This document discusses information architecture (IA) and how to get it right. IA is the foundation on which a website is built, involving the classification, grouping, and hierarchy of information. To create a good IA, one must understand customer needs through research, define business goals and reporting requirements, and create clear specifications such as a sitemap and wireframes through activities like card sorting. Design is also important but must follow the IA; the goal is usable sites, not just aesthetics. User testing ensures the IA meets needs.

1. GETTING IA RIGHT
And what the heck is IA?
Dale Cohen - General Manager
BigPond Network, Telstra Media

2. IA = INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
What IA is
– Classification
– Grouping
– Hierarchy
What IA is not
– User interface design
IA is the foundation your website is
built on
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3. HOW DO YOU GET “IA” RIGHT?
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4. START WITH THE BASICS
Who is your audience?
What do they need?
What do you need?
What are your site
goals?
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5. SO WHAT DO CUSTOMERS NEED?
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6. CUSTOMER NEEDS
Understanding customers needs
– Ask yourself
– Ask them
– Measure what they do
Define customer scenarios
– Market segmentation
– Typical use case scenarios
– Create some stereotype „personas‟
Define information groups
– Card sort
– Customer led taxonomy
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7. CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR
Do not assume
– Watch what people actually do
– Structure information based on your
customers, not your internal organisation
Allow for multiple entry paths
– Site navigation
– Search (internal and external)
– Links from the internet
– Your site needs to make sense, no matter
where people start.
– Hierarchy of information (site, section)
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8. WHAT DO YOU NEED?
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9. DEFINE BUSINESS OUTCOMES
What is the purpose of the site?
– What does the business requirements?
– What are the KPIs/measures of success?
– Serve the business, not just the customer
What will you report?
– Understand your costs
– Who will bear operational accountability?
– What do you need to report to the CEO
and board?
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10. UNDERSTAND YOURSELF
What can you deliver?
– Don‟t try to be things you aren‟t
– Define a great experience but accept reality
– Only Apple can be Apple
Do your systems support your design?
– Logistics
– Organisational structure
– Business systems
Designing the perfect experience if it cannot
be delivered is pointless
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11. EXAMPLE – MICROSOFT DESIGNING THE IPOD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeXAcwriid0
Search YouTube for “microsoft ipod”
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12. HOW DO YOU CREATE IA?
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13. CREATING AN IA SPECIFICATION
Clearly define objectives
List content & functional requirements
Conduct a card sorting exercise
Determine organising principles
Create the outputs
– Sitemap
– Wireframes
Do some user testing
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14. TYPICAL IA OUTPUTS
Sitemap
– Show site structure
– Define contextual relationships
– Define navigation
– Define hierarchy
– Consistent taxonomy
– Site search
Wireframes
– Template layout
– Define structural elements
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15. DON‟T MAKE ME THINK
Your audience isn‟t you
– They don‟t know what you do
– They don‟t have your commitment
Make it easy to find things
– Include the homepage in navigation!
– Use breadcrumbs for location reminders
– Behave to audience expectations
Don‟t make them wait
– Flash intros must be optional
– Flash websites should not exist
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16. DESIGN? WELL THAT MATTERS TOO…
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17. DESIGN IS INTEGRAL
Engage UI designers early
Templates require design input
Overall usability requires good design
Design is not the same as IA
– Good UI designers can do IA, but IA must
lead the design, not the other way around.
Buildings, not monuments
– Looking good is not the same as being
good. Your site needs to survive the
rigours of daily production.
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18. SUMMARY
Understand your customer
Understand yourself
Clearly define business objectives
Be practical, not perfect
Create clear specifications
IA is a specialised skill
Get a designer involved early
Do user testing
Dale.Cohen@team.telstra.com
twitter.com/dalec
linkedin.com/in/dalecohen
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