743543/

168. 88 Design Concepts Design Concepts Feedback “Sending back to the user information about what action has actually been done, what result has been accomplished.” - Donald Norman

169. Conceptual Design

170. Conceptual Design Design: Conceptual Design Home Page Category Page Details Page

171. Grids

172. Grids Design: Grids “The true benefit of using a grid is that as you learn how to use a grid, you start to think systemically about the solutions you design. You start to try and see how various details can echo one another, how different regions of the canvas can be reused or used for similar things, how like elements can be grouped together.” KhoiVinh, design Director, NYTimes.com

173. Grids Design: Grids

174. Grids Design: Grids

175. Grids Design: Grids

176. Grids Design: Grids 12 column grid

177. Grids Design: Grids 3 columns of 4 units

178. Grids Design: Grids 4 columns of 3 units

179. Grids Design: Grids 6 columns of 2 units

180. Grids Design: Grids Variations of the 12 column grid

181. Grids Design: Grids Learn more about design by grids: 960 Grid System 960.gs Design by Grid www.designbygrid.com Hashgrid www.hashgrid.com

182. Navigation

184. Local – left nav/right nav

186. Dropdown

187. TabsAdapted from Atsushi Hasegagwa’sThe 7 Navigation Types of Web Sites

188. Sketching

189. Sketching Design: Sketching

190. Design: Sketching Sketching Through the Ages 1485-1487 Ornithopter by Leonardo da Vinci 2005 Schematic representation of the major components of a helicopter by Richard Wheeler

191. Sketching Design: Sketching “There are techniques and processes whereby we can put experience front and center in design. My belief is that the basis for doing so lies in extending the traditional practice of sketching. ” - Bill Buxton

192. Sketching Design: Sketching

193. Sketching Design: Sketching

194. Sketching Design: Sketching Any guesses as to what this is a sketch of?

195. Twitter.com “twttr sketch” Sketching Design: Sketching Twitter [This sketch] has very special significance – it's hanging in the office somewhere with one other page. Whenever I'm thinking about something, I really like to take out the yellow notepad and get it down. – Jack Dorsey, Twitter

196. Sketching Design: Sketching Methodology Draw Limit your time Don’t worry about mistakes or style Goals Benefit from the participation of your colleagues Quickly generate ideas and refine through iterations

198. Timely

199. Inexpensive

200. Disposable

201. Plentiful

202. Clear vocabulary

203. Distinct gesture

204. Minimal detail

205. Appropriate degree of refinement

206. Suggest & explore rather than confirm

207. AmbiguityBill Buxton Sketching User Experiences

208. Design: Sketching Class Exercise: Sketching & Wireframes In teams, sketch your ideas. 1). Event Detail Page 2). Create & Promote an Event 3). A Homepage Design: Sketching

209. Design: Sketching Design: Wireframes Develop Wireframe & Prototyping Tools Axure Dreamweaver InDesign Visio

210. Q & A

211. Dieter Rams: 10 principles of good design Good design is… Good design is innovative.Good design makes a product useful.Good design is aesthetic.Good design makes a product understandable.Good design is unobtrusive.Good design is honest.Good design is long-lasting.Good design is thorough down to the last detail.Good design is environmentally friendly.Good design is as little design as possible. © Dieter Rams, amended March 2003 and October 2009

213. A List Apart

215. Interaction Designers Association (IxDA)

217. The End.